Before finals caught up to sophomore computer science and finance double major Michael Giba, he spent his time creating applications for the Apple App Store.

Giba has made three apps during his time at TCU.

Quick Stick

Giba said he created the Quick Stick app to pass the time before finals. He said he wanted a game that was fun for his friends to play.

“I created the game on my own using xcode, which is a text editor on steroids in layman’s terms,” Giba said. “I have not had any experience with the program before, but I ended up liking it.”

Quick Stick is an easy game that can be found in the App Store, Giba said.

“In general it has the same Flappy Bird concept, where you are trying to get a high score,” Giba said. “But it is different because the stick gets faster and faster to catch the falling cube.”

Giba said the name for the game, “Quick Stick,” came about after the game was finished.

“I made the game first and I wanted something that sounded good,” Giba said. “In the game you move the stick as quick as possible and the name sort of fell out of my mouth.”

To advertise, Giba said he posted signs in the elevators of residence halls and outside of the Brown-Lupton University Union.

The app received a five-star rating from its users.

“I saw an advertisement in my dorm’s elevator and decided to help a fellow frog out by downloading it,” sophomore social work major, Bianca Jordan, said. “I like how simple the game is, it reminds me of Tetris or Snake.”

Currently the app is only available for iPhone users.

“Nothing against Android users,” Giba said, “but there is more of a reward with the iPhone because more people have them.”

Other Apps

Giba created an app called “Joomble,” but he no longer owns it. Giba sold the app for around $500.

“I sold it to Beyond Belief Games [during my] freshman year of college,” Giba said.

Another app that he recently created is the “Deep Breather – Relieve Stress.” Giba created the app one weekend when he was feeling stressed out.

“The Deep Breather app is really cool,” senior general studies major Nusaybah Craft said. “It helps because sometimes we forget how to relax and breathe.”

Giba makes money only through advertisements within the app since his apps are free.

“Now a days an app, regardless of how good it is, is almost expected to be free,” Giba said. “Downloads are more important at first in my opinion.”

At TCU

Giba is a member of the TCU App Club, which supports students who want to create apps.

Giba works as a student developer for TCU. He is also working along with a Macrobits team to help improve the Frogsaver app.

“I work for TCU to redo the mobile applications,” Giba said. “It takes up most of my time.”

Giba said he would like to create an app that can help change people’s lives.

“I would say generally anything that changes a large number of people’s lives for the better and [that] is successful,” Giba said.