When an iPhone app changes your life

«I developed the first application in 2011, to learn how to program. Then seven years ago I got the idea of Reflex Camera, an app that combines my passions for computer science and photography. Today it is one of the most downloaded apps on the App Store globally, and it allowed me to earn good money without leaving my beloved Sicily ». The one of Fulvio Scichilone, 30 years old from Agrigento, is one of the many success stories of Italians who have made it thanks to the Apple App Store.

Her Reflex Camera (“but abroad I sell it as DSLR Camera”, he says) is a small marvel of computer engineering that combines photos, predictive filters based on Artificial Intelligence, augmented reality: develops it alone, between a lunch on the beach and a winter surfing session. «Every year I carefully follow the news of WWDC, to understand the direction in which Apple technologies are moving. During the summer, I update the app with the latest news and frameworks, so it’s ready for when the new iPhones arrive at the end of the season. It is a strategy that I have been applying for a few years and it works: it allows me to keep the app always relevant, and Apple often promotes it on the Store precisely because it uses the latest software available ».

The WWDC Scichilone is talking about is the Worlwide Developer Conference, i.e. the global developer conference for Apple platforms. The 32 edition starts on Monday 7 June, all online because of the pandemic, with participants who will connect live from all over the world to follow the announcements of the first day and then the dedicated technical sessions for the rest of the week. For Apple, WWDC is an opportunity to present previews of its operating systems (this year it’s macOS 12, iOS 15 and iPadOS 15) and above all to celebrate the successes of an ecosystem that this year generated $ 643 billion worldwide.

The figure was calculated in the context of a new study, published just in view of WWDC 2021, commissioned by the Cupertino company to the economists of Analysis Group. It represents a growth of 24% compared to 2019, and includes direct sales of digital services (approximately 86 billion dollars), but also the turnover of all apps that sell physical products or services mainly through apps for iPhone and iPad (about $ 511 billion), and digital advertising that revolves around apps ($ 46 billion). These are stratospheric figures, which give a sense of the economic scale reached by the universe of apps for Apple devices. Italy contributes approximately $ 2.9 billion to this global industry, half a billion of which derives from the sale of digital services.

Most of the turnover, explain the authors of the study, derives not from the activities of big tech giants, but from small businesses, that is, those developers who do not register more than a million downloads and do not generate more than a million dollars a year in revenue. According to this definition, so-called “small businesses” are about 90% of developers active on the App Store today, suggesting that the Apple ecosystem has created a new entrepreneurial “middle class” from scratch.

The elite of the 10% has also joined for some time Loopsie, an all-Italian app that facilitates the creation of images with three-dimensional and dynamic elements. “Loopsie was initially created with the aim of facilitating the creation of cinemagraphs, a video format as unique as it is effective used mostly by photographers and experts in the sector”, he explains to Vanity Fair Angelo Gallarello, CEO and Cofounder of Loopsie. «The challenge was to develop an algorithm capable of making the use of professional equipment superfluous. We succeeded and we went further, so much so that with our app you can now also create photos and 3D stickers, video effects, photo filters, and much more ».

Born from the idea of ​​three founders who orbited the universe of Talent Garden, Loopsie has now exceeded 10 million downloads globally, has more than 50,000 subscribers and 600,000 active users per month. In 2020, it had a turnover of 2.11 million dollars on the Apple App Store alone (the app is also available for Android). In the meantime, the team has grown from 3 to 5 people: “We hired two girls last year, in the midst of the Covid crisis,” explains Gallarello, “and we intend to hire two more shortly, with the aim of reaching a team of 10 people by the end of the year ».

Numbers that contribute to 70,000 jobs that, again according to Analysis Group estimates, the App Store has created in Italy. Among the “employed” of statistics there are naturally the employees of development companies and many startups, but also many others whose professional position has been more generically made possible by the turnover of apps.

“I can say in no uncertain terms that the success of Reflex Camera on the App Store has changed my life,” confesses Scichilone, on the phone from Agrigento. «Let’s understand, I didn’t win the lottery, but I was able to create my own job that makes me live well, without emigrating as many of my peers had to do. The heaviest work period begins next Monday: I tune in to WWDC and I’m not there for anyone. I have to understand what new functions I will have to implement on Reflex Camera during the summer ».