Tips for newbie iPhone Developers

Useful Pointers for Amateur Developers on iPhone App Development

Creating an app for the iPhone can be an extremely complex task to accomplish. This process can get especially overwhelming for newbie iPhone developers, who are struggling to get a grip with developing apps for the iPhone. iPhone app development requires you to tackle several aspects simultaneously, including the usability factor, testing, debugging and so on.

Here are some useful tips for the newbie iPhone developer:

Native Apps or Web Apps?

A native app is that which is installed directly on the iPhone. Native apps work with the device’s own built-in features, thereby assuring you of a much smoother app development experience. In case you are looking at developing a responsive, high-performance app or an app that involves graphics, you would do well to master Objective-C and create a native app.

On the other hand, if you want to create something simple, such as a mobile-friendly version of your Website, you can think of creating a Web app. Needless to say, it also pays to develop a native app and then create a Web app around it.

You will do well to imitate a native app while actually creating a Web app. This makes it easier for you to develop your Web app, while also creating a familiar environment for the iPhone user, who is already conversant with the device’s ways of working.

The Viewport

While most Web pages would be compatible with the size of the iPhone screen, it would still be better to ensure that your page is displayed most optimally on the iPhone. Defining this function is what tells the browser to scale your page in the best possible way for the iPhone screen. You may also consider allowing the user to pinch or double-tap the screen in order to zoom in or zoom out the page.
The viewport is what makes your Web app completely compatible with the Apple iPhone. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to define this aspect right in the very beginning.

The Address Bar

The address bar on the browser takes up considerable space on the limited real estate of the iPhone screen. In order to gain a little more space on the screen, you could hide the address bar, thus helping you display that much more information on the screen. Of course, hiding the address bar permanently is not very helpful either. Ideally, you should see to it that the address bar remains hidden while the user scrolls through the search list. It can come up again once he or she has stopped scrolling.

Use Vertical Lists

Using lists is a great way to display information, especially when you are giving the user multiple choices of action. Lists enable the user to navigate the menu with ease, while also loading faster and making the screen look a lot tidier and much more engaging.

Also, note that using vertical lists is always better than using horizontal lists. Creating a horizontal list is a far more complex process and would require more loading time, requiring you to redirect too many pages, linking each one to the main page.

Keep it Simple

Remember to keep the first version of app simple and fast. A basic app lets you work with ease, putting in just the effort that it requires and no more. It also loads faster and performs better, thus encouraging users to come back to your app. Once you are more familiar with the entire process, you can go ahead to add newer features in each subsequent release of your app.

Include an App Icon

Including a nice, eye-catching app icon would be a good idea, as it allows users to locate your app on their homescreen. Creating an icon also makes it all look very professional, while also appealing to the user’s eye.

Test on Regular Browsers

While you necessarily need to check your Web app on the iPhone browser, it also helps test the same on regular browsers, as it will help give you an idea about the general look of the app. It goes without saying that different browsers would display your app differently. Yet, this will give you a feel of your app on the Web as well.

Test the App on an iPhone

While you have access to a number of app simulators, it is always desirable to test your app on the actual device that it is meant for. Simulators can sometimes give you very different results than on the actual iPhone. This could render your app testing process ineffective. Use simulators only as a guide to help your initial assessment of the app and not as a replacement for the iPhone.

In Conclusion

Consider all the above-mentioned tips while creating your first app for the iPhone. Also research the many app development tools available to you and learn how you can use them more effectively to develop your iPhone app.

Android Market Vs. Apple App Store

There was a time when we assumed that no mobile app store would be good enough to beat the Apple App Store. Then along came the Android Market, which got off to a sluggish start. Now, with the explosive growth of Android apps, experts aver that the Android Market will soon supersede the Apple App Store.

The Android Market has made remarkable progress with as many as 28,000 new apps in April, 2011, as against the App Store’s 11,000. Analysts now think that Android would be able to surpass Apple by mid-2011.

Here are reasons why the Android Market may have a clear advantage as against the Apple App Store:

Easier to Enter the Android Market

Apple has been known for their extremely stringent rules and regulations for developers desiring to get an app into their App Store. Though they did revise their Developer License Agreement, developers still find it difficult to get their apps approved in the App Store.

Besides this, Apple is not always consistent with their rules and regulations and there are several gray areas as regards app submission to the App Store.

The Android Market, on the other hand, has chalked out clear rules and regulations for app submission and most of these rules are standard and go easy on the censorship issue as well.

Android Market Friendlier

Getting app store approval is an app developer’s dream. Creating an app can be a highly complicated process – the developer spends months working on it. Apple, many developers feel, adopts an unfriendly attitude towards them, curbing their creativity. The company even sets rules on the development tools to be used to develop apps for the Apple iOS.

The Android developer, on the other hand, faces so such opposition for app submission to the Android Market. Openness is the key here and app quality is of utmost importance.

