Appillionaires (eBook)

Chris Stevens (London) is a leading designer of iPad and iPhone software. He created the best-selling app, Alice for the iPad, and also designed Twitch Origins, the first four-player game for iPhone. He has worked for BBC television and CNET, producing cutting-edge multimedia. Formerly a technology columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Times, Chris also presented and directed Space Bubble, a popular gadget show. Alongside his writing, Chris is an illustrator and film editor. He's worked for Warner Bros, EMAP, and Wired magazine.

PART I: THE BIRTH OF THE APP 1

Chapter 1: Introduction 3

Th ere's Gold in Th em Hills 4

App Store Roulette 5

Challenges with the App Store 6

Th e App Community 8

Th e Siren Call 10

Why I Wrote Appillionaires 11

Where Will the Market Take Us? 11

Th e Band of Dreamers 14

Summary 15

Chapter 2: Th e Rise of the App 17

Apple's False Start 18

Taking a Journey Back in Time 22

Finding a Carrier Was the Th ing 23

Summary 23

Chapter 3: A Bedroom Revolution 25

Birth of the App Store 25

What Apple Learned from the First Successful Apps 28

A Renaissance in Gaming 33

Summary 35

Chapter 4: Th e Gold Rush 37

A Taste of Success 37

Feeling the Appillionaire Buzz 39

Th e Fallacy of Easy Money 40

Summary 41

Chapter 5: Th e First Million 43

A Box of Delights 43

Th e Boy Genius 45

Th e Hacker Army Grows 47

Apps Invade by Stealth 49

Th e Bedroom Programmer Awakes 51

Summary 57

PART II: THE APPILLIONAIRES 59

Chapter 6: Doodle Jump 61

Croatian Dreams 62

Bubblewrap 64

If at First You Don't Succeed . . . 67

Tic Tac Toe 69

A Hand-Built Look and Feel 72

Doodle Jump Is Born 74

Doodle Jump 2 Is Born 83

How Doodle Jump Changed Th eir Lives 87

Summary 90

Chapter 7: Harbor Master 91

Romancing the App 92

Harbor Master Is Born 95

Behind the Scenes 101

Summary 103

Chapter 8: Pocket God 105

A Basic Start 106

Dropping Out 107

Hardware Secrets 109

How to Play God 110

Th e Evolution of Pocket God 114

Th e Life and Times of Castelnuovo 116

Th e Public's Reaction 118

Luck Is Part of the Formula 119

Summary 120

Chapter 9: StickWars 123

Defending the Castle 124

A Life at Sea 129

Summary 131

Chapter 10: Angry Birds 133

A Global Hit 134

52nd Time Lucky 135

A Rich History of Flying Animals 139

Bigger than the iPhone 142

Setting the App Standard 145

Summary 146

PART III: THE APP REVOLUTION 149

Chapter 11: From Bedroom to Boardroom 151

A Golden Age 151

An Escape from Corporate Tyranny 152

Invasion of the Body Snatchers 159

Summary 162

Chapter 12: Life in the Trenches 165

An Expensive Game 166

Trust-Fund Fantasies 170

Feeding Time 176

A Wicked Game 178

A Special Time in History 184

Th e Patent Th reat 190

Summary 191

Chapter 13: Th e Future of the App 193

Th e Changing of the Guard 194

What Makes a Killer App? 195

Summary 199