Apple CEO impressed by nine-year-old Australian app maker

A nine-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl, Anvitha Vijay, has caught the eye of Apple's CEO Tim Cook at the Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWCD) in San Francisco.

Out of the 350 students invited to Apple's WWCD, Vijay was acknowledged by Cook in his keynote speech as one the most promising and young app developers in the world.

Vijay impressed Apple executives so much that she got to meet Cook. And he gave her a special shout out in the first few minutes of the show, pointing her out in the audience saying, "I met Vijay and she is going to make one heck of a developer."

The nine-year-old's budding app career began when she was only seven, after she taught herself how to write code by watching YouTube videos.

She was then invited to Apple's event this year as the youngest attendee, after developing two apps for the iPhone and the iPad.

"I want to be an app developer so I can make a difference in the world," Vijay told NewsCorp on Wednesday.

"All the hard work does not seem like hard work any more when people download and start using what you have made. It is the best feeling ever."

The Melbourne student received 7000 US Dollars in prize money at the OzApp Awards last year for her first educational app, GoalsHi', while her second app, Smartkins Animals', furthered her already impressive resume.

When the conference concludes later this week, Vijay and her family will be taking a celebratory trip to Disneyland. Endit