My First App

In the ninth grade I wanted to find a free app to calculate compound interest. However, every app I came across had ugly UI, wasn't free or was bombarded with ads. So I thought it could be a fun challenge to make my own without these issues. I was able to independently create this app with the help of free online articles, developer forums and youtube tutorials. My focus was user customizability which is why on Compound Interest Cal you can customize everything from the accent colour to the app icon itself. As well as supporting dark/light mode. I looked through the App Store for similar apps and used them to determine what makes a good and bad app icon. From this and googling how to use Pixelmator Pro I was able to create a visually appealing icon. The final challenge was getting my app on the App Store. Unfortunately, Apple does not allow people under the age of 18 to publish apps, however they do allow people over the age of 13 to create apps. After calling Apple Developer Support the best option was to publish the app under my father's name and keep the copyright in my name. This project gave me insight into the world of mobile development as well as taught me resilience.

‍

What I learned

- Xcode workflow

- Swift

- Cocoapods and mobile API implementation

- Mobile data structures

- Pixelmator

- Icon design