January 14th, 2012 | 
Author: This infographic is from July 2011, but I imagine it’s still quite relevant. According to Distmo, in their July 2011 report, 72% of mobile app revenue (in the iPhone store) comes from in-app purchases. Do you think this still holds water today?
Posted in 
Tags: 
You’ve heard of the grade school kid who made an iPhone app and began pulling in more income than his parents combined. You know the fart apps were crazy profitable. You’ve probably heard all sorts of stories like that and you too want to get in on the app building game and start earning some serious cash yourself. The problem is, you don’t know a thing about coding, or you might know some but the whole concept of pointers and memory management in C++ or Objective C sounds like gibberish. You’re not alone. And funny enough, many of the top app sellers are just like you.
So what to do? Face it – the more time you invest in learning complex language fundamentals, the longer it will take to get your app concept in the app store. In an already over-saturated app market, that is not a risk that you should be willing to take. So how can you get your idea out faster than the other guy, when the other guy already seems to have an edge?
I’ve listed out a few choice browser-based software for making apps (or app making tools), in no particular order, that can simplify your app development and enable a faster time to market.
All You Need is a Browser.
—
After an hour or so of playing around with the Javascript Canvas and FileReader API, I ended up with this quick little application for creating a showcase image of an iPhone app. Simply drag and drop an image to the drop zone and then you can download a PNG showcase screenshot of your image on an iPhone. Beats doing this yourself in photoshop. 
Read the rest of this entry »
Today at HP’s “Think Beyond” WebOS event, a massive bomb was dropped with a 9.7 inch screen and at under an inch thick. Despite lacking the Palm branding, HP showed the World their new tablet, the nicely (although not necessarily creatively) named TouchPad.
Come Summer 2011, the tablet market will have a staggering 4 major OS’s. Between Apple’s iOS, BlackBerry”s QNX Tablet OS, Goodle’s Android HoneyComb and now HP’s WebOS, competition will be hype. This isn’t bad, of course. More competition will necessarily drive innovation. Niche markets also hold a great opportunity for developers and being able to bring apps across multiple platforms can bring larger sums of money into our pockets.
Time will tell, of course. For now, courtesy of jon4lakers and TechnoBuffalo.com, here’s a sneak peak of this admittedly stunning OS on the tablet…
Today, RIM has released an updated version of the BlackBerry Tablet OS Simulator. This updated version includes the full BlackBerry browser, supporting Flash 10.1. More information about the latest simulator release can be found on the BlackBerry Developers Blog here.
According to the website, TechInsights, the iPad’s motherboard seems to have an empty slot available for a gyroscope. The slot is located next to the accelerometer and near the applications processor and is fully pinned to a three-axis MEMS gyroscope manufactured by InvenSense.
This could possibly indicate an iPad with three axis control at some point in the future.
Back in June, TechInsights also revealed that the iPad and iPhone 4 share the same core processor as one of Samsung’s devices.
Despite being little more than a rumor, scouring the Internet for news on RIM’s Blackbery tablet will find oneself reading mixed opinions on the device. Many journalists seem to have taken a pessimistic view of it, some even comparing the idea of a companion device to the Palm Folio and suggest that the Blackberry tablet will find the same fate (in other words, will never be released due to high potential of being an utter disaster). I have quite a difference of opinion though.
There is no doubt in my mind that tablet devices will become a giant market segment and have a potentially lengthy life-span. The fact that iPads are beginning to outsell Apple computers makes this point hard to argue. So RIM taking a step into the tablet market isn’t unfounded. Arguments that RIM doesn’t belong in this market aggravates me. Sure they don’t already have any market penetration yet. But did Apple have any before the iPad? Did RIM have any smartphone market penetration before the Blackberry? The fact that a company does well in one segment shouldn’t preclude them from expanding into another. Especially when the segments compliment each other so well.
Cellular network technology is continuing to mature, get faster and cheaper. A companion device from RIM, who has established itself as a pioneer in the cellular industry, would therefore have the benefit of being able to scale up to the latest and greatest network technology if able to tether to a Blackberry. Consumers would indirectly have their tablet running on the latest and greatest network whenever they upgrade their mobile device. The lack of cellular functionality (besides wifi) in the tablet device would also bring down the cost substantially and allow RIM to escape having to support both CDMA and GSM networks in the tablet chipset. Add to that the fact that Blackberries continue to top the smartphone charts means that RIM already has a foot in the door with many potential customers.
Blackberry owners should ask themselves, “why would I buy a non Blackberry tablet when I can possibly get this companion device for less cost, that will integrate with my Blackberry, probably use my contact list and media and my data plan that is compressed and far cheaper than non-Blackberry data plans?” While 3G iPad users will be getting pounded by bandwidth charges, Blackberry tablet users will be able to enjoy some power usage with their ultra cheap and conservative data plans due to RIM’s constant pursuit of providing the complete experience from data bandwidth and cellular technology to user interface and interactivity.
