I met Santiago Gonzalez at the 360 iDev iPhone Developers conference. He is only 12 years old and he was the youngest iPhone programmer at the conference! The Solar System app he has developed became a favorite with my son, who was studying the Solar system two weeks ago. He even took his iPod Touch to the classroom and his teacher used Santiago's app to show the planets to the class.
We have asked Santiago to write a bit about himself and the apps he developed here. I hope that his story and achievements are inspirational to kids who are interested in technology. Enjoy.
Who am I?
My name is Santiago Gonzalez. I am twelve years old and I live in Denver, Colorado. I love my family, my dog Leo, to ski, roller coasters, and of course, computer programming and electronics. I started programming when I was 8 years old. I started designing websites and little by little I learned different programming languages. I enjoy learning Math and Science. My favorite thing to do is to develop iPhone, iPod, and iPad Apps.
When I grow older I would love to work at Apple Headquarters. I think the software development, the hardware engineering, and the hardware design might be something fun to work in as an adult. I am working hard and trying to learn as much as I can now that I am young so I can develop better quality and fun Apps.
I love to develop my own Apps but I also enjoy to play and use many of the fabulous iPhone and iPad Apps at the iPhone App Store. Some of my favorite ones are: Bloomberg for iPad, Molecules, Super Monkey Ball, and the iWork suite for the iPad.
I develop my own Apps because it is fun to imagine and create something from scratch. Sometimes I make Apps where I can share knowledge with others. In other occasions I just make an App of a game I would like to play with or one that I think can be useful to others.
Currently I am working on a couple of games, a Mandelbrot set App and future updates for my existing applications. You can find my apps under the name of Hicaduda at the iPhone App Store. Keep your eyes open because I have a couple new apps under review which will be there soon.
My Apps Currently on the App Store
Space - Solar System
Learn about the anatomy of the solar system! Planets, Moons, and the Sun. You can learn the diameter, axis tilt, rotation time, surface temperature, and core temperature of the sun; the perihelion, aphelion, diameter, axis tilt, orbit time, rotation time, moons, atmospheric composition, distance from the Sun, and temperature of the planets; the axis tilt, orbit time, rotation time, atmospheric composition, diameter, and temperature of the moons. For a planet and the sun, tap on a button and you can view a cross section of the entity. Accompanying each celestial entity, there are beautiful images from NASA. View in the App Store
Space - Nebulae
Twenty-one of the most beautiful nebulae. Hubble Telescope's pictures and facts; parent galaxy, distance from Earth, its common name, and the type of nebula.View in the App Store
Color Fun
If you have a toddler and want him to learn his colors then this is the perfect app for you. Go from color to color just by swiping the screen. Touch a button and hear the name of the color. Learn the word by looking at it and seeing a picture. You can even test your self to make sure you have learned your colors. It has 12 colors with an image in each of them.
The colors in this app are: Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Purple, Magenta, Grey, Black, White, Brown, and Cyan.
Develop your child's fine motor, reading, and verbal skills at the same time he has fun playing with it.View in the App Store
Book Tracker
Do you read so much that you forget the books you have read? Do you buy the same book twice? Then this is the perfect app for you. Write down the title, genre, and author of the books you bought. Then, you can reference back to the list so you never buy the same book twice.View in the App Store
Magic Oracle
Have your very own portable fortune teller. Formulate a question, shake the iPhone/iPod touch, and get an answer about your future. When you shake the iPhone vibrates and plays a magic sound!View in the App Store
Ping Boing
A very entertaining game. Bounce the little ball and score. If you want to change the background, you can do that. If you would like to change the color of the paddles, just choose a different one. Six different difficulty levels. Simple and fun! View in the App Store
