Buyers and Sellers Find Appeal in Apps

Developing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad applications continues to be an integral part of business for several local companies, including IFWORLD Inc. in Johnson and PAZE Interactive in Rogers.

Both offer custom website design, development, consulting, etc., but also recognize the potential profit in apps. A report by Flurry Analytics indicated 280 million apps were downloaded in December 2009, resulting in $250 million in revenues.

Tapping into that market was “a natural progression” for PAZE, vice president Wes Booker said. PAZE currently has six apps available, its most recent being the Patch Farkle dice game released in January. Like most of PAZE’s apps, Patch Farkle sells for 99 cents.

PAZE’s most popular app is Quitter, which helps users track how long they’ve been smoke-free and how much money they’ve saved. The app was recognized by CNN and is approaching 150,000 downloads, PAZE president Neal Colston said.

PAZE is expected to release an app for Word Shout, another Patch Products game, sometime in August.

IFWORLD developer and co-founder Scott Mills, meanwhile, released the Fast Draw Video app on June 23. Mills said the idea for it was spawned by his own frustration while trying to record video of his toddler daughter.

Mills’ idea was to develop an app that starts recording as soon as the icon is tapped.

“I just wrote a quick app, and that’s basically what it does,” Mills said. “All you have to do is tap the icon and it starts recording.”

Mills said “a couple hundred” of the apps have been sold, and like his counterparts at PAZE, he continues to develop new – and potentially lucrative – apps.