UK app makers have earned £2bn from Apple – here’s how you can make your own
Apple is boasting big bucks for UK developers, and it's now easier than ever to learn how to make your own iPhone or iPad app
UK APP developers have netted £2billion from Apple's iOS App Store for iPhone and iPad since its launch a decade ago, the company revealed today.
The tech giant added that the UK comes out on top in terms of jobs linked to app creation, with 291,000 app development roles in the country.
Meanwhile, London is the leading European city for the app economy – supporting 138,000 jobs, said Apple.
The other top British towns for app makers are Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford and Bristol, according to the company's latest figures.
The reflect Europe's digital success story, fuelled by unprecedented growth in the app economy.
Last year, Europe overtook the US in the number of app-related jobs created for the first time, according to a European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) briefing.
How to make your own iPhone or iPad app
- Apple has made it easier than ever to for beginners to get started with app development.
- An essential starter kit will include the following Apple software: the Xcode 8 development environment and Swift language and programming tools like Metal.
- But before all that, you'll need to register as a developer with Apple Developer Connection so you can access the company's resources.
- You can sign in with your Apple ID (that's what you use to make iOS Store purchases) or make a new one just for the dev account.
- The basic developer registration is free and lets you build an app, but you'll need to fork out £69 per year if you want to sell apps.
- If you want to create your app from scratch, it's best to gain some form of coding experience with Swift and Xcode.
- The free app on the iPad is a good place to start – the user-friendly software instantly shows the results of the codes you write.
- Swift Playgrounds also boasts interactive lessons designed to teach you key coding concepts and challenges and templates to encourage you to further explore coding.
- Once your app is ready, you can submit it to Apple via , which requires separate registration from the Apple Developer Membership.
UK app success stories include the hit mobile game sequel Monument Valley 2 –the follow-up to the Bafta-award-wining Monument Valley.
The £1.99 smartphone app comes from an independent mobile studio based in South London called "ustwo".
Monument Valley and its successor have been phenomenally successful, with the first game snagging more than 30 million downloads.
Apple also hailed the success of ASOS' free app that lets customers shop the online British fashion retailer's store of more than 850 brands.
Overall, the tech giant boasts it's helped to create over 1.76million jobs in Europe as a result of the iOS App economy, increases in direct employment and spend with suppliers.
"As the app economy grows, the demand for skilled developers and coders increases and European Union data suggests there will be a shortfall of 500,000 skilled people for ICT jobs across Europe," said the firm.
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"Apple is accelerating its plans to support coding education across the region with its easy-to-learn coding language called Swift, the free Swift Playgrounds app and a free curriculum, App Development with Swift, which are already being used by millions of students at schools and leading community colleges across the region.
"Apple is also hosting over 6000 coding sessions in retail stores in Europe during 2018.
"Apple is working with over 100 colleges and universities in Europe as part of the Everyone Can Code initiative, to help everyone learn to build mobile apps. The full-year course was designed by Apple engineers and educators to teach coding and app design to students of all levels and backgrounds."
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