One of the universal plights of any newby to cardinal and gold country is navigating Iowa State’s sprawling campus. Fear not. ISU students and guests now have a new option for finding their way around campus through the Campus Maps app.

The free Campus Maps app currently boasts more than 35,000 downloads, with a 4.5 rating in the Apple app store. It’s also available for Android.

Upon opening Campus Maps and approving the use of their location, the user is presented with a list of buildings on campus. Once they select the building they’re searching for, the user is immediately routed from their location to that building. Users can toggle between a simple street view and a detailed satellite mode, reminiscent of Google Earth.

Olivia Nielsen, freshman in open option, is already an avid user of the Campus Maps app after being shown the app by a friend.

“Being a new student at Iowa State, I found it very helpful because I didn’t know where any of the buildings are. When I got on the app, it was a clear view of where I needed to go,” Nielsen said. “It was just really helpful overall. I honestly think anyone on campus could use it.”

Isaac Hale, a high school student from Stillwater, Minn., was visiting his cousin on campus Jan. 23 with his parents, Scott and Cheryl. The trio all agreed that visitors would benefit from the app; it seemed simple to use, and that they would use it “for sure.”

Campus Maps creator Vikram Bhandari was a sophomore at the University of Maryland when the idea for the app was born.

“The idea for Campus Maps came from my own need,” said Bhandari, who created the app in his dorm room.

Bhandari said he was frustrated while trying to map out his classes at the beginning of the semester. The computer science major decided the solution was to build himself an app. As it turns out, Bhandari wasn’t the only one having trouble finding his way around campus. The app quickly went viral.

“I needed an app for me, so I built it, and apparently everybody agreed,” Bhandari said. “Everybody else just kind of dealt with the friction until I solved it.”

Bhandari said there are three major differences between Campus Maps and similar apps on the market.

The first advantage, he said, is speed. Campus Maps averages seven seconds from the moment you press the icon on your home screen to the moment your route is displayed. The second difference is that the app displays walking directions, rather than driving directions, as most students walk to class. Finally, unlike other apps, Campus Maps displays your current location and your destination simultaneously.

In the future, Bhandari plans to expand Campus Maps to help students find jobs and housing close to campus, complete with unfiltered ratings from ISU students.

Bhandari stressed that anyone with suggestions to make the ISU map better should email him at [email protected].

“I will personally reply to every single email because that matters,” Bhandari said. “If one person says something, 10 people are thinking it.”