Why develop apps in Irish?

I just released a new version of my Irish Train Watch app with the main update being an Irish language mode - users can now view Irishrail train times on their Apple Watch in Irish (Gaeilge). Exciting! .. or is it? Should that have been my latest update, should it have been in the initial version, or am I wasting my time and my users' time?

I think the app is the first Apple Watch app to feature Gaeilge - but some of my colleagues joked that it could also be the last! Are they right, is there any point including Irish in modern tech?

I'm a big fan of the Irish language, I speak it at home, my kids go to an all Irish school and this is the second app I've developed with Irish being a main feature; so I'm clearly in favour. This post is not only intended though to give some of my reasoning for developing in Irish but to also see what others think, so please let me know!

Some regard Irish as an obsolete language in a multi-cultural world while others view it as an important part of our own culture that we should nourish and grow. I'm in the latter camp and I see developing apps in Irish as one thing that I can do to help sustain the language.

If you search for "Gaeilge" in the Apple App Store, you currently get about 51 results, 2 of which are my apps. There's a variety of standards - some are great quality but even if all 51 were amazing, there's still only 51 of them - as oppose to the million plus of apps with English and other languages. If I want to download a new app or game for the kids or me, it's more than likely not going to have any Irish in it.

The main reasons I've developed apps in Irish are to promote the language and to show my kids (and others) that the slick devices with the touch-screens that they're obsessed with don't just have English on them. One common opinion is that Irish is not relevant and not needed for everyday life in Ireland - but maybe if we had more Irish on the little smartphones that everyone is addicted to, we can show that the language does have a place in the latest digital tech.

There are many other reasons for developing apps - for profit obviously one of the main reasons; and there may be a perception that Irish apps just won't be profitable. I'd love to make some cash from Irish apps - and am currently working on a game in Irish that may or may not do so - but even if I don't make a cent at least I'll have added to the small number of Irish apps, with some (hopefully!) quality contributions. Perhaps if there's more well-designed, high-quality apps in Irish, the market for them will grow.

Please let me know what you think anyway, I'm interested to see what other developers and app users think. Thanks, Andy.