An Auckland man's side-gig paid off, big time, during 2019.
A North Shore web developer Leandro Palmieri, aka Beetix, is behind the app that topped Apple's chart of NZ's most-downloaded paid iPhone apps for the year.
He prefers not to say how many copies were downloaded - but every user paid. Unfashionably - but successfully - Palmieri did not run with a "freemium" model. That is, some free content with an in-app purchase option to unlock the full features. Rather, users had to pay the full whack upfront.
Palmieri first developed NZ Driving Theory Test in 2013, after spotting a gap in the market.
"I wanted to make it look and feel like a driving quiz by theming it accordingly while keeping it clean and easy to use," he said.
He's reinvested his profits in new kit and developing an Android version of Driving Theory, plus the 99 cent NZ Passport Photo app for helping people shoot a passport photo to DIA specs, and SherlockCam, which adds information about where and when photos are taken (see his full range under the Beetix moniker here).
The 41-year-old's portfolio is growing but he's kept on his day job as a senior developer at North Shore web agency Toast.
His app has spawned a raft of imitations, including Road Code Learners Test NZ ($6.99), which came in at number 4.
Coastguard NZ's trip-logging Coastguard App ($3.49), developed in part by grants from Maritime NZ and BayTrust, who chipped in $100,000 and helped raise another $146,000 toward its development, came in at number two.
And Lower Hutt company Right Place Resources also made Apple's paid iPhone app chart with two of its topographic map efforts utilising Land Information New Zealand data (both $6.99): NZ Topo50 South Island (at 7) and NZ Topo50 North Island (at 15).
Image / NZ Game Calls
And NZ Game Calls ($3.49), developed by Aaron Newnham - who bills himself as a self-employed app developer - came in at number 24.
Newnham promotes his app as a cheaper alternative to electronic game callers - though he recommends attaching your phone to a Bluetooth speaker for best results.
His effort has drawn rave reviews from deer, duck and other hunters.
One user review said, "I was a bit hesitant to use it. However, the other day I drove down the Hollyford Road (South Island ) to see if anything was still roaring. I used your app amplified through the speakers in my truck [and] had an instant reply! The stag was quite worked up and crashed right to within 50m of my truck. Wicked app! worth the purchase! Well done!"
Image / NZ Game Calls
Elsewhere on the paid app chart, paying to avoid ads was a popular theme.
Sky Guide (19) and SkyView (30) - which both let you point your phone's camera at the night sky then automatically identify stars and planets - can be downloaded free, then prompt you to upgrade to a paid version to avoid constant pop-up promotions.
Apple, which typically takes a 30 per cent cut on App Store sales, says that since App Store launched in 2008, developers have earned over US$155 billion, with a quarter of those earnings coming from the past year alone.
App Store spending totaled US$1.4 billion ($1.99b) between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, up 16 per cent from the same period in 2018, the company said in a blog post.
The most popular free iPhone apps charts are dominated by the familiar big names - Instagram, Facebook Messenger, YouTube et al - but Spark and Vodafone NZ's self-apps do make the Top 30, as do TVNZ, ANZ and Air NZ's apps.
And on of the multinational apps - McDonalds' effort - was developed by Auckland company Plexure, which has developed a global business on the success of its worldwide contract with the fast-food maker.
And in the free iPad app chart, locals TVNZ, Trade Me, 3Now, Sky Go, Spark Sport (a free download but with pay-to-view content) and recent Spark acquisition Lightbox (ditto) feature.
AfterPay was the most popular of the new wave of buy-now, pay-later apps sweeping into NZ from across the Tasman. It came in at 27 on the free iPhone app chart.
