iPhone App Development Series

Report Topics:

Restrictions on iPhone App Development

Top Selling Strategies for iPhone Apps

Writing iPhone Apps is Not Easy

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iPhone App Developer - Restrictions in Development

As an iPhone app developer you may find iPhone to be an ideal platform or device/gadget to develop a killer application to sell and make a good fortune. But wait, every thing is not as plain as you see. There are some restrictions laid by Apple, producer of the iPhone, which may have negative impact over your development plan. Consider the following before putting in the hard work for developing your own application.

One app at a time

The first restriction put by Apple is "Only one application can run at a time". This means if you are surfing over the Internet and some one calls you, then you have to quit the surfing to attend the incoming call. Suppose you are on a secure server and you have to frequently leave the page, then it becomes a headache for you to give username and password every time. This seems a problem for user but what for the developer?

Yes, it is something for developer to think over too. Suppose you have developed a GPS application which needs constant support from the user to collect a particular data for your geo-location, then again it makes a compulsion for the user to continue with the same application and ignore all important calls for you. This makes the implications of that application vague.

No third party in background

Another restriction is "no third party application will run in background". This means instant messengers will not be able to collect messages for you while you are attending an important call. It will show you offline as soon as you switch over to another application. Similarly, it is true for any application, which has to interact with web for periodical updated or for its smooth functioning would prove useless here. Even the whole class of such application will prove useless or significantly less useful than they otherwise would be.

Control on apps

Apple store is formed for the centric distribution of the apps. None can directly distribute any apps and one has to come at the Apple store for its marketing purpose. It not only acts as a marketing point for the developers but can prove a gateway for the iPhone application developers.

You have to take permission for the entrance as an iPhone developer by registering with Apple. When your apps get in the store, Apple will decide weather it will stay there or not by NetShare or any other means. There are again threats for you that they may reject your apps or make significant delay in the release. This may lead to fatal consequences for a developer.

Revoking the certificate

Apple can exert vertical control over the iPhone apps developer by simply revoking the certificate given. You may want to ask that how is it related to its apps development if it is already finished? You are right but you may know that since Apple forces all legitimate

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iPhone apps to be signed, if the certificate is on the "revocation list" no apps signed with that certificate will run anywhere. This would come as quite a shock to your paying customers.

No support for previous versions

"Applications targeting iPhone OS releases prior to 3.0 beta cannot be tested in this seed"

"This software should only be installed on devices dedicated exclusively for iPhone 3.0 beta application development"

"Devices updated to iPhone 3.0 beta cannot be restored to earlier versions of iPhone OS"

"iPhone SDK for iPhone 3.0 cannot be used for submitting iPhone OS 2.2.1 applications to the App Store"

All this has two important implications. If you are planning your own iPhone app development, you'll need two development machines and two iPhones to be able to work on your 2.x OS-based apps while checking out and upgrading code for the 3.0 OS.

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Top Selling Strategies For iPhone App

Once you've successfully created your application, the next most important step is to market and create buzz for your new application in the App Store.

1. Marketing Your iPhone Apps Through Blogs

The reason why blog is interesting and special for marketing your iphone applications is because it provides you with 3 key factors to being noticed on the internet by search engines:

- Fresh - Topical - Educational

It also enables you to convey your message from your own perspective in an ongoing way that promotes the messages you wish to get out there on your own schedule.

Every time you release a new blog entry, remember to start a buzz on your social networking sites so your friends will know about it. You can try to put promotions out to them but you'll need do it in a way that doesn't come across as too commercial or pushy.

2. Creating Buzz For Your iPhone Apps Using Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites enable you to increase interest by participating or generating a larger discussion around the area of your iPhone application, instead of direct publicity for the app itself.

You can create a Facebook, a Twitter account, Linkedin, or MySpace group which focuses on the area of interest that your app inhabits. After that, you can start inviting participants into your group. In your group, you can also come out with interesting forum discussions and add blog entries along with updates.

With interesting contents that are compelling for your users, they will be compelled to invite their friends, drawing more people into your brand environment.

3. Making a Demo Video On YouTube

Creating a demo video provides you the opportunity to really show off your application rather than hoping users "get it" by using it themselves.

Your video will be displayed on the Website that you dedicate to your application, however you can also feature it on your blogs, social networking pages, and YouTube channel.

A demo video proves to be successful in the following aspects:

- A demo video can act as a sales pitch for your application. - A form of education or guide for your users about how and why they should use your application.

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- Effective way for your app to spread virally. - Provide magazines and bloggers a presentation to link to when describing your app.

4. Other Forms of Online Promotions:

- Article Marketing - Press Releases - Contact other existing iPhone app websites and inform them about your upcoming app.

 

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Writing  iPhone  Apps  is  Not  Easy    

If you're reading this article, chances are good that you are thinking about writing your own iPhone app. You probably heard all the same things I did before I got started. Oh, it's super easy. Anyone can do it. Just write one quick app and you'll get rich. Well, let me give you a little different perspective.

iPhone  App  Development  is  Easy  If...  

Writing iPhone apps is easy IF you are a professional software developer who has been working with Apple's development tools for years. If you aren't a software developer, you are going to find it anything but easy. And if you are a developer, but you haven't spent much time writing Apple software, you are going to run into a big learning curve.

First, you need to learn the language. iPhone apps are written in Objective C. If you're a C programmer, great, it will look somewhat familiar to you, though there will still be a lot of learning to do. If you're not a C programmer, I sure hope you're ready to do some learning and spend lots of time on Google. I spent 90% of my "development" time for my first app surfing Google, searching desperately to figure out how to do something that seemed like it should be super simple.

The  Environment  

Second, you need to learn the iPhone app development environment. iPhone apps are developed using two main pieces of software. XCode is where you write your code, add your project files, and run and debug. Interface Builder is where you design your interface. One of the trickiest parts of writing an iPhone app is getting the interface from Interface Builder connected to the code in XCode. I strongly urge you to buy and read a good introductory iPhone app development book. You really need to have at least a vague understanding of how everything works together and the architecture of an iPhone app before you even start your first project. If you don't follow this advice, you are likely to screw up your project beyond belief.

Aside from misconceptions about how "easy" it is to write iPhone apps, you are probably also thinking you are going to get rich. Who can blame you? You've probably read about cases where one person made hundreds of thousands of dollars off one little app. Well, think of it like the lottery. Sure, a few people get rich, but most people get little to nothing. I read somewhere that the majority of app developers have made less than $500. The get rich quick apps are the one's that got in early and had the first app of their kind, or they are the very top of the rankings and have had a ton of publicity.

Now don't think that I'm discouraging anyone from writing iPhone apps. I'm having fun with it and I'm learning a lot. But I've been a software developer for 8 years and it took me a month of working on my first app in my free time to get it done. And I'm certainly not making any money yet. So stop and think first and don't believe everything you hear.

 

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