Ever since smartphones became the default computers that we carry our pockets, the apps that run on them and the stores that sell these apps have created a new kind of economy for software. Apple’s App Store has swelled to more than 2.5 million apps, while the Google Play Store surpasses that with 2.8 million apps available. But even as these companies boast about the payouts to app makers — last month Apple said that developer earnings had surpassed $70 billion — the truth is that many app makers have a hard time making any significant money from their mobile app businesses.
That’s partly what inspired filmmakers Jake Schumacher, Jedidiah Hurt, and Adam Lisagor to spend three and a half years producing a documentary about apps — or more specifically, the people who make them. “App: The Human Story” follows different groups of indie developers as they go through the app building, fundraising, store approval, and selling processes (including Cabel Sasser and Steven Frank of Oregon-based Panic, Melissa Hargis and Nicki Klein of Chorbit, and Ish Shabazz, who makes a variety of apps under the LLC Illuminated Bits). The “devaluation of apps” is a core theme of the film, according to Schumacher, along with the “struggle for sustainability.”
The film was screened last month as part of a peripheral event at Apple’s WWDC, and is slated to be released late summer. The Verge interviewed Schumacher about the inspiration behind the film, the biggest complaints he heard from developers, and his thoughts on the future of apps. The interview below has been lightly edited and condensed for length.
Lauren Goode: Are you an app maker yourself?
Jake Schumacher: I have a partner in an app that’s in the App Store. It’s just kind of sitting there. It’s called Quantify. It allows you to heat map interviews. You would rate the small talk as zero, and then as we get into things of interest, you could give it a one or two or three, so you have a heat-mapped audio recording and you can jump back to the key parts really easily. We made it as an interview tool, and then Marc Edwards was super generous and offered to design it for us.