Bush ’18 launches Uwire, a mobile app that tracks events on the Street

Richard Bush ’18 released the mobile application Uwire on Saturdayto give University students information about which eating clubs are open on any given night.

The app features a map of Prospect Avenue, with cross icons placed on the eating clubs that are closed and beer icons on the eating clubs that are open. By clicking on these eating clubs, one can also access information about the time a given club will open, the theme of the night, the type of music that will be playing at that club and how to get in — whether by PUID, list or pass.

Bush explained that he came up with the idea for making the app last yearwhen, like many freshmen, he would go to the Street late at night, not quite knowing which eating clubs were open, not being let in by the more exclusive clubs and not really feeling the vibe of clubs at which he did end up.

In these instances, he said he would think, “You know, it would be really easy if I could look at my phone right now and say hey, this [club] is open at this time and this is what’s going on there.”

Bush said the need for this kind of app became apparent to him through the social media feed Yik Yak, where many different students would ask about which eating clubs were open and details regarding the scene at each one.

Bush said that before making the app, he did not actually talk to representatives from the eating clubs and only contacted the presidents once he had created the baseline for the code. He added that the creation of the app was completely of his own accord, though he only had a little bit of a coding background from high school and had just taken COS 126: General Computer Science.

He said that he made the app because he really wanted to apply the knowledge he had gained from his class, combined with the research he had done individually, to create an app that would be useful to the University student population.

Jean-Carlos Arenas ’16, president of Charter Club and of the Interclub Council, said that the eating clubs unanimously appreciated Bush’s efforts. Arenas noted that the council had agreed that event transparency was one of the goals that they wanted to focus on for this school year, because the council exists to allow eating clubs to be as accessible to students as possible. He said the release of Uwire would be immensely beneficial in serving this objective.

Arenas is a former chief copy editor for The Daily Princetonian.

“In my freshman year there was a Tiger App called the Prospect Avenue Map and it was entirely web-based,” Arenas said. “Part of the reason why it ended up dying out was that eventually, the clubs weren’t updating their information as frequently as they should have been.”

Arenas added that the previous app might not have been as great a success because it was entirely web-based and not easily accessible on smartphones.

Bush said he expects that this app, unlike previous attempts such as Prospect Avenue Map, will last because he has created a simple system for updating the information for the eating clubs each week. He noted that he has shared a Google Doc with all the presidents of the eating clubs in which they can put in their clubs’ information for that weekend and that it takes him two minutes to transfer that information into the app.

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Cannon president Ian McGeary ’16 said he was impressed by how easy it is for eating club officers to give Bush the information.

Ricardo De Los Reyes ’17 said additional features could aid students’ experiences on the Street. He noted thatlast spring, in his COS 333: Advanced Programming Techniques class, someone made an app very similar to Uwire. This app had an added feature which allowed users to make a friend list of people they would like to see on the Street and would notify users if these people were in close proximity.

However, several student saidpart of Uwire’s appeal is the convenience it gives to students.

Arenas described the app as easy to use and navigate, andAly Kersley ’19 said that she supported the app.

“I think it’s a really good idea, and it’s going to be really helpful to people,” Kersley said.

Kersley described how in her personal experience, she had gone to the Street several nights without any idea of what she would be doing there. In these cases, the app could help students plan where to go and what to do, she said.

Arenas said that he understands that it can be difficult sometimes for underclassmen to know what’s happening on campus and that he believes this app will help accelerate these students’ integration into the social environment at the University.

According to Bush, 600 people have downloadedUwire since it went live on Saturday.

“I hope that the student body enjoys it, that they download the app and use it,” Bush said.