More the Merrier

The Android Market has a simple philosophy – the more the users of their platform and the apps available for the mobile platform, the more money it has the potential to generate.
Picking up gradually, the Android OS has now emerged as the favorite of the masses. Android devices are much more desirable than Apple ones. Correspondingly, Android apps are increasing in number as well.

Android Payment System to Improve

Presently, the biggest problem with the Android Market is that there is only one way to pay for apps – via Google Checkout. But that is expected to change soon, as Google is already planning to create a better user environment, giving both the developer and customer more payment and transaction options.

In-App Advertising

It is a known fact that the Android Market has a much higher number of free apps than the Apple App Store. However, that in no way implies that developers cannot earn with their free apps.
Developers earn a decent amount of money by means of in-app advertising. Google plans to introduce a feature whereby users can make purchases from within apps, thereby generating more revenue for the Android developer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, though the App Store has, at present, about 3 times the number of apps in the Android Market, the latter’s growth definitely deserves mention. We may well be at the threshold of major changes as regards the mobile app stores scene.

Pros and Cons of major App Stores

App Stores are really popular today, for customers seeking to download/purchase mobile apps and also for developers to showcase, market and sell their applications.

There are many App Stores today and each of these app stores vastly differs from the other, in terms of pricing, billing, presentation and support. Each even rates the same app in different ways, which may finally get the customer in knots about whether or not to purchase a certain app. Which among these app stores are the best and how does one choose from them?

In this section, we deal with the pros and cons of the major App Stores in the market today.

1. Apple’s App Store

The App Store was originally created by Apple Inc., to help users download applications, both free and paid, from the iTunes Store onto their iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Pros

• Probably the biggest app store, comprising more than 1,00,000 apps
• Largest category of apps, ranging from fun apps to more serious ones
• Features a whole lot of free apps. The paid ones are very reasonable
• iTunes, is Apple’s biggest advantage. No other store so far offers users this facility

Cons

• Only the most downloaded apps are featured prominently
• Using the Apple App Store is the only method a user can install apps in their iPhone
• There is duplication of many apps in the "lite" version of apps
• Apple’s recent inclusion policies are very restrictive 

2. Android Market

Though the Google Android Market had initially gotten off to a slow start, it has now grown tremendously in both size and popularity. Some experts believe that it may very soon be capable of superseding the all-powerful Apple App Store.
Pros

• The Android Market features about 250,000 apps
• Developers only pay a low fee of $25 to register
• The apps are available at low costs too
• Each item is categorized and listed out neatly

Cons

• Quality of apps leaves a lot to be desired
• Google supports only 29 countries to sell apps in their store. Developers from all other nationalities can only publish free apps
• The app store is accessible only in certain countries of the world
• Many developers feel that the app market is highly fragmented

 

3. BlackBerry App World

The BlackBerry App World, which has been live from April 2009, has proved to be one of the more promising app stores, offering more than 3500 apps. The store presentation is neat and easy to navigate. Each item is categorized systematically, so finding any app becomes very easy.
Pros

• General presentation is very neat – all items are well categorized
• The only app store that supports Paypal billing
• The only one that pays developers 80% of the sales

Cons

• On the higher end among all app stores, so products are more expensive
• Some customers complain of issues during app installation
• Can only be accessed in some countries of the world
• This App Store requires the developer to pay up $200 to register his account therein

 

4. Nokia Ovi Store

The Nokia Ovi Store focuses on five main areas, namely, Games, Maps, Media, Messaging and Music.
Nokia has undoubtedly put in a lot of effort on building their app store and give Apple, Microsoft and Google a run for their money. The user can access the Ovi services from his mobile device, via the Nokia Ovi Suite on his PC or even through the Web.
Pros

• User interface is clean and easy to access
• Developers need not pay to register
• Nokia takes maximum effort to promote the developer’s app, at no extra cost

Cons
The only disadvantage about the Nokia Ovi Store is that it features very few apps at the present time.

 

5. Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile

In spite of having many apps in just a few months, the Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile fails to impress. Of course, there are also some positives.
Pros

• All apps are well tested  
• The app store managed to feature about 400 apps in a single month.

Cons

• Each developer is charged a registration fee of $99
• Developers are limited to certain countries only
• Developers can sell their app only in one country. If they want to feature their app in more than one country, they have to pay $10 per country
• The user is allowed 5 free app tries, after which he has to pay up $99 per try
• Functional only on 6.1 and 6.5 OS

 

 

6. Samsung Application Store

The biggest advantage of the Samsung Application Store is that it supports both the Symbian and the Pocket PC platforms. The store also keeps a perfect record of its apps, testing them thoroughly.
From time to time, the Samsung Application Store also involves itself in promotional activities and contests, where they offer a considerable amount of cash to the winning developer.
Pros

• Neat catalogue design – the store is well-maintained
• Each listing only costs $10
• All apps are thoroughly tested before they feature on the app store

Cons

• There are only about 600 apps in the store
• For now, the app store is accessible only in Italy, UK and France