No, I don’t believe that RIM’s Blackberry companion tablet will face the same fate as the Palm Folio. In fact, I have a hunch that it will be a marvelous success. In fact, I think that Blackberry companion devices are a new market that RIM should tap into even more. Heck, I’d like a watch that could run apps and tether to my Blackberry. Could potentially also monitor my vitals and email my parents should anything happen.
I can see it now – “Jamie’s pulse has dropped to 0. Sent from my Blackberry companion watch”.
The iPhone OS 4.0 looks awesome. No questioning that, but along with all the new features has come some changes to the terms of use of the SDK.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball made a post in his blog yesterday pointing out that section 3.3.1 of the new iPhone Developer Program License Agreement reads:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
Suddenly a number of third party iPhone development tools (and the thousands of apps that have been created with them) are in jeopardy. Adobe was planning to include a packager for iPhone in Flash Professional CS5 to let developers publish ActionScript projects as native iPhone apps. Adobe isn’t the only company who’s effort to build a non Objective-C compiler may be sunk by these latest licensing terms.
Novell released MonoTouch last year – a .Net C# compiler that can build native iPhone apps. Despite a relatively steep cost, their community has been growing substantially. There has been no comments from Novell on Apple’s new terms, but it may be difficult for Novell to build a case that a C# compiler doesn’t violate them. C# is not Objective-C, C, C++ or Javascript.
In a similar boat (although perhaps a little less clear) are companies that have developed frameworks to enable app building with html and javascript. Appcelerator’s Titanium SDK and PhoneGap both fall into this category. PhoneGap tweeted yesterday, in response, suggesting that “everyone relax about the new policy. phonegap apps are accepted by apple.”. Around the same time, a blog post from Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator, was a little more cautious. In his blog post, Jeff says, “since iPhone 4.0 is still in beta, both the APIs and the Terms of Service are covered under NDA, so we cannot speak to specifics or Apple’s intent with its proposed language.” He then mentions that “you have our commitment that we will do everything possible to ensure that Titanium remains the outstanding platform for cross-platrorm application development for years to come.”
A post by raganwald on ycombinator nails the WTF on this… “Apple really wants to prevent people releasing multi-platform compilers. Adobe’s Flash compiler is a classic maneuver to ‘commoditize your complements”… Adobe want to lock developers into Flash and commoditize everything else as Flash-delivery devices. Apple want to commoditize applications and lock developers to their API’s.”
Although it is still relatively unclear what this all means to iPhone developers trying to scrape out a measly living with the platform, it is concerning. My suggestion is simple – if you’re now just looking at development with the iPhone/iPad, don’t rely on a third party framework. Learn Objective-C and you can still throw up a Safari UIWebView and build 90% of your app in Javascript and HTML.
For the indi iPhone app developers, making ends meet these day might seem difficult. Spend a month or more working feverishly on a project to find yourself amongst a pile of competing apps all bidding for buyers at the bottom of the barrel 99 cent price point. Bringing in $20 per week is doing well. Hardly an income to live on.
Fortunately, the iPhone app boat isn’t the only boat sailing and the more available platforms, the more possibilities and greater market penetration available. Android and Blackberry are already two other platforms that cater to app developers, although arguably not as well (it is safe to assume that this will change). Another emerging market is that of the Windows 7 phone.
At the MIX 2010 conference this week, Microsoft showed off some of the tools that Windows 7 Phone developers will have in their arsenal. In a nutshell, developers will be packing heat Visual Studio style with the XNA or Silverlight platforms.
Requirements for a developer are, at minimum, in a complete polarization from Apple, a Windows PC and Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2010. This is good. C# has a advantages over Objective-C (in my opinion). With the likes of garbage collection, it could be probably be considered simpler to program with. And for those “I’m (usually) a PC” guys who might consider switching from iPhone development, the home and end keys will work again. Assuming that the Visual Studio crowd outnumbers the XCode crowd a billion to one (not exactly), Microsoft is likely sittin pretty with so many devs already familiar with the tools. Of course, developers will still need to pick up the lingo of the XNA or Silverlight worlds. For Android and Blackberry developers, familiar with Java, the similarity of C# should make it an easy port.
Taking a look at the distribution models that developers will have at their disposal, app monetization will be come in the form of app purchases, with the possibility of developers offering demos or trials. As one would also suspect, advertising will also be available but unlike recent innovations in the iPhone camp, Microsoft doesn’t seem to be offering any in-app purchasing (yet anyway).
All in all, I can see this platform taking off from a developer perspective, assuming that Microsoft also creates a straight forward app distribution model and the app approval process isn’t hampered. Given Microsoft’s success with XBox Live, I suspect that, although there may be growing pains in its maturing, Windows Phone 7 will have a fairly robust (and successful) app program, quite probably leading to an increased usage of the Windows mobile platform. Time will tell. But in the meantime, download a copy of the development tools now and get your WinFart apps ready for deployment!
