Meet the local high school student behind the Desert X app
Desert X is in full swing with both locals and valley visitors exploring the desert landscape in search of this year’s art installations. To make the hunt easier, 18-year-old Hunter Martin, a senior at Xavier College Prep, decided to design a user-friendly app, available for download here.
Martin says he started coding when he was 11. The entire process of designing the app took him two months.
“One morning I woke up and I was like, ‘I wonder what it takes to make an app?’ And from there I spent countless hours viewing videos online, reading through forums and just testing code,” Martin said.
Eduardo Sendejo, Martin’s technology teacher at XCP, had high praise for his student’s work.
“Hunter has made the technology department better. We’re just lucky to have him as a student. He brings his patience, his willingness to work, go above and beyond and he’s always so helpful in class,” Sendejo said.
The app allows users to see a map on their smartphones of the locations of all of Desert X’s art exhibits, in addition to a brief description and photo of what visitors should be looking for. It also gives users directions to exhibits from their current location.
The app hit #135 on Apple’s top charts for free travel apps within 12 hours, peaking at #56. It has been downloaded over 5.6 thousand times already. Martin said he is humbled by the response to the app and hopes to get his master’s in computer science one day.
“I would never imagine to be here right now having this interview, talking about the app just launched and having this interview, so, I’m super grateful,” Martin said.
