By Lisa Duckers
Staff Writer
While most kids are out skateboarding or playing video games in their free time, 11-year-old Thomas Suarez spends his free time designing and coding applications for the Apple iPhone, iTouch and iPad.
“I code applications, I design them, I program them using the code, and then I finally put the apps on the iTunes App Store,” Suarez said. “I code and design the applications by myself, but I always get a lot of great encouragement and support from my friends and family.”
Recently, Suarez began programming more game apps, including “Bustin Jieber,” which he describes as “Justin Bieber Whack-A-Mole.” Suarez draws some of his inspiration for these sorts of applications from other types of games that include “Angry Birds.”
“I’m a huge ‘Angry Birds’ fan, and that’s one of the games that really inspired me to get into iPhone design and programming,” Suarez said.
Although Suarez has only been programming for about a year, he has had a fascination with computers and electronics since he was very young. Suarez’s mother says he was able to use the VCR at the age of three. His knowledge of electronics has increased steadily since then.
“He has always had a great love of computers. When he was six he was able to get the internet working in our house for us,” Suarez’s mother, Margaret Suarez, said.
About a year ago, as applications for iPhones, the iTouch and iPad began to rise in popularity, Suarez decided to try creating apps on his own.
“I like to play around on my computer, so when all these new apps started coming out for the iPhone and ipod Touch, I thought that app programming would be a pretty cool thing to get into,” Suarez said.
Suarez currently sells his apps on the online Apple App Store through his own software company Carrot Corp. Suarez has become very popular in the computer community as a result of his hobby.
“He’s very well known at the Apple Store in Manhattan Beach. He’s been going there ever since he was about seven years old,” Margaret Suarez said.
Suarez has also become popular among both students and teachers at Pennekamp Elementary School. He and several other fifth-grade students are currently working together to advance the fifth-grade website.
“Thomas contributes tremendously to our class, our school and our community,” Pennekamp teacher Bill Ahrens said. “He is helping our website project in the capacity of technical director. He is also quick to assist me in various tasks associated with our fifth-grade website.”
In the future, Suarez hopes to continue his work with apps and to expand to hardware. He hopes to create an electronic accessory for iOS (Apple’s operating system) and sell it under his company.
“I definitely want to make more apps, and I have a lot of them planned for the future, but I also want to get into hardware in conjunction with software,” Suarez said.
More information about Suarez and his applications can be found on his website at www.carrotcorp.com.
“When I program applications, it’s both a lot of fun and a lot of hard work,” Suarez said. “In the beginning, it was a little bit frustrating to get the hang of, but I have gotten a lot of experience over time. I really like programming, both with apps and with the iOS platform in general.”
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