DEVELOPER SPOTLIGHT
They did the maths
Learn Math Facts
Quick math games
‣ Company: Peekaboo Studios
‣ Founders: Ran Flasterstein and Jody McLain
‣ Mission: To make maths lively and fun
‣ App launched: 2019
‣ Team size: 2
‣ Go-to emoji: 🏆
When Ran Flasterstein and Jody McLain started developing together, apps weren’t called apps yet.
The Ohio-based pair met at a company that built kids’ game – the kind that came in boxes. When the iPad launched in 2010, they quit their jobs to form Peekaboo Studios. For more than a decade, they’ve been creating educational apps with a wide reach: Spark Reading and the MathEdge series, for instance, have been translated in 10 languages. (Flasterstein, who speaks three, says localisation has always been a priority.)
Their latest release, Learn Math Facts, helps children master arithmetic (as well as square roots and fractions) with rapid-fire quizzes that they answer in the most natural way possible: by speaking or writing using Apple Pencil or their finger. Flasterstein and McLain say leveraging APIs like CoreML and speech recognition made developing these features especially efficient for a team of two.
We spoke to the duo from their hometown of Westerville, just outside Columbus, about partnering with local schools and finding the inspiration to set out on their own.
How did you start in the education space?
McLain: We’re friends with a lot of teachers, and they kept telling us, “I need more tools for my classroom.” We started putting together little quizzes for reading comprehension and other subjects, all aligned to the state’s Common Core standards. One of our first projects was a step-by-step tutor called MathEdge that walked through math problems with you.
How did your apps come to be so widely used in schools?
Flasterstein: We’re both really involved in our local school district, which is one of the largest in Ohio. There are 27 schools, and we’ve worked with principals and teachers from each. Knowing what people’s issues are, what they aspire to do – that’s been incredibly important.
Was it difficult to leave a full-time job and start your own company?
McLain: Not at all. It just seemed to be a natural progression. There aren’t many game or app developers in this part of the country, but we had met an early developer for the iPod and iPhone who lives nearby. And he was so excited about working with Apple that we were like, “You know what? Let’s do it.”
What did you find most valuable about attending WWDC?
Flasterstein: Learning about everything that was available to us. We got really excited about handwriting and speech technologies, and we saw an opportunity to build an adaptive learning experience using VoiceOver and other tools. We used Core ML to build our own handwriting recognition for Learn Math Facts, and PencilKit to let people choose their own colour and pen type.
Now that you’ve been at this for 17 years, what are some things you wish you’d known when you started?
Flasterstein: Make sure you keep learning. Stay up to date on the newest APIs. Set aside time to participate in WWDC or other conferences. But first: get started! If we had waited until we knew exactly how to make an app, it would have never happened.
Peekaboo Studios is a part of the App Store Small Business Program. If you are a developer and would like to learn more about the programme, follow the link below.