[imagesource:googleplay]

Intended as good, clean, and honest fun, the iBeer app took iPhone users by storm a few years ago. The playful parlor trick made millions of people grin and the app was also a commercial success, paying its 37-year-old magician creator Steve Sheraton up to $20,000 (R381,0000) every day.

This was before Pokemon hunts and Snapchat took over our iPhones and ‘drinking’ fake beer from your phone was super hilarious. Good times. Innocent times…

In a recent interview with Mel Magazine, Sheraton revealed his massive earnings from the app, which is a perfect example of early smartphone history. Sheraton’s story is a good example of a more innocent and carefree time when one could amuse thousands of people quite easily.

Sheraton says that the original joke was actually done using a static movie that could be purchased for $2.99 on iTunes. Apple got in touch with the struggling magician when Steve Jobs took over and launched the iStore.

At the time they were scrambling to find developers that could create apps that demonstrate the potential of the iPhone and with the help of a firm called Hottrix, Sheraton reworked his original idea by swapping out animations for actual video assets and, in a brilliant move, connecting those clips to movements picked up by the iPhone’s accelerometer.

When you moved your phone, the liquid followed. When you put the phone in your mouth, the unbelievable illusion is complete. iStore gold was born and due to its simplicity and novelty, it was a hit.

“We shot to first place [in the App Store] on the very first day and stayed there for about a year.”

Sheraton believes that “Apart from its visual humour and appealing to the lowest common denominator, iBeer was a large success because it allowed people to show their friends what the phone was capable of. You could show them maps and all these kinda geeky things, but iBeer was easier to understand and a funny, fun way to show off the iPhone’s accelerometer and its bright screen with super lifelike colours.”

Sheraton and Hottrix quickly made massive profits from the software, which sold at $2.99 (R57) per download, which they reportedly used to purchase luxury lodging in cities like Barcelona and, strangely enough, antique furniture.

The developer eventually gave over control of iBeer to Hottrix, but Sheraton doesn’t seem to be too fazed about the loss of revenue. He now lives on a farm in Spain and says that he is very happy “hiding out with my family and fruit.”

He’s still in the illusion business, though, and makes smartphone apps for professional magicians to use in their acts, so the illusions continue.

We tend to forget how ‘new’ mobile apps really are. It’s only been a decade or so but we’ve gone from the innocent iBeer to apps that let you ‘undress’ your boss. Maybe it’s time to bring back candy cigarettes.

[source:verge]