When Mr Joshua Koh mulled over his experiences as a university student, he realised that he had been missing something crucial.

The 44-year-old founder of new student social networking app Campiiy, told The Straits Times that if he had had more access to information about courses and the quality of teaching in universities, he might have made more informed choices.

Taking into account the gaps in students' knowledge, he came up with Campiiy, which offers thousands of high-quality student reviews of courses and professors at two universities here - Singapore Management University (SMU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

"From the time when I was a student till today, university rankings and reviews have largely been based on research performance and citations," he said. "There is little reflection of teaching or module quality."

Campiiy, however, allows users to learn about students' real experiences. Users can look through current and former university students' evaluation of professors and courses.

All they have to do is download the free app on their mobile phones and indicate the university and courses they are interested in.

Campiiy has been downloaded by over 6,000 students in NUS and SMU since its launch in March.

Mr Koh said that the reason for its popularity might be that it addresses one of the crucial unmet needs of university students.

"Some things that students want to know just won't be in uni brochures, websites or rankings - for example, how rigorous a module is, or if the professor requires students to actively participate in class."

Campiiy's 21-year-old CEO, Mr Chun Soon Kon, is a student at NUS himself. He pointed out that a feature in the app allows students to message their seniors or peers for advice about courses and even campus life.

"Honest feedback from peers about a course or professor goes a long way in preventing unpleasant experiences," he said.

Mr Koh and Mr Chun plan to make Campiiy available to students from other local universities by the end of this year.

Next year they hope to work with students from United States, United Kingdom and Australian universities as well.

Mr Koh believes Campiiy could be especially useful to students who plan to enrol in universities overseas.

"These students probably wouldn't know anyone in the universities. Campiiy can provide them with necessary info about courses and professors and even allow them to connect with seniors in an unknown environment."