Euclidea - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Our mobile development was inspired by iPad that appeared in 2010. It seemed to be a perfect companion for education. Before Euclidea, we implemented several apps trying different ideas, frameworks, and game engines. The experience was very helpful to start Euclidea quickly.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most important and one of the most difficult things in developing mobile app is creating simple and intuitive user interface. It is hard to fit great ideas to a small screen.

_{Mikhail Koroteev}

My name is Mikhail Koroteev. I was born in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia in 1975. I met geometry when I was 10. My mother gave me a textbook and started reading it and solving problems with me. Soon, she announced that it became too complex for her. The trick worked well: I started to explain all topics to my mother and continued solving everything without any help. This was possible because geometry is very strict and logical on the one hand and creative and artistic on the other hand. Logic and intuition can work together helping each other. I was absolutely excited by geometry and fell in love with it. That is why I studied mathematics in St. Petersburg State University. But then I decided to become a programmer. After many years these two passions of my life (mathematics and computers) joined together and now I am creating mathematical games and apps.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Monument Valley, Shadowmatic - simple but extraordinary gameplay and beautiful graphics. Spaceteam - a great app for team building. Pleco - a Chinese dictionary made with love.

How long have you been working on this app?

The idea of the project grew for several years. One day we decided to stop wasting time and just to create the app. The first version was released in less than 2 months after that since a lot of details were well thought-out. It was in October, 2014. But the Euclidea development is not stopped since our users encourage us for new challenges, features, and improvements.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

We want children to learn mathematics through games without any fear. People are afraid or get bored of mathematics because they do not understand what it really is. The aim of Euclidea is to show the beauty and harmony of geometry and the simplicity of its rules. At the same time it is an extremely challenging puzzle for nerds and math lovers.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

Usually geometric apps have difficult gameplay and heavy interface. Euclidea has minimalistic UI. We tried to simplify the process of constructing figures as much as possible. Another advantage of Euclidea is a long sequence of challenges of increasing difficulty. The curve is smooth because the next problems are based on concepts and tricks of the previous ones.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Euclidea is a mature app with millions of users. We are going to create a community where people discuss geometric problems and their solutions. And Euclidea will supply them new challenges and themes for discussion.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

We would ask our users not to give up and not to cheat. Otherwise, they will learn nothing. Each problem has a solution and everyone can find it using logic, reasoning, and enough time. Try to see the beauty of geometry and enjoy it.