Building a great app: that’s the objective, see?
Posted 03.11.2009 at 9:06 am
11 Comments
Xcode - Interface Builder
Dave Prochnow
The third and final installment in this series takes our App to market, err, the App Store.
In the first part of this series, we covered the "nuts and bolts" for assembling a workable iPhone app development platform. Now that our desktop is cluttered with a mess of cables, it's time to roll up our sleeves and start cobbling some code together.
First things first, however. There are two things you must accomplish before you can start developing that next great American App. One is free, but for the other one you're going to have to pony up some cash.
1. Become a Registered iPhone Developer. This one's free. Yup, go do it now; then you'll be able to download the free iPhone SDK (software development kit; at this time the latest version is 2.2.1). Please note, as mentioned in the first part of this series, you must also have an Intel-based Mac and Mac OS X 10.5.5 for using this iPhone SDK. Furthermore, you will have to make a choice between being either a single-entity developer (e.g., Dave Prochnow) or a corporate developer (e.g., Microsoft Corporation). If you elect to pursue the corporate route, you will be asked to furnish documentation of incorporation (e.g., a Federal TIN, partnership, LLC, or S corporation documentation).
2. Subscribe to the iPhone Developer Program. This subscription will cost you either $99 (plus sales tax!) for the Standard Program, or $299 for the Enterprise Program. Most folks will easily fit into the Standard Program $99 subscription. After you've made your choice, you'll be whisked to the Apple Store, where a credit card transaction will have you quickly subscribed to the iPhone Developer Program for one year.
Once you have your registration and your subscription, log into the iPhone Dev Center and begin downloading everything in sight: SDK, videos, sample apps, and documentation. Sure, you might already know some of this stuff, but the more knowledgeable you are about the iPhone, the easier it should be to develop your app.
Notice that I said it "should be" easier. That's because, if you lack a solid footing in the Objective-C programming language and Apple's Cocoa development environment, you could experience a very painful learning curve.
Luckily, there are a couple of tricks and tips that can help minimize this learning curve:
1. Don't reinvent the wheel. Find an Apple sample app that closely mimics your app -- either in appearance or function. Then strip out the Apple stuff and integrate your own code into this working sample shell.
2. Learn from others' mistakes. Go grab a couple of apps from the iTunes App Store that are representative of your competition. Use what they did right, and seriously avoid what they did wrong.
3. Mine the superhighway for clever programming tricks. When you're stumped (and you will be... several times or more!), search the Web for a code snippet or fragment that deftly handles a problem similar to yours.
4. Innovation is the mother of all apps. Don't follow the masses (how many crude bodily-function-oriented apps does the market need?) -- rather, start a new trend.
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I am not a programmer, but I so want to learn how to write apps for the iPhone because I think I have some unique and different ideas. I'm following this story very closely and I already have most of the tools needed. PopSci, do me a favor and when you add the final part, give us a link to download a clean pdf version of this story without the ads.
This is a good article, however its easier said (or written) then done. Becoming an iPhone Developer takes some learning and anyone that does have a programming or computer science background, especiall with C ++ and object oriented programming languages will have a leg up. Any iphone developers who wish start earning money building apps should check out iPhoneAppQuotes.com
It may be that you have made a mindblowing Iphone App but if you dont make it known to the Iphone user then your financial benefit from that app would be limited.So while developing an app you have to think ways to promote it as well.These are some of the tips in this respect:
Strategies for maintaining/boosting app sales:
* Incorporating social media. If your users make the high score on his or her favorite game, it is a good idea to make it easy for the user to post it to Facebook or Twitter. Think about how your app can incorporate social media and build that functionality into your app. At a minimum, set up a fan page for your app on Facebook and Twitter and use them as platforms to communicate with your users and get feedback on your app.
* Pre-launch promotion. Start building buzz about your app before it has launched. E-mail people who write about things that relate to your app and see if they will talk up the upcoming release of your app.
* Plan for multiple releases. Don’t pack your app with every single feature you want to offer in the very first release. Make your dream list for the app and make sure that the app is designed to incorporate all of the features at some time in the future. Then periodically drop new versions of the app to boost app store sales.
Check out www.PhoneFreelancer.com - you can post your iPhone app project and get a ton of free development quotes.
It's an article that outlines simple steps to develop the iPhone app. Often, people ask if one can learn programming and then develop. That's a silly thought. Be smart, go to a quality iPhone developer and save yourself a lot of money and time. And in the bargain get a sellable app ready.
But, making the app is one thing. Marketing and promoting is another game altogether. Don't go without a great plan here.
Raj
www.impigertech.com (iPhone app developer in the US)
For those app developers that don't know Objective-C and Cocoa Touch and don't want to outsource development, check out localbeacon (an iphone app builder) at www.bigforge.com. Great for those who want to build just one app or developers interested in white label.
It's an article that outlines simple steps to develop the iPhone app. Often, people ask if one can learn programming and then develop.
I've created two apps now and I am not a developer. Since I don't have coding experience I used an online outsourcing site www.taskcity.com. As long as you can accurately describe what you want you can create an app for a reasonable price. You get tons of bid offers on your development and it was nice for me cause it took the fear out of developing my own app and gave me time to work on the details and marketing that really sell an app. Theres several sites out there that allow you to submit your plan and get bids from developers, I was impressed with how easy this made my app development, getting people to buy it is another thing though.
I like your direct informative approach. I need this type of post writing in my life. I had almost given up on finding someone who thinks like i do and understands how valuable time is today.
This article allowed me understand the most important tool needed if you are serious about developing an iPhone app is costly,a must have and if you do not own the Intel-based Mac and Mac OS X 10.5.5 (Leopard) for using the iPhone SDK well, you're wasting valuable time. So, thanks for that huge leg up.
www.I-Diversified.com
has anyone tried using a virtual machine running mac osx 10.5.5?
i'm thinking of giving that a try.
any thoughts.....
If someone wants to create an iPhone application, but don't have sufficient knowledge of iPhone app programming an easy way will be using an online app builder, such as www.seattleclouds.com.