App Stories

One of our favorite things is hearing stories of how apps have affected peoples' lives. Here are some we've collected.

An interview with me - Michael Sliwinski's story - it's all about passion! by Michael Sliwinski

A few days ago Apple accepted our Nozbe iOS apps and I celebrated 6 years of running Nozbe. I can't believe how time flies. I launched Nozbe on February 1st 2007 and although 6 years have passed, I feel like I'm just getting started! To celebrate this anniversary I wanted to write a lengthy blog... read the rest

Love by Brent Simmons

At the Cyclops the other night I was talking with fellow Mac and iOS developers. One person mentioned that a friend had acquired an iOS game — a good game that’s less popular than it deserves, that maybe just needs some marketing. Person: “So here’s the question. Would my friend’s iOS app be successful if... read the rest

How HoursTracker earns five figures a month on the App Store by Carlos Ribas

I was almost two years into a job as Senior .NET Developer when my boss called me into his office. ?You should absolutely write some iPhone apps!? This was early 2009. He had just read about Ethan Nicholas striking it rich after releasing a free ?Lite? version of his game, iShoot. ?Ethan wrote this game without... read the rest

How The Elements came to be by Theodore Gray

For various reasons I'm writing here for the first time a true account of how the app "The Elements: A Visual Exploration" came to exist on the iPad. Just about everything to do with the The Elements was either a misunderstanding or an indefensibly poor decision, right up to and including the posting of this... read the rest

App Store Realities by Stephen Orth

One day, in late 2008, I got a call from Apple: “Would I mind if they used Timewerks in some of their marketing materials?” Mind? No, I wouldn’t mind. I signed some release forms. Weeks passed. I heard nothing. Well, so much for that, I thought. Then, on a Sunday morning in late January 2009, a friend... read the rest

Hunome – joining the dots of our humanness by hunomer

A life is a collection of stories to tell. Every life is worthy of a thousand stories. Some stories get spread beyond our dinner conversations, wisdom of elders, research findings and jokes at the bar, but all of them are stories that humanity is made of. Over the past 20 years an idea has been brewing... read the rest

Parenthood as seen through app history by emveedeeaych

…from choosing a name to Braxton Hicks read the rest

How Hours became a top grossing app by Jeremy Olson

The reason I am not focusing on the design in this article is that when I asked on Twitter what people want to know about, the overwhelming response was: how on earth did you market the app? Some seem to believe I have this magical ability to get featured by Apple, TechCrunch, etc. etc. etc. I don’t.... read the rest

The Best Caesar by Tyson Caly

The recipe I simply had to share with the world. Before my dad passed away when I was 12, he was a manager at my family’s restaurant and an incredible home cook. He made the best Caesar salad for dinner. Truly mouthwatering. It’s a recipe that has an almost magical ability to wow people and bring them together... read the rest

App: My Story by Nico Prananta

My first app was a bingo game. Prior to that, I only knew how to code in Java. Before learning Java back in college, I always thought that software was the result of magic. When I entered master course in Japan, I was coding sloppily in C for research. Mostly... read the rest

App: Our Story by Maria & Dimitri Bouniol

When I met Jake and Jed at the ALT conference in San Francisco this summer, I was really touched by their passion and drive, and I am thrilled to be a part of this project. Building Apps is extremely difficult and challenging, especially for independent developers... read the rest

Expect the Unexpected by Russell Ivanovic

Let me start at the end: Android is finally good. Now allow me to take you on a short journey, lest, after listening to Ira Glass and the latest This American Life episode you think I might be high. It begins when Shifty Jelly first starting dabbling in Android development. A HTC Desire turned up in... read the rest

The Differences Made in Life Art-wise and Technology by Chelle Destefano

This got me very excited and I started to collect these type of games, made by Sierra. These games would become my outlet for many years, growing up and would also lead me into the direction of art. It would be the start of the road to my becoming an artist. I would write stories and draw images... read the rest

App: The Human Story – My Story like many others by Luke Durrant

A recently posted kickstarter project is making a documentary about the inception of the App and they want to hear about app stories. I decided to write my story because watching the trailer for the film I get the feeling that most... read the rest

Getting rich on apps in the heart of Ukraine by Chris Stokel-Walker

“Uh guys, I think we took a wrong turn somewhere.” Denys Zhadanov, the 25-year-old marketing director of Readdle, a Ukrainian app-development company, peers out from behind the wheel... read the rest

Gravitations – My App Story by Michael Stratford

Over three years ago at JLOOP, we had a company wide initiative to come up with app ideas. One of Daniel’s ideas was about exploring space and using the gravitational pull of planets to help you. I liked the concept a lot and morphed it into a pitch about turning that concept into a puzzle game like... read the rest

Origins of the AppStore: The Electronic AppWrapper by Stela Xhiku

At the opening of the 1990s, veteran developer and startup junkie, Jesse Tayler, invented the Electronic AppWrapper, the predecessor to the original iTumes music store and today’s iPhone AppStore. That first AppStore was created with the same tools developers use to make iPhone apps today. TENDIGI... read the rest

App: The Human Story - My Story by Rod Schmidt

There is a Kickstarter project that was started recently for a film titled App: The Human Story. It “is the story of the cultural phenomenon that touches all our lives.” It is about the people who make apps. Many of them are people I follow on blogs, and listen to on podcasts, and look up to. I simply... read the rest