Northwestern became the first school in the country to premiere an Android smartphone application Monday.

The app, Blackboard Mobile Central, has been available for Apple and BlackBerry products since December. NU is the first institution to expand the app to Android smartphones.

The free app is customized for each campus. The NU version provides campus maps, campus news, sports schedules and a campus directory, with more features scheduled to be added soon.

The application is available to anyone who wants to have access to this type of information about a particular institution.

Harlan Wallach, Media Architect at NU Information Technology’s Academic and Research Technology group said in a Blackboard release that most incoming students have smartphones, an increasing number of which are Androids.

“The ability for us to reach students through smartphones is key to the overall experience and efficiency of our university,” Wallach said.