苹果应用软件的赚钱大计

Trying your hand at playing an ancient Japanese string instrument or let loose by imitating animal sounds like a monkey and getting graded.

"OK. Wow. Much better. 67."

These are just the latest Iphone apps Simon Lui has created. His first app was for commuters who take Hong Kong subway, the MTR. His most popular is a game called Tinha War with 9, 000 downloads.

"My soldiers become more powerful and I can more easily destroy the bases of enemy."

The 28-year-old computer science instructor creates apps in his free time. He may be an amateur but he's making more than you might expect. He's earned nearly $ 40,000 in the past two years as fans have downloaded his paid apps.

"When I developed an app for half a year, it is so much pain but and after that I don't need to do anything and let the cash keep in coming in. After a month, I think, oh, it's sweet."

Lui is using the extra cash towards his mortgage and to help pay his brother's college course fees.

Musician Tam Tat Wah would like to see the money rolling soon too. He's collaborated with software programmer Luma Fung to develop a one-month-old app called TrackRider. This app plays videos of Hong Kong indie bands and allows you to tap along to the beat as if you are part of the band.

"It's a play along with your thumbs or you can shake with the music."

The two friends won't reveal how many paid downloads they've gotten since TrackRider is still relatively new. They will say advertising needs to be part of the process to break out of a densely packed app store.

"I market in Facebook and also I market in a lot of global forums to about the Iphone games forums."

These amateur app developers all taught themselves the computer code for writing apps called Objective-C. Their advice to other amateurs: keep practicing the code.

"It is much easier than three years before. There are a lot of good tutorials. I think they can have a clear mind and to know what they are doing."

Simon Lui is now planning his next app, interactive games for the elderly.