You may also like, Top Browser Based Software for Making Apps
App Dev Secrets (appdevsecrets.com)
Ever download a small app for the iPhone and realize it’s simplicity? Like an eighth grader could program it? Did you ever look to see how much money that eighth grader was raking in with iPhone apps?
AppDevSecrets is a course that instructs how to hit the ground running with developing an iPhone or iPad app or game and cash in at the app store. This particular course isn’t only anti Objective-C, but doesn’t even require programming experience or knowledge!
Time is running out for jumping onto the app building bandwagon and you seriously don’t want to miss this huge opportunity.
App Dev Secrets is highly recommended.
Gamesalad (gamesalad.com)
GameSalad is essentially a point and click, drag and drop game creation program that allows the creative among us to finally create games for the iPhone and iPod Touch without any programming necessary. The product is tagged as “Game Creation for the Rest of Us”. Complete with templates (yes, a basic shoot-em-up is just one click away) and sprites from butterflies to zombies.
Gamesalad also allows publishers to upload web versions of their games (and offers hosting to boot). For iPhone publishing, you need to purchase a membership to Gamesalad.com. Game creators can choose either the $99 yearly membership rate or the the pro rate for $1999 per year. The $99 membership adds a few constraints to the feature set of the game, but both memberships give game creators all royalties earned from the game in the App store. From what I can tell, apps built with the Gamesalad membership are injected with a Gamesalad splash screen. But since you’re collecting all the royalties from the sale of the app, who cares, really. Note that this cost does not include the $99 yearly iPhone developer program membership fee for Apple.
Ansca Corona SDK (www.anscamobile.com)
Ansca claims that with the Corona SDK, a developer can create “high-performance multimedia graphically rich applications and games for the iPhone. No Objective-C/Cocoa required, and no C++”.
Instead of using Apple’s Objective-C, you use Lua (Loo-ah), a powerful, fast, lightweight embeddable scripting language (www.lua.org).
Similar to Gamesalad, in order to build applications for the App Store with the Corona SDK, you must purchase a $99 yearly membership fee. The biggest difference that I can see between the Gamesalad and Corona membership programs is that at the $99 rate, the app isn’t injected with a branded splash screen. In fact, people who download the app will have no idea that it was built under the Corona SDK program. Note that this cost does not include the $99 yearly iPhone developer program membership fee for Apple. Also note that the homepage for Corona says that the iPad is “Coming Soon…”
QuickConnect (quickconnect.sourceforge.net)
QuickConnect is a “family of frameworks” for a variety of platforms including the iPhone, Android, Symbian and Blackberry for creating mobile applications. QuickConnect essentially allows you to program iPhone apps using html, javascript, css and all that jazz. The framework provides hooks for iPhone functions such as GPS, audio, SQLite database, accelerometer information, etc…
Using the QuickConnect framework, you don’t have to sign up for anything. In fact, it’s completely free. You simply import the template for the platform that you’re developing for, write your html and javascript and you’re gold. Of course, there will be less features available, compared to what either Gamesalad or Corona SDK offer, but for simple applications, this may be the ticket to an incredibly quickly developed product. Again, xcode and an Apple Developer Program license are required in order to build and distribute applications.
PhoneGap (phonegap.com)
PhoneGap is similar to QuickConnect, in that you use javascript and html to develop your application, however it seems to be a little more polished of a framework. You will need to know javascript fairly well. From what I’ve seen, however, most web developers wouldn’t have a problem using the framework.
Bonus with PhoneGap is that it’s completely open source (ie pretty much free for developers). The user base seems fairly significant and it looks like quite a few apps have been developed with it.
NimbleKit (www.nimblekit.com)
Again, this is another framework that allows you to develop iPhone apps with your web development skills. Unlike some others, however, NimbleKit is not free or open source. To build apps for distribution, it costs a one time fee of $99 to use NimbleKit. Again, similar to Gamesalad and Corona, this is on top of the $99 Apple iPhone Developer Program fee.
NimbleKit does seem to give programmers a greater number of features than PhoneGap though, including the ability for apps to play internet video and audio streams.
MonoTouch (monotouch.net)
Here’s something a little different than the rest. If you’re looking to produce compiled code for the iPhone but aren’t up for objective-c and otherwise do have some C# .Net skills, then MonoTouch may be exactly what you’re looking for. MonoTouch allows developers to create C# .NET applications that run on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The developers of MonoTouch have also ported many great frameworks to the platform, even frameworks for getting Apple push notification working with your .NET app.
This may be very cool stuff, but it does come with a pricetag that most iPhone developers probably may not be to interested in. At $399 for the Professional edition, it is pretty steep when compared to offerings from other companies.
Appcelerator Titanium Developer (www.appcelerator.com)
Appcelerator Titanium Developer is another product that allows developers to code their iPhone or Android apps with good old HTML and Javascript. It may be the most feature filled framework of its kind and has recently announced iPad support.
Titanium Developer is available on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms (although for iPhone development, xcode is obviously also needed and therefore a Mac is required). Despite having a large feature set and a huge active developer base, Titanium Developer is somehow free.
