BUILDING APPS FOR APPLE
G rowing up, Shravan and Sanjay Kumaran from Chennai idolised Steve Jobs. The way some children dream of being firefighters or pilots, they dreamed of someday creating an app for the Apple App Store.
Amused, their dad, Kumaran, a software engineer, taught them some basic computer programming. And that was all it took. By ages 11 and 10 respectively, they were reading advanced material and doing complex programming. Sanjay was still only in Class 3.
In 2011, they developed their first app — Catch Me Cop — an iOS version of the offline chor-police game. They registered their partnership firm in December 2011, and submitted their app.
“Apple has a very rigid testing procedure. If there’s one bug or it’s not visually appealing, they reject it. They take at least two weeks to get back. But they accepted our first app in a week. I still remember the day. Dad brought home a cake to celebrate,” says Shravan, grinning.
Since then, the boys have developed seven apps for iOS — gaming apps, prayer apps, helpline and emergency number apps — and three for Android. In addition to their computer, they have invested in an iPad and an Android phone.
“We treat our dad as our venture capitalist. For each device, we pitch our app ideas to him to justify the cost,” Shravan says. OUR TRIAL It’s not just fun and games. We tried their Emergency Booth app, which promises to put you in touch with local ambulance, fire brigade and police services wherever you are. And we got a call, instantly, from a local ambulance service in Mumbai!
Their apps have had an average of 4,000 to 10,000 downloads each.
In 2015, Tamil Nadu governor Konijeti Rosaiah conferred upon them the Young Achievers Award given by Space Kidz India, a platform for young scientists.
“We gave the award to Shravan and Sanjay because they were the youngest app developers in the country. It was a delight interacting with them. They are extremely smart kinds and way mature for their age,” says Dr Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO of Space Kidz India.