Category Archives: Geography

October 10, 2014 · 9:31 pm

Provinces of Turkey

I was asked to prepare an app about Provinces of Turkey. I agreed because it was an excellent opportunity to get a translation into Turkish that can be potentially used in my other apps and the Turkish app market is going to grow.

The English description of the game is the following:

Learn all 81 provinces of Turkey: from Istanbul and Ankara to Erzurum and Van.
There are 4 different quiz modes about:
* names of all Turkish provinces
* their location on the map of Turkey
* two-digit province numbers (license plate codes)

Become an expert in geography of Turkey!

This app is translated into Turkish language.

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Now I am mostly doing updates for my previous apps. When Apple releases a new iOS, the review process is usually slow. This app has waited for review for 11 days. Meanwhile, the Google Play version was published:

Get it on Google Play

Acknowledgements:
I am grateful to Mert for his idea of this app and for his translation into Turkish. It is a quite difficult language, and I wouldn’t be able to translate the app myself using Google Translate.

Icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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September 14, 2014 · 4:13 pm

Financial Report – September 2014

All important apps have been rewritten for Android and now I have 46 apps on the Apple App Store (iOS) and 38 apps on the Google Play Store (Android).

Here is my income from Jan 2014 (about $15.5k so far):

In January, I was earning on average $3.5 a day. Since August 20, my daily income haven’t fell below $150 / day. Total income in August is $4,198. This amount is comparable with my salary that I had 2 years ago as a chemistry postdoc at Berkeley.

75% of money are from showing ads and only 25% from sales and in-app-purchases (next week, all my apps can be downloaded for free).

The most profitable are Geography apps, such as:

50 US States (iOS, Android) $2,532 (16.5% of total income).
European Countries (iOS, Android) $2,098 (13.6%).
Flags of the World (iOS, Android) $1,448 (9.5%).

Localization into 9 languages was a very clever decision. United States accounts for 28.4% of total income, Germany 10.9%, Russia 8.8%, France 6.7%, and so on.

The Google Play store is very different from the Apple App store in download trends, search optimization and algorithms. By now, the income from Android apps is just $15.29 but it is constantly growing and I’m just in the beginning of understanding this platform.

Many thanks to everyone who supports me. I will be glad to answer your questions and hear your suggestions how to improve my apps.

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August 21, 2014 · 10:12 pm

Capitals of the World

Capitals of the World is the third part of my “compilation” apps (after Flags and Maps) on the World geography. For 32 capital cities, I have added the pics to make the app more colorful.

The English description of the game is the following:

Guess the capital cities of all 197 countries in the world! Choose the game mode and find the capital of your country:
* Spelling quizzes (easy and hard)
* Multiple-choice quizzes – “challenges” (also easy and hard)
* Time game (give the most answers in 1 minute)

*****
Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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August 15, 2014 · 11:37 am

Maps of All Countries of the World

Maps of All Countries of the World is the logical continuation of Flags of the World and is a compilation of country maps from my previous apps. Now all maps are available for free in one app.

The English description of the game is the following:

Guess all 197 countries of all continents by their outline maps! Choose the game mode and find the map of your country:
* Spelling quizzes (easy and hard)
* Multiple-choice quizzes – “challenges” (also easy and hard)
* Time game (give the most answers in 1 minute)

*****
Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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August 5, 2014 · 10:49 pm

Dutch Provinces

Dutch Provinces or Provinces of the Netherlands is my latest app about the regional geography. It wasn’t on the top of my to-do list when I received a request to do an app about Netherlands from a person who liked my other apps. It was about three weeks ago and I was happy to create such an app and receive some help with translations into Dutch.

The English description of the game is the following:

Learn all 12 Provinces of the Netherlands (from Friesland to Zeeland) and 3 Public bodies in the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba):
* names
* maps
* capitals
* flags
* coats of arms

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The app itself was pretty straightforward to prepare using my previous apps as a template. However, once it was submitted and approved, I discovered a small but potentially annoying bug in several of my geography apps. I postponed the release of this app and prepared the updates for it and 8 other apps (they’ve been already approved and since it’s merely bug fixing I haven’t written separate posts about these updates). Finally, this morning the version 1.1 of Dutch Provinces passed the review and I make it available on the App Store. Enjoy!

