ONLINE REVOLUTIONARY:TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Dublin student Steven Troughton-Smith is Ireland's most successful developer of iPhone apps. If sales of his games and utilities continue at the pace they were at in late January, Troughton-Smith is on course to earn about €9,000 a month - after Apple takes its one-third cut. Not bad for someone who is halfway through his first year of a Digital Media Engineering course at Dublin City University.
A confirmed fan of all things Apple, the young developer has been creating software for the iPhone since its release. Originally, software could only be installed on phones that had been "jailbroken" - hacked with software that exposes their inner workings. Last June, when Apple announced a formal programme to allow third parties to write their own software and sell it through iTunes, he signed up straight away.
He describes the App Store as a "goldmine" because owners of iPhones and iPod Touches are spending money on all sorts of applications. While other mobile devices allow for installation of third-party software, Troughton-Smith says it is the power of the iPhone itself that has led to its success.
"There's no other device like the [ iPhone]," he says. "Nothing feels like it or is as fluid or responsive. It is a very powerful device because it is the same system that runs on Apple desktops."
His first effort, and one he did not expect Apple to approve, was Nuker, an iPhone port of the Nuke It tool which can crash older Windows PCs if you simply know its IP or network address. Success, and Apple's attention, came with Speed, a simple app that uses the built-in GPS component of the iPhone to tell you what speed you are travelling at. Apple liked it so much it is one of the application icons it is using in a global advertising campaign for the App Store.
While previous apps were developed in a matter of days, Troughton-Smith invested 175 days in Lights Off, an update of a simple puzzle game that had been popular on jailbroken iPhones. The effort has paid off. On a single day in late January, just days after the launch of Lights Off, Troughton-Smith earned over $1,000 (€754) from Apple from the sales of 671 copies of Lights Off, 51 copies of Speed and three of Same Game.
Troughton-Smith admits that the App Store is not necessarily a viable business model for large software companies, but says it is ideal for small groups of programmers with innovative ideas. At the moment, it is certainly proving profitable for this young programmer.
