The Problem
University attendance still runs on paper sign-in sheets, buddy check-ins, or basic QR/check-in apps that don't hold up under scrutiny. A friend signs in for someone running late. A QR code gets screenshotted and passed around a group chat. A location field gets spoofed. None of it gives a lecturer a record they can actually trust, and reconciling any of it by hand afterward is its own tax on their time.
How It Works
Class-io verifies attendance on two layers that both have to check out before a sign-in counts.
Location is confirmed through GPS-locked tracking that takes multiple coordinate samples and averages them, filtering out the crude spoofing attempts a single fake reading would let through. On top of that, the QR code itself isn't static — it rotates on a timer, and each code carries a time-decaying encrypted token, so a code that's copied or screenshotted goes dead within minutes, long before it could circulate.
The system runs as two coordinated applications — one for lecturers, one for students — rather than one app trying to do both jobs. Lecturers get a live dashboard that updates as students check in during the session itself, not a report generated afterward. Offline sync means the app keeps working when campus wifi drops, syncing check-ins once connectivity returns instead of losing them.
Integrity Safeguards
Anti-screenshot safeguards on the display layer and session-level controls close off the easy workarounds that make most attendance apps trivial to game.
Admin & Reporting
What used to be a manual reconciliation job — cross-checking a paper sheet against a roster — is now a one-click export. Lecturers and administrators pull CSV or PDF attendance records straight from the dashboard.
Where It Stands
Live in production, with 1,500+ active students and 4 lecturers using it across their courses. Demoed directly to department leadership, with strong reception — an actual working system evaluated by the people who'd have to trust it, not a pitch.