Acknowledgements:
I thank Mert for the idea of this app.

Icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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August 1, 2014 · 6:03 pm

Swiss Cantons

I wanted to release the Swiss Cantons app before the Swiss National Day (August 1). But the app was rejected yesterday for its too long title. I cut it down and the app was approved and released today, on August 1 in the US but already on August 2 in Europe.

The English description of the game is the following:

Learn all 26 cantons of Switzerland – from Zürich and Basel-Stadt to Geneva and Lucerne:
* names
* maps
* capitals
* coats of arms / flags

*****
Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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July 27, 2014 · 2:15 pm

Russian Federation Regions

At last, I created an app about my native country – Russian Federation Regions. It will add to my collection of apps about the regional geography.

The English description of the game is the following:

Learn names, locations on the map, capitals and coats of arms of all federal subjects (regions) of Russia (there are 85 subjects according to the Russian Constitution: 46 oblasts, 22 republics, 9 krais, 4 autonomous okrugs, 3 federal cities, and 1 autonomous oblast).
Become an expert in Russian geography!

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The app is only localized into English and Russian, because I understand that it’s not so much interest and knowledge in Russian subdivisions in the world. I followed the Constitution of Russia and thus had to include the two newest and still disputed regions: Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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July 25, 2014 · 1:09 am

Flags of All Countries of the World

I already have 5 separate apps about all countries on all continents. They range from very popular European Countries to Australia and Oceania that is lagging behind. The idea to combine all countries in one comprehensive app seemed reasonable. My new app Flags of All Countries of the World accomplish this in respect of national flags.

The English description of the game is the following:

Why do I prefer this app to many other apps about flags?
Because it has all flags of all 197 independent countries of the World! It is extremely user-friendly. You will always get a hint whether you’re right or wrong. Thus, you’ll never get stuck by the question for which you don’t know the answer. Choose the game mode and find the state flag of your country:
* Spelling quizzes (easy and hard)
* Multiple-choice quizzes – “challenges” (also easy and hard)
* Time game (give the most answers in 1 minute)

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The user has to give 50 right answers in the easy spelling quiz (the easiest flags to guess) to access the hard modes. Two multiple-choice quizzes have different sets of flags and separate leaderboards in Game Center. The Time Game includes all 197 flags and can be opened after an IAP that also removes all ads.

Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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July 22, 2014 · 9:59 pm

California Counties

California Counties is an unexpected subject for a geography app. Is it too narrow? For me, creating this app is more like a joke than I really believe that it may become popular.

The English description of the game is the following:

I was searching the topic for the geography quiz when a strange (crazy?) idea came to my mind: why am I studying Africa or Europe while the Golden State of California doesn’t have a trivia game about its counties?
I lived for a year in Alameda county. I’ve been in Orange county several times. I have visited many California’s national and state parks. Still I have had no idea how many counties are in CA (the right answer is 58). As usual, the best way to learn all those 58 counties, their county seats and locations on the California map is to create an app about them. Testing the app, I’d have a plenty of time to browse them all from San Diego in the south to Crescent City in the north, from the famous CA ocean coast to Mohave desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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I localized this app only into English, Spanish, and Russian.

Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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July 19, 2014 · 2:12 pm

French Regions

French Regions is just one more app in the category “Regional geography”. The only distinct feature is case of France is that there are 5 overseas regions that must be shown on separate maps. Luckily, I already had contour maps of Africa, South America, and the Caribbean due to my previous apps.

The English description of the game is the following:

Learn all 27 Regions of France: 22 in Metropolitan France (Normandy, Burgundy and others) and 5 overseas regions (French Guiana, Guadeloupe).
* names
* maps
* capitals
* flags

*****
When I was working on this app, I realized that it should be done a week before to be released exactly for the Bastille Day (July 14). This idea came too late and the app was released on July 18. Better late than never.

Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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