Here are four Canadian-made apps taking the iOS App Store by storm

Apple's iOS App Store is massive, and it's incredibly lucrative.

The visitor says that developers on the App Store accept earned $120 billion USD (most $161 billion CAD). With all that money on the line, it's no surprise that at that place are more than apps than e'er vying for your attending.

Every bit such, discovering new and amazing apps can be tough. Apple has done a lot in recent years to surface great apps and quality games, such as the 'Today' page in the App Store, which highlights apps and games with editorialized content.

MobileSyrup has done some work in this regard as well, with our App of the Week and Game of the Week columns — which you tin can find on our homepage every weekend — that highlight exemplary smartphone apps and games, especially if they're Canadian.

Recently, I got the opportunity to meet four Canadian developers and get a sneak peek at what they've been working on, from significant updates to entirely new apps and games. Read on to see how these Canadian apps are tearing up the App Shop.

Relax Melodies past Ipnos Software

Relax Melodies

Montreal-based Ipnos Software was about wellness from the very showtime. The studio has a suite of apps designed to assist users relax and unwind. However, it all started with Relax Melodies, which launched in 2009 to help users fall comatose.

I spoke with Ipnos' head of brand, Felix Boudreau, who told me how Relax Melodies came about. Back in 2006, one of Ipnos' co-founders, Philippe Lapierre developed tinnitus — a ringing or buzzing in the ear — after attending a rock concert. The tinnitus caused Lapierre to have insomnia, and he began using apps to play sounds to try and drown out the ringing.

Unsatisfied with what was available, Lapierre teamed up with long-fourth dimension friend, and other Ipnos co-founder, Simon Alex Bérubé, to develop a "digital antidote" to tinnitus and other slumber bug. Relax Melodies was the effect.

Ten years on, and with over 25 million downloads under its belt, Ipnos rolled out its most significant content release ever. The update, which coincided with the app'south tenth ceremony, rolled out on May 20th with Democratic Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) sounds, bedtime stories and soothing healing music. Additionally, the update brought a revamp to the app's Discovery department to make it easier to find new sounds.

Along with the new additions, Relax Melodies includes over 100 sounds, as well as 'SleepMoves' and Meditations. Sounds include a variety of natural noises, like rain and thunder, too as man sounds like trains or music. Users can mix and friction match these sounds to create the perfect balance to sleep to.

SleepMoves offers a variety of programs that take listeners through movements to help them relax. Finally, Meditations will help users improve areas of their slumber, such as falling asleep quicker or getting more restful slumber.

Relax Melodies is available for gratis from the App Store. Users can unlock extra content and features through one of three in-app purchases. The offset is a 'Bones' subscription for $19.99 per year, which unlocks some audio and brainwave content. The 'Full' subscription costs $59.99 per year merely is currently bachelor for 50 per centum off at $29.99.

This gives you access to all 110 sounds, 12 brainwaves, as well as guided meditations, sound journeys, sound breathing, SleepMoves and more. Finally, there'south a 'Lifetime' option available for $279.99 which gives you access to everything in the Full subscription.

Worse Than Death by Benjamin and Nancy Rivers

Toronto-based 'mom and pop' studio Benjamin Rivers Inc. showed off its next big game, Worse Than Death, a horror game and emotional thriller about a small-town high school reunion gone incorrect.

I sabbatum down with Ben Rivers, who designed, developed and produced the game with his married woman, Nancy. Rivers showed me some of the processes behind creating Worse Than Expiry.

"I grew up in a small town, and they're just every bit creepy equally you think," Rivers said. He spoke nigh his dear for horror games and how he wanted to create i in a small-scale-town environs.

However, equally a small studio, Rivers didn't accept a lot of resources. "Nosotros had to inquire ourselves, 'how do nosotros make something bigger than nosotros could normally brand?'"

