The Helpful Apps

Do you need a useful app? Anvitha Vijay can create it for you. With the help of YouTube videos, the young girl from Australia learned to code at the age of 7. Soon, she was trying her hand at making apps. “When I first got my iPad, I was fascinated by all the apps on it. It wasn’t long before I wanted to create my own,” she said. She created her first two apps with her younger sister in mind. Smarting Animals helps children identify more than 100 animals and their sounds. Smarting Rainbow Colors teaches kids colors. Each app has been downloaded thousands of times. Anvitha’s skills won her a scholarship to attend a big technology conference hosted by Apple in California. There, she got tips from the supporters. She went to workshops where she learned about the latest software for app building. All that training led to an idea for a third app. This one, called GoalsHi, inspires kids to practice good habits. Users are rewarded for achieving goals, such as eating their vegetables or practicing the piano. Anvitha said the rewards were like getting a sticker for a job well done. “Kids can set goals with this app and get stars when they achieve them,” she said. “The idea is to motivate kids to achieve one little step a day.” Anvitha’s goal is to continue creating technology that helps kids learn while having fun, but what’s even more important to her is that the world sees the power of technology in kids’ hands. “The more training we get in technology at an early age, the more chances we have of becoming innovation champions who will one day change the world,” she said.