View from the office

Next up in our Spotlight series we’re turning our attention to Christchurch-based developers Smudge Apps. As we all know, New Zealand has some pretty talented developers and Reuben Bijl and Toby Vincent are no exception. They have created a myriad of their own apps under the company but are now moving (and very successfully) into the world of developing for third parties.

Although they had already released a number of apps Smudge first got our attention when Yellow was released, the extremely successful app for Yellow Pages.  It became a number one hit on the App Store very quickly but they didn’t rest there. Hot on the heels of Yellow came Flicks, a movie timetable app, and Smudge Apps cemented their place as serious iPhone developers in New Zealand.

But who are Reuben Bijl and Toby Vincent and where do they come from? What were the drivers for developing for iPhone and what are their plans going forward? I sat down with Reuben over a coffee to find out more…

Could you tell me a little about yourself, the company and how you came to code iPhone apps? What were the drivers behind developing?

Toby and I started Smudge Apps a little over a year ago (October ’08) when we saw room on the App Store for some fun apps (before there were really any in that genre), as well as useful utilities. My background was in Music and I had been interested in computer related things for many years, working at MagnumMac at the time. Toby has a background in graphic design so we matched up as a team really well.

Is Smudge Apps a full-time operation yet, or is this just a hobby? What else are you up to?

Toby and I both do this full time, but try to keep it pretty fun!

Which was your first app and can you give me some background on it, where the idea came from etc?

It was coming up to Halloween at the time and the first app we made was a great sounds app that was really useful for freaking people out. The app’s simply called Halloween and available here

Spooooooky

How much impact has the likes of Yellow and Flicks had on the business?

Working on the Yellow App with Yellow is a great reference app, and something that we will be able to keep improving as we can.

What is the long-term strategy for Smudge Apps and the iPhone – do you see yourselves investing further in the platform going forward? Is in-house development going to be the driver going forward or will it be contract work? To be cheeky….have you made your millions yet?

Haven’t made our millions yet! Our goal is to make products that we would be really excited to download and use ourselves, we have a lot of ideas, but unfortunately not many of them will be able to be used by millions of people. We’re working really hard at the moment to make quite a few really great apps for New Zealanders, I can’t really talk about any of them until they’re released but I can say it’s definitely a great time to be an iPhone user in New Zealand with data plans so affordable now and exciting new apps coming out specifically for New Zealand.

Obviously you guys use an iPhone, but how do you use it in your personal life, do you enjoy gaming etc or is it purely for business?

We’re the biggest users of our NZ apps! Flicks was a real dream project, we enjoy going to the movies and use this app all the time to see what’s on. We also use our phones for communicating, having your calendar with you all the time is so useful, all the things we seem to take for granted now that people with many other phones can’t even dream of using their phones for! We’re not big mobile gamers, however sometimes a game will come out on the iPhone that we’ll pick up and spend the day trying to beat each other’s high scores. I’ll challenge anyone to Guitar Hero and pretty confident I can come out on top, apart from my brother!

Smudge Apps

The Plug

Solutions

Smudge Apps strives to create quality applications that are engaging, useful, and popular both in New Zealand and worldwide. We work with our customers closely towards the common goal of producing a quality product and bringing it to market quickly and effectively for a cost-effective investment. Our team is skilled in navigating the platform, device, distribution, and organizational complexities of the iPhone and App Store. As a result, we produce designs that can be coded, work flawlessly on the device, and utilize a natural, mobile context rather than an experience based on a scaled down large-screen paradigms.

Experience

We have produced multiple applications that have entered Apple’s “Top App” (most downloaded) lists worldwide in both “paid” and “free” categories. We have had close to 5 million downloads of our products. Smudge has completed contracts for large corporations both in New Zealand and internationally. We pride ourselves on contributing the knowledge, experience and contacts we have to every aspect of the development process, and work closely with our clients to create applications that realize their potential. For more information, or if you would like to work with us, please contact us here.

I can say, first hand, that there are going to be some great apps coming out of the Smudge Apps office so watch this space.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Reuben.