1 Instagram 2 Facebook Messenger 3 YouTube 4 WhatsApp Messenger 5 Snapchat 6 Netflix 7 Facebook 8 Spotify 9 TikTok 10 Gmail 11 Uber Eats 12 Lime 13 McDonald's 14 Google Maps 15 Uber 16 Wish 17 FaceApp - AI Face Editor 18 Google Chrome 19 Trade Me 20 Ola Cabs 21 TVNZ 22 Google Home 23 Google Docs 24 My Vodafone NZ 25 Spark NZ 26 Google Drive 27 Afterpay 28 Air NZ mobile app 29 Bitmoji 30 ANZ goMoney NZ
Top paid iPhone apps
NZ, 2019
1 NZ Driving Theory Test 2 Coastguard NZ 3 The Wonder Weeks 4 Road Code Learners Test NZ 5 Te Reo Māori 6 Monash University FODMAP diet 7 NZ Topo50 South Island 8 Forest - Stay focused 9 Facetune 10 Sezzy Timer 11 PlantSnap Pro: Identify Plants 12 Arrowhead Alarm Products Elite 13 Afterlight — Photo Editor 14 AutoSleep Tracker for Watch 15 NZ Topo50 North Island 16 Topo GPS New Zealand 17Procreate Pocket 18 TouchRetouch 19 Sky Guide 20 Full Fitness : Exercise Workout Trainer 21 MarineTraffic - Ship Tracking 22 WOT Baby 23 kirakira+ 24 NZ GAME CALLS 25 WikiCamps New Zealand 26 HappyCow Find Vegan Food 27 Parenting Baby's Brain 28 Boating Australia&NZ 29 Hear My Baby Heartbeat Monitor 30 SkyView
Top free iPad apps
NZ, 2019
1 Netflix 2 YouTube 3 Messenger 4 TVNZ 5 Google Chrome 6 Gmail 7 Spotify Get music and podcasts 8 Calculator ٞ 9 Facebook 10 TikTok 11 Google Docs 12 Google Drive 13 Minecraft: Education Edition 14 Spark Sport 15 Wish 16 ThreeNow 17 Google Maps 18 Trade Me 19 Microsoft Word 20 Google Home 21 Google Slides 22 YouTube Kids 23 Drum Pad Machine - Beat Maker 24 Lightbox NZ 25 Google 26 Google Sheets >strong>27 Google Earth 28 SKY GO NZ 29 Microsoft Outlook 30 YouTube Music
1 Procreate 2 Notability 3 GoodNotes 5 4 Book Creator for iPad 5 Duet Display 6 GoodReader PDF Editor & Viewer 7 PDF Expert 7: PDF Editor 8 Toca Hair Salon 3 9 NZ Driving Theory Test 10 LumaFusion 11 Green Screen by Do Ink 12 Nebo Professional note-taking 13 Toca Life: Neighborhood 14 Affinity Designer 15 Teach Your Monster to Read 16 Explain EDU 17 Affinity Photo 18 Popplet 19 Math Bingo 20 Amaziograph 21 Scanner Pro: PDF Scanner App 22 forScore 23 PDF Converter by Readdle 24 Little Kitten -My Favorite Cat 25 Strip Designer 26 Notes Plus 27 Toca Kitchen 2 28 Messaging for Whatsapp Chat 29 RoughAnimator - animation app 30 Puppet Pals HD Director's Pass
Top free iPhone games
NZ, 2019
1 Color Bump 3D 2 aquapark.io 3 Monopoly at Macca's App NZ 4 Fun Race 3D 5 8 Ball Pool 6 Wordscapes 7 BitLife - Life Simulator 8 Call of Duty: Mobile 9 PUBG MOBILE 10 Fortnite 11 Stack Ball 3D 12 Roller Splat! 13 Polysphere - art of puzzle 14 Helix Jump 15 Mario Kart Tour 16 Drive and Park 17 Subway Surfers 18 Homescapes 19 Draw it 20 Episode - Choose Your Story 21 Traffic Run! 22 Pick Me Up 23 Paper.io 2 24 Run Race 3D 25 Word Stacks 26 Stickman Hook 27 Clean Road 28 Roblox 29 r Bullet - Spy Puzzles 30 AMAZE!!!
Top paid iPhone games
NZ, 2019
1 Minecraft 2 Plague Inc. 3 Heads Up! 4 Bloons TD 6 5 True Skate 6 Bloons TD 5 7 Papa's Freezeria To Go! 8 Rebel Inc. 9 Pocket Build 10 Geometry Dash 11 The Game of Life 12 Earn to Die 2 13 Stardew Valley 14 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 15 Terraria 16 Kingdom Rush Vengeance 17 Farming Simulator 18 18 Alto's Odyssey 19 The Chase Australia 20 Doodle Jump 21 Pocket City 22 NBA 2K20 23 Exploding Kittens 24 Scribblenauts Remix 25 Infinite Flight Simulator 26 Real Drift Car Racing 27Rugby Nations 18 28 Cluedo: The Official Edition 29 Evertale 30 Pocket City
1 aquapark.io 2 Roblox 3 Color Bump 3D 4 Fun Race 3D 5 Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game 6 Stack Ball 3D 7 Polysphere - art of puzzle 8 Wordscapes 9 Helix Jump 10 Fortnite 11 Homescapes 12 Draw it 13 Tiles Hop - EDM Rush 14 Run Race 3D 15 Kick the Buddy: Forever 16 Happy Glass 17 Paper.io 2 18 Subway Surfers 19 Stickman Hook 20 Word Stacks 21 Mr Bullet - Spy Puzzles 22 Words Story 23 PUBG MOBILE 24 Tank Stars 25 Tomb of the Mask 26 House Paint 27 Jelly Shift 28 Matchington Mansion 29 8 Ball Pool 30 My Talking Tom 2
Top paid iPad games
NZ, 2019
1 Minecraft 2 Plague Inc. 3 Geometry Dash 4 Bloons TD 6 5 Terraria 6 True Skate 7 The Game of Life 8 Stardew Valley 9 Farming Simulator 18 10 Rebel Inc. 11 Earn to Die 2 12 Goat Simulator 13 Heads Up! 14 Kingdom Rush Vengeance 15 The Room: Old Sins 16 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 17 The Room 18 LEGO Jurassic World 19 Scribblenauts Remix 20 Pocket Build 21 Five Nights at Freddy's 22 Infinite Flight Simulator 23 Incredibox 24 The Escapists: Prison Escape 25 Scribblenauts Unlimited 26 Amazing Frog? 27 Alto's Odyssey 28 LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin 29 Football Manager 2019 Mobile 30 The Room Three
