iHave an iDea... part 1

Question: What is the top selling iOS app of all time?

Answer: As of May 5, 2012 it is... drumroll... Angry Birds.

Angry Birds is the top selling "Paid" app followed by Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, and Cut the rope. The fifth spot is also held by Angry Birds: Seasons. The most downloaded apps in the "Free" category are Facebook, Pandora, Words with Friends, Skype, and The Weather Channel.

Increasingly, I have been interested in iOS apps, understand I am not a developer at all. I have worked in the IT industry for years, but sitting in front of a keyboard and crushing code all day sounds like something just shy of torture. That said, I, like the millions of members of the "iUniverse"find something so compelling about the apps (and the devices) that Apple has thrust into our greasy mitts.  However, my journey has started on a rather personal note.

My muse for this is my one-year-old daughter, Hartley.  She LOVES my iPad.  So much so that "eye pah" was if I recall, the fourth word that she ever said, after DaDa & MaMa and NaNa (as in Banana). The fruit doesn't fall far from the proverbial tree.

After Mom and Dad (and Nanna's) the iPad is her favorite thing in the world. She is enamored with the device. For anyone that has ever raised, or been around a 1 year old, capturing their attention for any length of time is nearly impossible. But the iPad is amazing at this. It can easily capture up to an hour of her undivided attention. She loves bouncing between applications, and pressing the home button. I have the apps divided into a folder labeled "kids games" which she can pick out from the home screen with no parental help.  The problem is I would EASILY pay $3.00 or maybe even more for an app that could hold her attention for a few minutes at a time, but I haven't found that many. Most apps on the iTunes marketplace are targeted and designed for pre-K, ages 2 and up. Which is great, but she really took to the iPad at 6 months. In my estimation there is an underserved population.

Here are the problems:

1. Most of the apps i've tried are made linear, but one year old's don't adhere to that model, in fact they have no model. They don't need a story, they need an experience, think sandbox.

2. Buttons, popups, or other objects that "block" or stop the experience are killers. The sandbox is an equal opportunity employer. All objects are subject to clicking at any given time. This means back buttons, triggers for in app purchases, objects that trigger app switches or web pages to open, are interest killers and are a true pain in the butt for the parent's who need to "fix" the app.

3. There needs to be a balance between automation, triggered events, and giving the user autonomy. One year old's don't follow "rules" the same way we do, they want "experience"


Here are some of the things that work:

1. Humor, funny noises, over the top actions go a long way. Education needs to be fun.

2. The wackier the better, watch a few hours of kid's programming. Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Pokemon.  Kids have a predilection for insane, over the top, goofy stuff.