Quikthinking Software

Kingsley H. Smith, Founder & CEO
Cherry Hill, New Jersey

How a former radio broadcaster built a top-ranking mobile library of Black history

After a storied 40-year career in broadcasting, Kingsley H. Smith turned his passion for history and tech into Quikthinking Software. Today, his portfolio of 23 mobile apps has reached nearly half a million downloads, keeping vital educational resources free and accessible through Google AdMob.

Tuning into the tech wave

Kingsley H. Smith has always been a communicator.

For over 40 years, he worked in the broadcasting industry in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and New York as a technician, on-air announcer, and program director.

But as he watched the tech landscape shift in the 1990s, he grew fascinated by computers. He took community college classes, taught HTML, and even instructed middle school teachers on how to use Windows.

"I was always ahead in a lot of the things that I tried," Kingsley reflects.

In the 1990s, he spent five years conducting exhaustive library research to produce a rich multimedia CD-ROM called Empower Encyclopedia. When smartphones arrived in the late 2000s, he saw a powerful new way to distribute that knowledge.

In 2011, he ported his deep historical research into his first Android app, Black History People. Despite early skeptics who warned there would be too much competition, the app took off.

After taking over 40 online development courses to master Android and iOS, he decided to transition to full-time app development in 2017.

To officially launch his business, he chose a name that was inspiring and incorporated a play on his own first name: Quikthinking Software.

Today, Kingsley maintains 19 Android apps, ranking in the top 5 percent of active publishers on Google Play, along with several iOS apps.

Democratizing education with ads

From the start, Kingsley wanted to ensure his educational resources had no barriers to entry.

"I wanted to offer my apps to whoever wanted to download them, and without charging them anything," he explains.

To keep his apps free while funding ongoing development, Kingsley integrated Google AdMob. It proved to be a perfect, straightforward fit.

“I started with AdMob, and have stuck with AdMob since the beginning because implementing it in the apps is straightforward. I also like the AdMob reports to easily track performance,” he adds.

Today, ad revenue makes up about 50% of Quikthinking's income, providing a stable, predictable foundation that helps Kingsley pay his server fees and work with a small group of global freelance developers for complex technical updates.

This ad-supported model has successfully fueled the growth of 13 apps completely dedicated to Black history, including Black History Quotes Express and Black History Inventors. These apps usually experience a massive global surge in usage between November and February, aligning with the holiday season and Black History Month.

"The response in terms of people supporting the advertising in the free apps is very strong," Kingsley notes.

“I started with AdMob, and have stuck with AdMob since the beginning because implementing it in the apps is straightforward. I also like the AdMob reports to easily track performance.”

Connecting beyond the screen

For Kingsley, the most satisfying part of his work is creating tools that directly serve his community.

In 2007, a director of a Los Angeles community center reached out to Kingsley via his website, asking if he had a Black history video to show local youths. Although he didn't have one, Kingsley spent weeks coding and rendering a polished 14-minute presentation, mastering and sending a professionally packaged DVD free of charge.

That goodwill project blossomed into a valuable resource that Kingsley still uses as a bonus at local book and craft fairs, where he showcases his physical books, including his award-winning memoir, Powerhouse Radio.

To bridge his physical and digital work, Kingsley puts QR codes on his table banners at these fairs, allowing attendees to instantly scan and download his apps on the spot.

Now in his second decade of app publishing, Kingsley’s advice to other indie developers is to look for underserved niches by studying what users complain about in other apps' reviews.

He also stresses the importance of staying adaptable to endless system updates and owning your own platform, like a personal blog, to communicate directly with your audience without relying on social media algorithms.

"If you're not committed to doing the hard work, then you're not going to last that long," Kingsley advises. "You have to stay abreast of the changes.”

Looking ahead, Kingsley is already planning to expand his portfolio with new titles and plans to eventually write a tech-themed fiction novel.