Contendr makes kids engage in fun activities like making fruit sculptures, funny videos and playing with their pets, rather than play virtual games.

Phelps, 23, said users can create competitions with each other about anything they wish, invite their friends, upload photos and videos and vote to see who wins.

“I was visiting my cousins, who are eight and 10, and noticed the extreme amount of time they spend on their iPads.

“I thought Contendr would let kids continue to play on their devices with their friends, but do more creative and fun things in the real world.” 

When users receive an invitation to a competition from a friend, such as making fruit sculptures, it offers them fresh ideas about how to have fun, as well as someone to do it with.

“After using the app with my cousins, I saw how they loved thinking of new competition ideas and added extra features like voting, so users can decide through voting who's post wins,” Phelps said.

Phelps said school holidays provided the perfect opportunity for kids to make the most of the App, while they are separated from their friends.

“My hope for Contendr is that it brings kids back into the real world when they are bored, by being able to do fun things with their friends, though physically apart, they will be less likely to default to video games,” he said.

Phelps has already dabbled in the world of App development, having created an app called Trakka.

“I made it for Ninja Warrior competitors, so they could rank themselves against each other in such exercises as pull ups, burpees and weights,” he said.

“This helped give users motivation for their training as they could see where they ranked leading up to the big event.”

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