By Neal Boling
News Director | News Channel 11
Published: July 23, 2009

By: RICHARD MULLINS

Media General News Service

It’s not often a software company hits the big time with a slogan like “Honestly, don’t download this. It’s just a blank screen.“

For the last week, however, the “Mirror Free” iPhone app from Tampa-based Inner Four has been in the top-10 most-downloaded list of free iPhone apps with that very description. The program is just an image of a mirror frame and a blank screen so you can (kind of) see your reflection.

The program started almost as a joke when John Schwartz of Westchase-based Inner Four spotted another company’s 99-cent mirror application and thought they were silly to charge for a blank screen. In about an hour, he made the Mirror Free program and uploaded it to Apple.

As their description on the Apple iTunes says, “Don’t hate us for a useless app. Love us for saving you $.99.“ The app doesn’t even have great reviews. Currently, users give it one and a half stars.

Nevertheless, the app exploded in popularity and hit the No. 1 spot in Apple’s rankings last week. Currently, it’s still in the top 10.

This week, The Wall Street Journal featured the oddball success. Though the app is free, the company generates revenue from ads above the mirror frame, such as CheapFlights.com, and Yellow Pages.

“We put it up there more or less as a joke,“ said David Rajala, chief executive of Inner Four, which now has about 150 different iPhone apps in its catalog.

Free mirrors aren’t the only thing InnerFour has to offer. Among their apps:

—Cat Toss. As the name implies, players flick their fingers on the iPhone’s screen to toss cats, or dogs, for distance.

—BullCrap Detector, which looks like a lie detector, but allows phone owners to pre-set questions to persuade friends it’s authentic.

—Don’t Get Married, where players put their finger on the phone screen and try to avoid the flying wedding rings.

—The Most Annoying App Ever, that shows a sequence of ugly designs or maddening games, like “click here” buttons that keep popping up.

One recent app, the company pulled from production: “TeenTorture,“ that makes a high-pitched squeal that only kids can still hear. After a bit of controversy, it was renamed “Teen Hearing Test,“ and re-launched.

Oddly for Rajala and his company, Apple doesn’t share much information about how well their apps sell. The company’s first gauge of success is when they see their app in a Top 10 list. Blockbuster sales vary, but Rajala estimates a No. 1 app might sell 100,000 copies over a few days. Eventually, Apple wires money from the sales directly into Inner Four’s account.

Inner Four has some company in Tampa for in the entertainment-only category. The app company Mad Mobile launched their program “Framerz” with appearances on American Idol. That app takes photos from your phone and customizes them to look like rock stars, angels, jail inmates, rappers or Rastafarians.