Student-developed Circl app aims to grow student connections

LEAH HIBBERT Staff Writer

Have you ever tried making plans with your friends but have no idea what their schedule looks like? The new Circl app, developed by former University of Tennessee students, is aiming to solve this problem.

In the height of the pandemic, three students came together to create an app that exclusively focuses on availability and planning.

Parker Sherrill, a 2022 computer science and international business graduate, Dawson Bristow, a 2021 business analytics graduate and senior computer science major Jeffrey Kending have spent the last few years developing an app that helps to bring friends closer.

Parker Sherrill, a 2022 computer science and international business graduate, Dawson Bristow, a 2021 business analytics graduate and senior and computer science major Jeffrey Kending have spent the last few years developing the Circl app.

“I had this idea, and I knew I wanted to work on it but had no idea what to do next, so I googled how to create an app and went from there,” Bristow said.

After researching the basics of app creation, Bristow decided to reach out to Sherrill for some outlook on the cyber aspects.

“Dawson approached me during COVID with an idea for an app that centers around peoples’ schedules and availability. There’s no social media app that allows you to see the exact schedules of your friends and what they’re doing or plan to do that day,” Sherrill said.

Kending was then approached by Dawson to be the third individual on the founding team of Circl.

“The first time I met him was on a Zoom call, and the next day he was all on board to be a part of the journey,” Sherrill said.

Kending started by working part-time on small tasks, but is now en-route to a full-time position dealing with the data servers and Java implementations with the application after he graduates from Lipscomb University this May.

The intended purpose of the app is to share your schedule with friends to develop closer connections. Although many apps allow you to see other peoples locations, the two have expressed that there is not an app that updates you on what people are currently doing, their plans for the day, their class schedule or their availability.

“I had Find My Friends on for most of my buddies, but I never knew if they were actually free or not to hang out,” Bristow said.

Both Sherrill and Bristow were still finishing their undergraduate degrees when they began to develop the app, but they still managed to dedicate a significant amount of time during the week to its improvement. At first, it was just the two of them and the Internet as their only resource. It stayed that way for a while, until the two began running tests for the app and reached out to skilled individuals on Discord for more guidance.

“These people make it possible to build these types of apps,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill and Bristow have received assistance and feedback from several of these “big-whigs,” including a computer science professor at the University of Maryland named Sheldon Linker. Linker helped Sherrill and Bristow to create the entire database needed for the application’s functionality because of the potential he saw in the app.

In the two years that the pair has been working on the application, many of the other individuals that assisted Sherrill and Bristow also saw the app’s potential and provided help without charge. Sherrill and Bristow have even landed an investor for the app, and they have many plans underway for future marketing.

The goal of Circl is to use technology in order to foster real-life interactions.

“We want people to hang out in real life rather than always being on their phones, and that is what Circl is for,” Bristow said.

The app launched in December of 2022, but in the next month or so, the app will allow for Google and Apple calendars to sync with the app, along with personalization of what friends in your Circl can see your events, schedule and daily plans.

Circl allows the user to share as much or as little as they want about their availability. You can show exactly where you are and what you’re doing, or just change your status to “busy” or “available.”

Circl even allows you to invite friends to certain events and create events of your own.

Sherrill and Bristow are also hoping to feature specific events around Knoxville, especially in popular hot-spots and bars like SoKno Taco Cantina and Literboard.

So the next time you’re stressed about mak- ing plans, unsure if your friends are still in class or just plain want to hit up the bar for karaoke, the Circl app might be a good option for you.