Collegiate Times

Senior Paul Pilone has created an iHomework application for iPhones.

Apple’s iPhone has made the phrase “yeah, I’ve got an app for that” commonplace among students and adults alike. With more than 100,000 applications to choose from, the company seems to have an application for virtually everything.

An iPhone owner and senior computer engineering major, Paul Pilone decided to contribute to the growing list of apps. Last Christmas break, Pilone got the idea for iHomework: an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that helps students stay organized and keeps track of school work and upcoming assignments. The idea is to store a student’s entire planner on his iPhone, which allows for better interaction with professors, up-to-date reminders about deadlines and organization of to-do lists.

Pilone’s girlfriend, junior human nutrition, foods and exercise major Amanda Borcky, recalls Pilone’s dedication that Christmas break.

“He worked on it the entire week,” she said. “I hardly saw him.”

She was, however, able to help him out by answering his questions about her own preferences.

“He’s asked me about color-coding,” Borcky said, “how to put things in order and other information I’d want in the app. I think he asked realizing I was so planner-oriented, and the idea is to convert people.”
Pilone initially intended the app to be a side project.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but now it’s great,” he said.

Since the initial development, Pilone’s iHomework was submitted to Apple and approved within a week, becoming available worldwide to iPhone owners last January. His application is now used by over 22,000 people in the U.S. He makes 70 percent on each $0.99 app sale, so Pilone estimates his net profit to be $15,400 on national orders. In addition to the growing popularity of iHomework internationally, adding about 100 users each month in Canada and the U.K., the initial time invested has paid off.

Although time-consuming, Pilone said the development and submission was relatively inexpensive when compared to potential profits.

“You can download everything you need to create it for free if you have a Mac,” Pilone said. “The only thing you have to pay is the $100 submission fee.”

He relies on the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and a blog on the Web site he created for the app as his primary sources of advertisement. The blog offers free updates for users, which Pilone creates based on user feedback.

The biggest update for iHomework has been a desktop version of the app, allowing users to sync information from their iPhone or iPod Touch to their Mac. He hopes to continue to make improvements, especially within the field of educational technology. This has been one of the byproducts since his app’s creation.

“I really didn’t intend to concentrate on education,” Pilone said. “I just saw room for improvement in the other education-based apps.”

His future vision for the project is to continue to advance the concept of iHomework, adding more collaboration with teachers.

“I want to have more teacher interaction, for them to have the ability to send out assignments and keep track of lessons,” Pilone said.

Pilone also has another app he created, this one inspired by a long car ride to Florida for spring break in 2008. Bored along the ride, he and his friends started playing the license plate game.

“We were just trying to spot license plates from every state,” he said. “It made me think that the game would be more fun with sort of a road trip app to go along with it.”

In March 2009, “Plate Spotters” was released. While the app hasn’t seen as much popularity as iHomework, it’s helped to diversify Pilone’s capabilities with development. The app gains an average of 20 new downloads a month, which totals up to about 200 downloads since its inception.

Pilone has seen immense support from family and friends for his app development.

“My parents were really impressed that something I’d created was being used by thousands of people,” Pilone said.

Recently, app development has become even more of a family affair. His brother and sister-in-law, Tech alumni Daniel and Tracy Pilone, published a book last week titled “Headfirst iPhone Development: A Learner’s Guide to Creating Objective-C for the iPhone.”

Among his biggest supporters, though, is his girlfriend.

“Amanda’s crazy excited about it,” Pilone said. “She tells everyone.”

Pilone’s girlfriend Borcky, a former paper planner user and now a loyal iHomework patron, is proud to admit it.

“I don’t even have a planner anymore,” she said.

Borcky also helps with publicity by changing her Facebook status often to help advertise and telling her friends to check the app out.

“If I knew of other Hokies who’d created apps,” Borckey said, “I’d download them to support them. That’s what’s great about this community.”