This was written by one of our developers, we liked it and thought we’d share it with you:
The process of developing apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad) is not as difficult or straightforward as you might imagine. I’m certainly not a programmer, but set out on a mission to see if I could develop some really cool apps for iPhone and iPad. I’ve read all over the news how kids as young as 8 years old are using ‘backend as a service’ cloud platforms like Kumulos to help them crack the Apple app store. If kids as young as 8 in the USA are able to build iPhone apps and make a few dollars, surely it wouldn’t be hard for a 30 year old marketer.
Like any creative process, I discovered there are certain rules that you must adhere to when planning your development project for iPhone and iPad. This story is not about my particular methods or personal taste, but just some of the general research that I found useful when planning developing apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac OSX. Remember, the name of the game is simple; you need to get your iOS app onto iTunes as quick as possible. The sooner your app is in the market place and people are using it on their iPhones and iPads the better. The reason for this is pretty obvious, unless the app is out of the development room and running on people’s devices, it’s never going to make any cash. You need to get your iPhone app onto iTunes and start responding to user data. You can always make updates to your iOS app and release them later once people are digging it.
Developing your apps for iPhone and iPad is not entirely free, Apple initiate a fee for registering your developer account of $99 (USD). In addition, it’w worth considering that in order to create apps that run on an iPhone or iPad, you also need to invest in some Mac based technology. Your Mac will also need to run some ‘Mac-happy’ code to create your first sweet app for iPhone or iPad.
STEP 1: MODEL YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD APP DEVELOPMENT IDEA
So you think you have a world beating idea for your first iOS development project? There are, as you probably already know, a plethora of apps catering from fitness to finance and fine art. The app store is a crowded place and in order to be successful, you need to carve out a unique selling proposition. Ask yourself some basic questions. Has this been done before? What makes my app unique relative to the competition? Remember the best place to start looking for your competition is on the app store. Have a look and see what’s out there and note what your competition is doing. Work out how they do business and the features you can incorporate in your development project to solve a real life problem for your iPhone app users.
People usually develop apps for three reasons: to engage customers, to increase the awareness of a particular brand and to make money. It may be you are trying to achieve one of these things. It may be that your iPhone or iPad app is being built with all of these factors in mind. If you’re planning on making some money from your app, you must ensure you have a solid business model to support your technical and commercial endeavors. If your app is being built to engage users or as an exercise in strengthening your brand, there may be some spin-off in terms of sales of your product or service that arise as a result of launching your app. You must make sure that you can measure the effectiveness of your actions. There are some great platforms designed for analytics and measuring the performance of your app. I’ve found Flurry really useful if you’re looking for an off-the-shelf solution. However if you’re feeling a little more adventurous and want to build your own back-end reporting tools, you could consider using a platform like Kumulos.
Kumulos is a backend as a service cloud platform for all your mobile development needs. It works for your iPhone and iPad development projects but you can also use it for developing Google Android apps and PHP web development work. I hear rumors from their tech dudes they are also planning on supporting Unity development for creating social games. So to cut a long story short, when planning your idea, keep in mind how you are going to measure success. You may want to use an existing solution like Flurry, or you can create custom analytics using a cloud backend as a service platform like Kumulos that helps with iOS app development. Anyway, more of this stuff later. To get started, you may want to grab a pen and paper and start designing the layout of your app the good old-fashioned way. So now you’ve got a killer hook for your iPhone/iPad app, what’s next?
STEP 2: BUY AN IMAC (OR SIMILAR APPLE PRODUCT)
Many people who own a Mac will testify to it. Once you’ve had Mac, you wont go back, etc. Cliché’s aside, I purchased my first Mac a few years back and have never looked back since. Anti-Apple propaganda aside, personally I think they are beautiful and robust products worthy of their hefty price tags. However, it doesn’t matter what I think, if you want to dip your hand in the honey pot that is the app store, you’re going to have to invest in one of these bad boys in order to develop a groovy new world beating app for iPhone and iPad. So let’s just get the fundamentals straight.
The iPhone is an Apple product that uses a stripped down variation of the Mac operating system. As you read, the iPhone and iPad development tools required to make your project sing are only available for Mac users. I think some clever tech guys somewhere worked out how to design apps for iPhone and iPad in jailbreak mode on a PC, however let’s not go there. I have bills to pay, kids to feed and I don’t need a lawsuit from Apple landing in my inbox. Joking aside, if you’re not prepared to go balls out on an iMac or a powerful MacBook Pro, you can always buy a Mac mini. These are relatively cheap and will enable you to get up and running. Having purchased your weapon of choice, you will become one step closer to productizing your million-dollar app idea and submitting it to iTunes.
