Take note! “List Easy”, an app developed by junior Jack Chen, makes everyday activities such as splitting a bill at a restaurant and creating a grocery list much easier. The app is a similar alternative to the default notes app, which Jack believes lacks the option of creating an easy-to-read list. Jack solved this problem in List Easy by having the format cater more to a list than everyday notes, as well as including the calculator to assist with prices, allowing users to calculate without toggling between the notes app and the calculator app.

Jack started his programming career in 5th grade on a lego robotics team, which combines programming and engineering. Jack found himself enjoying the programming aspect of it more, which he continued to explore through Hackley’s Introduction to Computer Science class. Now, Jack has completed two years of computer science courses at Hackley, serves as the programmer for his robotics team, and has spent many summers at programming camps.

This summer Jack attended the Make School Summer Academy, a computer science program where he spent eight hours a day learning and building the code for his app. The program was generally hands off and Jack spent most of the day working on his own with instructors there to answer potential questions. In his time at Make School he spent the first three weeks learning Swift syntax, the programming language used to build apps. In the following weeks, he spent his time building the app itself.

Jack has plans for the future to both update his current app to make it profitable and more convenient as well as start building new apps. “I don’t want to put ads on my app, because I think those are intrusive, and my app is made for simplicity and I don’t want to cover the screen with an advertisement. I plan on having a customization screen, so if you pay a dollar you can change the color and look of the interface.”

In the near future, Jack has plans to not only allow in app purchases, but to also include features such as image support, a search bar, and more. Jack also plans to create new apps in the future, the idea is “an event planner app – basically, a user can create a profile and a group, and invite friends to it. From there, people can add events or things they want to do to the group, and people can mark if they are currently available to do the thing right now, or later.”

Jack recommends people of all ages to get involved in programming because although seeming daunting, learning to program is manageable and enjoyable. Jack feels coding is especially manageable because there is a large community of help online to ask questions.