Grant Goodman sensed an opportunity when Apple Inc. AAPL +0.24%  removed the preloaded YouTube app from its iPhones last year. He quickly built an advertising-free app called Prodigus to play online videos "fast with no compromises."

Prodigus, "it means extravagant in Latin," Mr. Goodman explains, was his second iPhone app. He recently submitted a third, a game called "iTap That." He incorporated a company, Macster Software Inc. Next week, the 14-year-old Mr. Goodman will start high school in Glen Head, N.Y.

"If you start young, you will have an advantage over people who start in their 20s," he said. "Your brain has more plasticity when you're younger."

Mr. Goodman is among a generation of teenage developers seizing opportunities afforded by the spread of smartphones. Writing apps for smartphones and tablet computers has become the technology industry's latest proving ground and is drawing ever-younger talent.

These software prodigies are highly prized by Apple and Google, GOOGL +0.35%  which are courting ever-younger coders for their mobile-operating systems. Apple in 2012 lowered the minimum age to attend its developer conference to 13, from 18, and made the younger teens eligible for scholarships that waive the $1,600 registration fee. Minors claimed roughly half of the 200 scholarships at this year's conference, where Apple introduced a new programming language, Swift, that streamlines the app-making process.



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Google started its own youth program at its Google I/O developer conference in June. It hosted 200 kids between the ages of 11 and 15 for a half-day, introducing them to some basic tools used by its developers.

Mr. Goodman, an Apple scholarship winner, has created an app for Google Glass that displays remaining battery power of the Web-connected eyewear. But he said he prefers making apps for Apple's iOS devices because he is "obsessed" with the iPhone maker and its emphasis on simplicity.


Grant Goodman, a 14-year-old app developer from New York who starts high school in September, has published two apps in Apple's app store.. Becky Goodman
Nick D'Aloisio is a hero to many of the teen developers. Mr. D'Aloisio, who is now 18, last year sold his news-summarizing app Summly to Yahoo Inc. YHOO +0.52%  for $30 million. At Apple's June conference, Mr. D'Aloisio won a design award for a different news-reading app he developed at Yahoo.

"I hope that's me one day," said 16-year-old Douglas Bumby, as he watched Mr. D'Aloisio accept the award. Mr. Bumby drove 14 hours from Langley, British Columbia, with his grandparents to attend the conference in San Francisco. He spent more than 70 hours honing the app about himself that was part of the scholarship application, adding features such as a counter that tracked his age to the second.

Mr. Bumby's first app—Just Go!, a stopwatch for runners—became available in the App Store during the conference. The app is listed under his grandfather's name because he is only 16. Developers younger than 18 can't publish apps in Apple's App Store, so many kids register with a parent or guardian. Google has no age restrictions for its Google Play store.

Mr. Bumby said he is sometimes mocked at school as a nerd, but enjoyed being around tech-savvy teens at the conference. He also found a business partner in 17-year-old Jason Pan from Australia.

The pair quickly formed a company, Apollo Research, and set to work on a collaboration app they're calling Slate. But Mr. Bumby said it's still difficult for young developers to get taken seriously by investors or customers. "I kind of wish I was older," he mused.

Twenty-one-year-old Sarah Rust stood out among Apple's mostly male student developers. Unlike her peers who are weighing whether to skip college, the University of North Carolina student and Apple scholarship winner is in no rush to start her career and is considering pursuing a master's degree in computer science. But she's been impressed by the motivation driving her peers.

"They are incredibly smart, probably smarter than most adults," she said. "Age isn't a requirement to do well."

Ahmed Fathi, 15, said he had to teach himself how to create iPhone apps in Egypt. "Even my computer teacher has no idea what programmers do," he said. "My friends think I'm crazy. They often ask 'what the hell are you doing?' "

Mr. Fathi said he became interested in programming after an uncle taught him how to create websites two years ago. His learned how to build mobile apps by watching YouTube videos and combing Stack Overflow, a question-and-answer site for programmers. This month, he published Tweader, an app that reads Tweets aloud for drivers or bikers, in the App Store.

Attending the conference was eye opening. He spent six weeks around San Francisco with his mother after the conference, visiting Apple's headquarters and Stanford University. He also participated in local "hackathons"—intense collaboration sessions to create new software. "People here care about technology," he said.