STEP 3: REGISTER YOUR APPLE DEVELOPER ACCOUNT
So now you’ve got a world beating value proposition, business model and a brand spanking new Mac, you’re ready to take on the app development world with your idea and become a millionaire overnight. So in order to work with Mac tools, you’ll need to make sure you’re officially registered on the Apple Developer Program. Once you’ve supplied some information and agreed to their terms, you only need to register once and you can use the same username and password for your iTunes account. Once you’re an Apple developer you can develop iPhone and iPad apps for any of the Mac products.
STEP 4: DOWNLOAD THE SDK (SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT) FOR IPHONE
Now that you’re an official developer (how cool does that sound?) you can download the SDK for iPhone. The version you require will depend upon the operating system (OS) you are currently running. Beware, this is a MASSIVE download because it’s loaded with loads of sample codes, documentation and all sorts of things to help develop your first app for iPhone and iPad. This could take some time, so you might want to order a Pizza, spark a beer and take in the ball game while you wait.
There are heaps of sites dedicated to the topic of developing apps for iPhone and iPad so if you get stuck you can always search for your problem. Be specific with your keywords so Google knows exactly what you’re looking for. Very often you’ll find where there is a common problem, there will be a solution. Forums and message boards are great places for iPhone and iPad developers to hang out. If you get stuck people are always more than happy to help out. But remember to be courteous and respect the rules of each forum, people can get prickly if you don’t stick to the etiquette. Watch videos, take some notes as you go, there are some great tutorials out there. Try ManiacDev to get you started. I’ve done my research and these guys are pretty cool.
STEP 5: DOWNLOAD XCODE
If you haven’t already taken the time to do so, download XCode. Apple say, ‘XCode is a complete, full-featured IDE built around a smooth workflow that integrates the editing of source code, with the build and compile steps, through to a graphical debugging experience – all without leaving the view of your source code’. This is another massive download, so you may want to go and grab more beer, pizza or whatever floats your boat.
Step 6: Develop your iPhone/iPad App With The SDK Templates
Once you have your app all mapped out on paper or in Photoshop, you can start experimenting with the design and layout with the templates neatly provided in the software development kit (SDK). This is one of the reasons the download takes such a long time, some of the templates are BIG. There’ll be a bunch of templates to choose from and there are some great YouTube clips on how to utilize the templates effectively. Your next step will involve Cocoa, but not the kind you’re used to in your chocolate milkshake.
STEP 7: LEARN OBJECTIVE-C FOR COCOA
If you love good clean, solid programming languages, you will feel right at home with Objectrive-C. If you ask me it’s the balls, the mutt’s nuts, period. If you don’t understand how to actually program (this can often be the tricky bit…) you may not need to hire a friend or a professional programmer to get the job done. This is always an option. Never be afraid to stand behind your ideas and back them financially. Potential investors will want to see you’ve considered the best way to get your technology into the market place and that you’ve had the metaphorical testicles to put your money where your mouth is. It might be an extra cost to bring a programmer on board, but you will reap the benefits of getting the job done properly, on time and within budgetary constraints. It helps too if you can find literature on how to help with your specific problems. The search engines are fantastic platforms for seeking out solutions to your programming and app marketing needs. There are heaps of people now developing apps for all sorts of mobile platforms such as iOS, Mac OSX and Google Android to name but a few. Remember to try and hang out online where your buddies are, you’ll be amazed how quickly you can solve a variety of challenging commercial and technical scenarios.
STEP 8: PROGRAM YOUR APP USING OBJECTIVE-C
Once you’ve grasped Objective-C for Cocoa, you need to actually program your app in Objective-C (or at least figure out how to find solutions to your programming problems). You can try taking screen shots as you program so you can record and remember variations of the things you’ve tried. If you do need to use an external programmer or professional for advise, it will help them if you can clearly articulate your problem. This saves time and money, which is ultimately the most important thing.
The length of time a project will take, or the ‘scope’ of the project will depend entirely on its complexity. Some apps can take a matter of hours to develop; others can take months of planning, research and intensive development. Make sure that you understand the scope of your project before you start programming. It’s easy when you first start to bite off more than you can chew. The last thing you want to do is end up in a nightmare black hole of code because you’ve not planned adequately in advance.
