• Developer name:Hristo Bojinov
• Company Website
• Company Name:Hristo Bojinov
• Apps at the App Store:4
• Location:SF Bay Area

About Dev

Tell us a little about you, and your current company.

My full-time occupation is in Computer Security research. Basically, I figure out ways in which to break into various software systems, and then ways to improve them so they are harder to break into.

I do iPhone OS development on my own, as well as with a team of friends that I work with on a per-project basis. In aggregate, we have extremely high bandwidth for product development, and we always look for exciting new projects to take on.

About your background: what did you do before taking up iPhone development?

After finishing my undergrad studies, I spent a considerable amount of time in industry, building products in the enterprise storage and security space. Apart from that, I have really broad background in software engineering and Computer Science, from game development as a high-school student, to various programming contests throughout college, and now development for the hottest mobile platform on Earth :).

About Work

What apps have you developed so far? Tell us about your apps in brief.

I have three apps available at the App Store at the moment, all of them in the entertainment/game sector. One is Word Cookie, which is a free app—a non-violent flavor of Hangman where Gingerbread Man loses a button for every wrong guess you make. The second app is Easter Words, which is a limited-time Easter-themed edition of Word Cookie. And last but not least is Baby Laughs, in which you tickle a baby’s foot in different ways, and get rewarded with a variety of baby laugh.

How do you go from idea to app? What’s the process?

While idea generation and refinement are highly creative processes, developing an idea into a product usually follows a relatively well-understood path: the idea evolves into a couple of prototypes, and out of those the final product emerges—after rounds of real user testing and feedback. And, often, the idea never materializes into a product.

What is your opinion about iPhone OS 3.0? In what ways do you think the new SDK would bring change?

There are a number of very exciting changes coming up in iPhone OS 3.0. My favorites are the new payment models, and the extended communications capabilities what will be available to apps. Overall, Apple continues to improve on an already exciting and innovative platform. I believe that the new payment-related features will bring about new categories of applications and will enable new business models in the ecosystem.

Any exciting stuff you are working on? Give our readers a hint of what to expect from you next.

I have a number of ideas that I am experimenting with, some of them have to do with productivity applications tailored closely to very specific user profiles. Others have to do with building on the platform’s strengths in touch-based interfaces and Internet connectivity and providing truly unique gaming or entertainment experiences. Time will tell which of these will become actual applications though. In the very near future: expect to see some more applications along the lines of Baby Laughs: simple to use and purpose-built for entertainment or utility.

Do you develop for other platforms? How do you compare the iPhone development platform with other platforms?

Not at the moment. The way I view mobile development platforms, the most important characteristics are the type and number of users they attract, as well as their openness to developers. At the moment, I find iPhone OS the most attractive combination available.

Tell us something about how users are responding to your apps. What’s the most flattering comment you have received? Or the weirdest?

Time after time I find grains of wisdom even in the weirdest comments I get about my work—however there are very few of these that I have received for my iPhone apps so far. Comments are always flattering to me: they mean someone cared enough about my app that he or she wanted to send in a comment and help me improve it. I recently got an e-mail from a lady living half-way around the globe who said that Baby Laughs cheered her up and helped her get through a difficult time in her life: *that* felt extremely rewarding.

About the App Store

Name two iPhone apps you consider are cool, excluding the apps you’ve developed. What makes these apps stand out?

My favorites are some of the games that have come out: their quality, as well as the sheer value they offer (entertainment to price ratio) are simply striking. I am a fan of the Tapulous titles, and I also really like Virtual Villagers.

Any message to your fellow developers?

I like hearing from fellow developers and bouncing ideas around—by Inbox is always open :).