The reply was a lot of hard work and careful thought most the tools you used. Rivers relied on an iPad Pro, an Apple tree Pencil, and an app chosen 'Procreate' when making Worse Than Death. The game features virtually 150 hand-drawn pieces. Rivers said using the iPad Pro and Procreate helped streamline the creation process, and also let him work while travelling.

Worse Than Decease took two years to make, simply starting Monday, May 22nd, will be bachelor for pre-order on the App Store. It'll cost $5.49 and launch at the end of June.

Medly by Medly Labs

Medly

If you lot're looking to make your own music, wait no further than Medly, from Waterloo-based Medly Labs. Founded by two friends from the University of Waterloo, Medly is a simple-to-use music maker with over three.5 1000000 downloads.

The app offers users over one,600 loops and samples they can leverage to create music, and it makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to export to platforms like SoundCloud.

When I spoke with co-founder Basil Al-Dajane, he boasted that Medly received the 'All-time of 2016' laurels in Canada, Japan and China. It'southward also used in schools when teaching kids about music.

Medly offers a no-mistakes environment for people of all ages and skill levels to make music in. Instead of a traditional system, Medly presents a blue grid divided into sections based on the time signature yous cull. Y'all can also pick a key when creating your music. From there, Medly does the rest.

Users add together sounds — drum beats, synths and other instruments and noises — by tapping on parts of the grid. Medley ensures yous can't make a fault because it matches the grid to the cardinal you chose and the time signature. In other words, you can't choice a wrong note.

To make the music procedure fifty-fifty better, Al-Dajane told me Medly would go a new undo and 'visual history' characteristic. While undo works equally you lot'd expect, the visual history is really slap-up. It opens upwardly a modest window with a list of all the changes you lot've fabricated. Additionally, it shows a visual of the alter, which makes it uncomplicated to run across what action you want to revert.

Interestingly, Al-Dajane said Medly uses Apple's Metal 2 graphics API. You might wonder why a music-making app uses of a graphics API, only Al-Dajane says it frees upwardly valuable CPU resources for processing the audio. The GPU handles everything happening on the screen. Cheers to this, Medly is wonderfully fast and incredibly fluid.

Medly's visual history update will coil out on May 30th. You can download Medly for free from the App Store. Farther, there'south a subscription component that lets you unlock more sounds, and get admission to the app'due south monthly themed sound pack. Information technology costs $4.99 per month, or $34.99 if you subscribe yearly.

Sago Mini World by Sago Mini

Sago Mini World

For the parents out at that place, I spent some fourth dimension with Jason Krogh, CEO of Toronto-based Sago Mini. Krogh said Sago Mini started up in 2013 to develop digital toys for kids. These digital toy experiences are all well-nigh encouraging learning through play.

The studio'south master app, Sago Mini World, brings all the Sago Mini games together into i app. Users tin unlock everything with a subscription. Currently, Sago Mini has over 40 million downloads and has over 3 million preschoolers playing its games each month.

However, Sago Mini'south next big idea is bringing digital play and physical play together — something it can practise through AR.

"With ARKit 2, we felt augmented reality was finally ready to implement into Sago Mini," Krogh said.

Jinja's Playhouse

Sago developed a playset called 'Jinja's Playhouse' to use with Sago Mini World's 'Magic Camera' platform — although you don't need the playset to enjoy it. ARKit 2 allows kids to bring Jinja's Playhouse to life just by pointing a smartphone or tablet at it.

Additionally, Krogh said Sago thought a lot virtually how it could implement AR in a style kids can employ. Ane affair the evolution team found was that kids had a hard fourth dimension aiming the camera and touching the screen at the same time. Instead of that, Sago uses a fourth dimension-based activation — aim the screen at a point long plenty, and it'll react.

You tin can download Sago Mini World from the App Store for free, and unlock all the games with a $six.99 monthly subscription. Additionally, Jinja'south Playhouse is available on Apple's website for $35.95 and will come to other retail stores beyond Canada.