As my old computer studies teacher once told me, ‘boy if you fail to prepare, you can prepare to fail’. Apply this mentality to all of your iPhone and iPad development projects and you wont go far wrong. Consider the resources required and the length of time it will take to do specific things. There are loads of cool project management tools and methodologies you can use to help you if you’re stuck in a rut.
If you’re looking for a hosting or backend solution for your iPhone or iPad development project, you should try using Kumulos. It’s a new cloud backend as a service development platform that works with iOS (iPhone and iPad), Mac OSX, Google Android and PHP. You can host your data in the cloud and build API’s to give your app some extra muscle. The great thing about using Kumulos as your choice for a cloud based backend as a service development platform for iPhone and iPad app development is that it’s totally free to use while your apps are in development. Once your app is installed on over 25 unique devices, there is a small (and very fair) fee for each app that you deploy to iTunes or your chosen app marketplace. Again if you get stuck trying to find a cloud backend as a service platform for your iOS development projects, don’t be afraid to ask. This is a new product category and many developers are now using platforms like Kumulos to turbo charge their apps and give them a boost in the iTunes app store marketplace.
STEP 9: TEST THE APP IN THE SIMULATOR FOR IPHONE
The Apple software development kit (SDK) comes with a gorgeous simulator for your iPhone development projects. Unless you have hired a programmer, you will need to load in your app and do some testing. Try and work out where the bugs are and consider the people using your app. Understanding how to market your iPhone and iPad apps will be fundamental if you want them to be successful. Think about who will use your app, how they will use it and the type of features and interface that you need to consider as a result. Ironing out bugs in your app will help you to understand what it’s like for someone trying to use the app. Often the programmer is not the best person to do this. Sometimes programmers can be protective of their own stuff and don’t like to be subject to criticism. Or it may be that they are just too close to the project to be able to see how a user will benefit from downloading and using your iPhone app.
STEP 10: UPLOADING YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD APPS TO ITUNES
I mentioned earlier you’d have to stump up $99 to get on the dance floor with iTunes. Now is the time to do this. Once your app is tested and sufficiently bug free, it’s nearly time to submit your technological offspring to the great app gig in the sky, the app store! This is a one-time fee of $99 (USD) and there is no way to move around this. If you’re serious about getting your shit into the market place and becoming a badass millionaire, you’d better be prepared to fork out 99 fat ones for Apple. In the grand scheme of things it’s a paltry price to pay, so just strap on a pair of nuts and go for it. To be fair to Apple, you get a pretty sweet return for your $99 one-time investment.
STEP 11: HAVE OTHER IPHONE AND IPAD DEVELOPERS TEST YOUR APP
Once you’ve sucked up the $99 and paid your fee, you’ll be able to have other app developers test your shit. People in the community can take a look and if they’re feeling generous they’ll help you iron out any last minute bugs. In all seriousness, these people don’t bite (most of them anyway…). I must emphasize the importance of using the community and the advice of other iPhone and iPad developers to help you with your app development project. Remember that testing should be fun too; if you’re a newbie like me you will actually be in complete awe of the kings and queens of the iPhone and iPad development world. Depending on the overall complexity and nature of your app, this process can take some time but is totally invaluable in the grand scheme of things.
STEP 12: SUBMIT YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD APPS FOR APPROVAL
So now that you’ve tested your app in the community and ironed out all those nasty bugs, you can finally submit your app to iTunes for approval. People often ask me how long the Apple app developer approval process takes and the answer is clear as mud. It can take anywhere between a matter of hours and weeks or months depending on how busy the Apple approval team is once your app has been submitted. You should also by this stage be aware of Apple’s guidelines and regulations on what constitutes accepted developer practice and content when submitting your iPhone and iPad apps to iTunes. Know what the boundaries are and be aware of any potential pitfalls or factors that could constrain the success of your app before submission. I’ve heard of iPhone apps and iPad apps being rejected by Apple for a number of reasons so just be careful and aware of what you’re doing.
If you have created a paid app, it’s a simple case now of waiting for the cash to hit the bank. If you created a free iPhone or iPad app, you’re probably looking to engage users or enhance brand awareness so you’ll need some analytics to help measure the success and overall performance of your app. You’ll want to know who is downloading your app, where they live and how many pieces of toast they had for breakfast. Welcome to the wonderful world of mobile technology, where data is king and just about anyone can be its master. Remember you can use Kumulos as a cloud backend as a service platform to turbo charge your iOS iPhone, IPad, Mac OSX and even Google Android app development projects. I hope you’ve enjoyed my first blog, you can follow me @AppDevBizMan for all the latest updates on my iOS app development odyssey.
