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The 20-year-old graduate behind Safari for iPhone

The 20-year-old graduate behind Safari for iPhone

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Francisco Tolmasky was 20 when he joined Apple in 2006. The computer science graduate, fresh from the University of Southern California, was immediately set to work on the upcoming iPhone's internet browser. From the beginning of his time at the company, Tolmasky says Steve Jobs would meet with him regularly to discuss his progress. "Steve was really adamant," the now 29-year-old Tolmasky tells The New York Times. "‘This needs to be like magic. Go back, this isn't magical enough!'" Younger than most at Apple, Tolmasky says Jobs was "super-guarded about the project," and was "probably suspicious of some random 20-year-old." Nevertheless, the small team Tolmasky was a part of went on to have a surprisingly influential role in defining mobile devices to come: in addition to designing Apple's Safari browser, one of the young engineer's teammates won the chance to design the iPhone's keyboard after succeeding in an internal competition.