Touchpress was an acclaimed app developer and publisher based in Central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The company specialised in creating in-depth premium apps on educational subjects including the

Periodic Table The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, T.S. Eliot,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, and others. Their app "Barefoot World Atlas" was named one of the top 10 apps of all time by

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

. Of Touchpress' "Disney Animated," which was named the best iPad app of 2013 worldwide by Apple, iTunes' App Editor noted, "We’re absolutely spellbound." In October 2016, Touchpress sold its portfolio of science and literature apps to a new, venture-capital backed publisher in the educational content market, Touch Press Inc., to concentrate on digital tools and services for cultural organisations to grow audience engagement, with an emphasis on video. As part of this new strategy, the company has rebranded to "Amphio".'

Origins

Touchpress was founded by

Theodore Gray Theodore W. "Theo" Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research, science author, and co-founder of app developer Touch Press. Education Theodore Gray was educated at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School. He would later graduate w ...

, Max Whitby, John Cromie, Stephen Wolfram and others shortly after the announcement of the launch of the iPad. The first published app was "The Elements," a continuation of the founders' work together on a coffee table book about the periodic table, which they followed up in 2014 with "Molecules", allowing users to touch and discover the basic building blocks of the world.

Design philosophy

Touchpress creates "living books." Their apps feature many interactive elements and seek to engage readers with a deeper understanding of the subject. The company is part of a broad movement to re-define books and the reading experience for the 21st century. Touchpress is particularly notable for their partnerships both within and outside the publishing industry. To date, the company has worked with

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Fiona Shaw Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles as Petunia Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2010), Marnie Stonebrook in the fourth season of the HBO ser ...

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

and the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

, and more.

Apps published by Touchpress

* 2010
The Elements
* 2011
X is for X-Ray
* 2011
Skulls by Simon Winchester
* 2011
Gems and Jewels
* 2011
The Waste Land
* 2012
March of the Dinosaurs
* 2012
Solar System
* 2012
Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomy
* 2012
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
* 2012
The Pyramids
* 2012
War Horse
* 2012
The Orchestra
* 2012
Barefoot World Atlas
* 2013
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
* 2013
The Liszt Sonata
* 2013
Disney Animated
* 2013
The Elements in Action
* 2013
Journeys Of Invention
* 2014
Incredible Numbers by Professor Ian Stewart
* 2014
Vivaldi's Four Seasons
* 2014
Seamus Heaney: Five Fables
* 2014
The Elements Flashcards
* 2014
Collins Bird Guide
* 2014
Apprentice Architect
* 2014
Think Like Churchill
* 2014
False Conviction
* 2014
Molecules
* 2015
Juilliard Open Studios
* 2015
Juilliard String Quartet
* 2015
Steve Reich's Clapping Music
* 2015
Arcadia by Iain Pears
* 2015
Baron Ferdinand's Challenge
* 2015
Classical Music Reimagined
* 2016
Millie Marotta’s Colouring Adventures
* 2016
The Henle Library

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touch Press Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Software companies based in London