Original link: https://www.ifanr.com/app/1492794
Not long ago, Apple released the latest data . The number of Apple development teams in Greater China (including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) exceeded 5 million, an increase from 4.4 million last year.
In addition, a force to be reckoned with with great potential is the tens of thousands of small development teams from all over the world. Of the new small development teams in 2021, 23% are from mainland China.
The distribution advantage of the App Store makes the apps they create easily discoverable and downloadable on Apple platforms in 175 countries and regions. In 2021, about 40% of app downloads by these small development teams and emerging app creators will come from overseas users.
On the one hand, the Chinese market has the soil suitable for small teams to grow, and on the other hand, it benefits from the small business plan implemented by Apple on January 1, 2021.
The plan is aimed at small businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million. Apple offers discounts on App Store commissions down to 15%, giving the developer community greater motivation to devote themselves to the construction of the App Store ecosystem.
On the eve of WWDC22, four outstanding developers of the App Store in China were interviewed by us. The following are their stories.
Family is his source of inspiration
HomeTime, Meow for a while, Lazy Cat Save Money, PutApp, all of the above are the work of an independent developer, Larry Li Shichao of Ma Liquankai Studio.
As a model of one person as a team, Larry can be regarded as an extremely hardworking and productive indie developer.
He has created more than ten applications in nine years, and he takes care of the full stack work such as architecture, design, product, and development by himself. Even after the application is launched, he has to carry out operation and promotion by himself. Without diamonds, ordinary people really can’t do this work.
After listening to the background of the above story, I became more interested in the app developed by Larry. During the introduction of the Demo, Larry, who looked shy, showed great pride.
Behind this confidence, not only because these apps are his works, but also because every app, before it is developed, has an opportunity related to family affection.
HomeTime, a warm productivity tool. Users can add all the information of their loved ones in the app, including birthdays, hobbies, important moments, reminders, etc., and then the app will generate a to-do list, reminding us to spend more time with our family on every memorable day .
In Larry’s view, HomeTime isn’t just a productivity tool, it’s more like a home alarm clock. When the epidemic broke out in 2020, Larry rarely spent two months with his parents. The family was very popular, talking and laughing. He saw the happiness on his parents’ faces, which became an opportunity to create HomeTime.
He wanted to use an app to remind busy people to spend more time with their families.
In Jay Chou’s “Grandma”, there is a lyric that moved me very much: “Grandma’s expectations gradually turned into helplessness. The adults still don’t understand. What she wants is company, not 600 yuan”.
The plan in his heart gradually took shape. Larry started development without saying a word, and put HomeTime on the App Store in 2021. As of press time, he has received 778 reviews, with a total score of 4.8 (out of 5), and user evaluations are mainly based on recognition and encouragement. , and some people made suggestions for updates, and the discussion atmosphere was very friendly.
A life detail, a simple idea, contributed to a heartwarming app.
Another equally emotional developer, Alex, had a similar experience. The ideaTiny Studio he founded has successively launched three applications, all of which are in the category of efficiency tools, and have made a unique product tone.
Tools are also fun and loving
Most people are familiar with the Pomodoro Technique, and a number of productivity tools have been derived from this time management method, but “Focus on Noodles” by ideaTiny Studio is perhaps the most human of them all.
The app introduces a philosophy:
Cooking a good bowl of noodles takes time.
It compares work to cooking noodles. When cooking noodles, you need to concentrate on cooking, control the heat, and add main ingredients and seasonings at the right time. You also need to concentrate on work, follow your own methodology, and implement every step and process in place.
When the work is done, a bowl of noodles is cooked.
Every time you focus, you have the opportunity to exchange for a story card. Although they are all familiar fairy tales, Alex added some easter eggs to them. For example, in the card of “The Three Little Pigs”, the house of the three little pigs was blowing by the big bad wolf and the wind before solving the puzzle. When we find the location of the noodles, we will find that the little pigs put a bowl of hot noodles. Hang it in front of the big bad wolf and let it cool, the picture is full of wonderful imagination.
The reason why these story cards have such a big brain hole is actually that Alex was inspired by his daughter and created it.
Children have wild imaginations, and adults generally find it difficult to have such detached and interesting ideas, so Alex, with the inspiration of his daughter, built 27 story cards in “Focus on Noodles” as part of the reward system, allowing users to The fun of the game is felt in an efficiency software, and the story card is transformed into a collection element, and the user will look forward to the next story every time.
Because of this excellent design texture, “Focus on Noodles” has appeared on the App Store recommendation page several times, and has received 7,000+ reviews and a score of 4.9. Since the launch of the app, Alex’s daughter has become his most loyal product fan. He sees that her daughter will snap off the screen of her mobile phone before doing anything, just like putting the lid on the pot when cooking noodles. Cover opened.
