In the summer of 2015 the official mobile application of Janos Xantus Zoo was developed and now it is even more exciting to roam around the zoo with it.
The first menu of the application is the interactive map menu, where many exciting functions await our visitors. A navigation system helps to get about the kennels, but if we get lost on the map, the “Show my location” button zooms into our current position on the map. The map is searchable; you can display the position of animals with the help of the bottom panel. By clicking on the photos of the animals you can instantly see their profile. If you cannot decide what you see in the kennel, you can choose the “Nearby animals” function that shows you, based on your current position, which animals are around you.
The „Animals” menu categorizes the animal species in the zoo. By clicking on an animal, its profile is displayed and besides general information there are specialties to see, like the name of those living in our zoo or their particular properties. The photo and video gallery (which is constantly updated) serve to make it more exciting to get to know the animals because we can see them in moments when a usual visitor cannot meet them. Our application offers a chance to those who wish to support us keeping these animals by a small sum of money. On the animal profiles a „I support” button is available with which you can donate money by sending a text message that could buy either their daily water/food supply or medical care. We reward the generosity of our supporters by an automatic Facebook post which is, if the visitor allows, going to be public on our Facebook page.
In the mobile application besides zoo news there are many other pieces of useful information, such as our program guide, tickets and availabilities or information about the next program. From the „Games” menu you can download an exciting game developed especially for young children by Synthesis-Net LLC.
One of the greatest innovations is the notification sending centre especially developed for our mobile application. This is a feature that not many zoos can boast of around the world. A colleague of the zoo is allowed to send short notifications to users about the coming events and programmes (concert, public feeding, new-borns, etc.) via a web interface. When sending the message, the colleague can choose if the message is to be sent to all users or j