KOU Mobile
Technologies Used
React Native
Project Type
Mobile App
Role
Lead Developer
Active Development Dates
Sep 2024 - Feb 2025
KOU Mobile is the official mobile application of Kocaeli University, designed to centralize core student services into a single, reliable platform. The goal was to replace fragmented systems with a fast, accessible mobile experience that students could rely on daily.
I worked as a Lead Developer in a two-person team, taking responsibility for the development of the mobile application from early-stage architecture to production release. The project was delivered in under six months and is now used by 40,000+ students.
Along the way, my role naturally expanded beyond development — I worked directly with university IT teams to access and integrate student systems, and regularly reported progress to our academic supervisor, taking ownership of both technical and coordination aspects of the project.
The application integrates directly with university systems to provide real-time access to academic data. This included handling multiple data sources, ensuring consistency across endpoints, and designing a responsive interface that works seamlessly across devices.
One of the key challenges was building a system that feels simple on the surface while managing complex and sometimes inconsistent backend data. We focused heavily on structuring the data flow, optimizing performance, and maintaining a clean user experience despite these constraints.
The app provides students with instant access to their grades, course schedules, and exam timetables, while also delivering university announcements and event information in real time. It effectively became a daily tool for students to track their academic life and stay connected with campus activities.
From a technical perspective, we built the application using React Native with Expo, choosing a cross-platform approach to efficiently deliver a consistent experience across both iOS and Android while simplifying development and deployment processes.
This project was a strong exercise in building a production-grade application for a large user base, where reliability, clarity, and real-world usability mattered just as much as the code itself.