An action, a bunch of brain holes, form an app full of energy. On June 1, Apple released the shortlist for the 2022 Design Awards , and “Focus on Noodles” appeared in the “Innovative Thinking” category. I sincerely hope that Alex can finally win the award.
Cross the river by feeling the stones
Kevin, the founder of Desert Island Studio, shared with us the story of the studio’s nirvana rebirth. He has experienced failure before he understands the value of success.
Kevin and his team have tried to close down and experienced great joy and sorrow. They are more aware of the importance of survival. Kevin brought this concept into the game and created “Desert Island” which combines survival, sci-fi, and isolated island elements. Survival” is unique on the mobile side.
Kevin is obsessed with works such as the American TV series “Lost” and Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. He has a unique obsession with nature and animals. He pours his hobby into this game. This sets the main tone of the game.
In the early stage of game development, there were only two people in the team, a program developer and a game planner. Kevin knew in his heart that he could not make a game without art, so he found an artist on the Internet, which is interesting to say, he was originally a Real estate sales, like Kevin, belongs to the type of half-way monk, but after self-study, he submitted his own works to Kevin’s team. Both parties were satisfied, so they set an art design similar to “Mechanical City” according to the submitted works. Certainly.
▲ In-game screenshots
After all the hardships like this, Kevin finally completed the formation of the project team. After 5 months of development and testing time, he finally made ends meet in the studio. On the eve of closing, he completed “Desert Island Survival” and put it on the App Store. Recommended, but problems followed. The team was unfamiliar with the Apple payment system. Looking at the influx of traffic, it failed to realize it. They urgently called for external assistance and launched the payment system overnight before pulling the studio from the edge of the store closure. came back.
Afterwards, the deserted island team had the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with Apple’s game industry experts. After that, the team learned from experience and improved the charging system, and the retention was greatly improved.
After six years of stable operation, “Desert Island Survival” has grown into a quite successful business simulation game. With a stable revenue stream, the desert island studio behind it has also started to take the next step. Under the nourishment of Apple’s App Store ecology, good ideas have taken root.
An obsession, and a small team that “gathered together” made a rare survival game on the market germinate on the mobile phone.
Unearth historical treasures in the game
Chinese culture has been around for five thousand years, and the rich cultural heritage accumulated in the long history of our country has become a treasure trove of creation for gamers. There have been historical games that are talked about on major platforms, but most of them are the themes of the Three Kingdoms: “Three Kingdoms”, “Total War: Three Kingdoms”, “Dynasty Warriors”, and similar works abound.
Xu Beiqian and his team members are all interested in history and games, and have common goals and hobbies, so they work hard together.
Eight of them founded Fenshu Studio, and launched the first game “Little Five Thousand Years” last year. They didn’t want to tell a homogeneous story, so the game background covers the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Three Kingdoms and other periods. events, and established biographies including Xiang Yu, Yuan Shao, Lü Bu, Sima Yi, etc.
Abandoning the general narrative method is what makes “Little Five Thousand Years” different in terms of gameplay.
Our team’s thinking is to tell people’s stories clearly. In this regard, we are different from the Western way of telling history. This is our own independent view.
With this belief in mind, “Little Five Thousand Years” pioneered allowing players to play different roles in the biography of the characters. Many story lines are designed in it. Players make different choices, which will trigger different endings, and there will be repeated play. Value and fun.
In order to more effectively portray the grandeur of the battlefield, “Little Five Thousand Years” has made many attempts at the technical level, including using a multi-threaded architecture to realize the visual spectacle of 10,000 people on the same screen, and using the art form of “ink + cartoon” to render the environment and characters, not only retains the elements of national style, but also has affinity.
“Little Five Thousand Years”, which has been in operation for more than a year, is still being updated and iterated in all aspects. They look forward to this time WWDC can provide better solutions in terms of graphics and logical computing capabilities, allowing the game to run smoothly on iOS devices. Smoother and liberated framerates.
Summarize
Different from big factories, independent developers and small development teams often encounter the situation that one person has multiple roles, and they lack skills. They need the technical and operational support provided by the platform or the mall. In the face of the demands of these developers, Apple will respond to any requests. In addition to the small business plan mentioned at the beginning of the article, it will also hold lectures and forums from time to time to help developers solve their problems and support each other.
The emergence of algae has transformed the original topography of the earth, turning the surface full of hard stones into soil suitable for plants to take root, thus giving birth to a flowery ecology.
After more than ten years of development, the App Store has established a benign soil suitable for fine-grained operations. It is this land that allows those developers who have love to turn their thoughts into reality at will, and make small love into big love .
They are all looking forward to the annual developer event WWDC, because in these few days, developers from all over the world gather together, which is a rare opportunity to learn, learn the strengths of others, and improve themselves.
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