3 min read
BUAPP

A modern companion app made by and for students of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP).

BUAPP Banner

As a BUAP student since high school, I was always looking for ways to make student life easier and more convenient.

One thing that constantly surprised me was how poorly the university communicated important information to students. They did release an official app, but it was slow, buggy, and difficult to use—not to mention visually outdated.

At the time, I wasn’t an experienced developer. My programming knowledge was mostly limited to Python scripts and Java mods for games, so building a replacement didn’t seem feasible.

But by 2021, I was in my fourth semester of college and had already released Abbey, so I decided to give it a shot.

Each year, the university hosts a student project fair called FEPRO, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to build something meaningful.

Coincidentally, the university was developing a second version of its official app—but unfortunately, it wasn’t much better than the first one. So I started from scratch, aiming to build a more user-friendly and intuitive alternative.

Flutter had just reached its 2.0 release, and I was excited about building something cross-platform. Even though I had never used Flutter before, I dove in and committed to learning fast—I had only a couple of months before the fair.

Reverse Engineering for Data Access

The biggest challenge was data access. The university didn’t provide a public API or any documentation. But then I remembered my teenage years spent modifying Android ROMs—decompiling APKs, editing XML layouts, and patching Smali files. So I reverse-engineered the official app, found the data source, and… it worked! I had access to the data I needed to power the app.

Key Features

  • Beautiful, responsive UI/UX — with help from a professional designer
  • Offline-first experience — the app works even without an internet connection
  • Theme and color customization
  • Flexible layout options

In the end, the app was a huge success. I won 1st place at the fair, the jury was impressed, and students loved the app. BUAP even featured it in an official article in the university magazine.

Beyond the recognition, I was proud of what I learned: Flutter, UI/UX design, caching strategies, reverse engineering, public speaking, and more.

Home screen
Home screen
Calendar screen
Calendar screen
Record screen
Record screen

Presentation

This is the presentation I gave at the fair (in Spanish), showcasing the key features and user experience of the app.