Astronomy Open Night: Event Navigation App
A standalone Flutter event navigation app co-developed for Macquarie University's Astronomy Open Night in collaboration with the organiser team and course staff, covering venue navigation, event information and in-app Google Maps walking directions. In external TestFlight review, preparing for App Store and Google Play release. Developed by student app developers, not an official Macquarie University product.
Project Overview
Problem
Astronomy Open Night needed a way for attendees to find venues, sessions and walking routes across campus on the night. I worked with the Astronomy Open Night organiser team and course staff to scope and build a dedicated navigation app for the real event, not a classroom exercise. This is a standalone project, separate from MQ Navigation.
What I Built
A Flutter mobile app for event navigation and destination discovery, covering venue and event information, campus locations and directions, and in-app Google Maps integration that provides walking directions from the user's current location to a selected venue. The app supports deep linking, event-specific content, and was built with accessibility considerations throughout.
My Contribution
Co-developed the app in Flutter, contributing navigation, the Google Maps walking-directions integration and event-specific content. I personally led the release engineering: Apple signing, bundle identifier, certificates and provisioning through Xcode and App Store Connect, TestFlight group setup, and the Google Play developer account setup.
Engineering
Architecture & Decisions
Built in Flutter, with in-app Google Maps integration for walking directions and an event-specific content setup scoped to Astronomy Open Night's venues and sessions.
Tech Stack
Testing & Delivery
Final testing and an external organiser review cycle through TestFlight ahead of public release, alongside Apple's standard review process for TestFlight builds.
Apple and Google Play developer accounts set up. The latest iOS build has been approved for external TestFlight, with external organiser review underway. In final release preparation for the App Store and Google Play, including privacy policy, store assets and metadata. Not yet publicly released.
Outcome & Current Status
Stakeholder & User Impact
Built directly with the Astronomy Open Night organiser team and Macquarie University course staff for a real event, including a stakeholder walkthrough and content updates from organisers.
Current Status
External TestFlight review; final release preparation.
Future Direction
Planned: public release on the Apple App Store and Google Play once organiser review and store submission are complete.