Nigerian brothers build mobile Web Browser out of 'boredom'

folarin okunola

April 23, 2015 5:26 PM

These secondary school students taught themselves to code and, with encouragement from their parents and school, they've achieved something extraordinary.

Osine and Anesi Ikhianosime.

Anesi and OsineIkhianosime, 13 and 15 years old respectively, are students of Greensprings school, Anthony Campus, Lagos, and they developed an Android based web browser called Crocodile Browser Lite sometime last year.

As a matter of fact, these teenagers’ creation is actually on the Google Play Store. Speaking to TechCabal.com, Osine, 13, said he writes the code together with his brother, for their creations and his brother also designs the UI.

At a closer look, these genius brothers are just like every other teenage boy but not quite at the same time. Osine likes to play soccer, but also takes coding as a hobby – which is not something every 13 year old boy does.

His interest in computers began at the tender age of 7, the same age which he and his brother –who was 9 at the time (born June 1, 1999), decided to start a company of their own. Inspired by Microsoft’s “Windows” platform, they initially named their new company ‘Doors’, but later changed the name to ‘BluDoors’ when they found out that the initial name had been taken.

The two brothers decided to learn to code at ages 12 and 14 respectively. “I learnt to code by myself. I started in 2013, I used sites sites like Code Academy, Code Avengers and books like ‘Android for Game Development’ and ‘Games for Dummies’,” said Anesi.

According to both brothers, they started developing an Android based web browser, which they named Crocodile Browser Lite, about a year ago, out of boredom. Their strong interest in technology, coupled with their desire to learn, informed the decision to create a functional, fast browser for low end feature phones because “We were fed up with Google Chrome”, according to them.

The brothers launched their browser on the Mobango app before taking it onto the Google Play Store so they could reach a wider audience. Their browser currently has around 500 downloads, but no ads yet.

Their mother, Mrs. NgoziIkhianosime, a Math teacher, said, “Oseni could already use a PC before could read, at age 3.” She also said that the school the boys attended also played a key role in encouraging their love for coding. They had access to computers in school and they both had personal laptops at home.

With regards to Anesi, who is in his final year of secondary school, his mother says, “After Anesi is through with his secondary school education, will attend A levels, after which he will go to MIT in Boston for his first degree, because the university has the facilities he needs to learn well.”

Their father agrees and attests to the fact that the school’s the boys’ attended were very instrumental in their coding aspirations and continued interest.

As for Anesi, he would like to develop other apps with real-life problem solving applications.

The brothers plan to release a new version of their browser, Crocodile Browser Lite 3.0, this April.

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