Since Apple opened the virtual doors to its App Store in July 2008, tech sites, blogs and networking sites have been abuzz with stories of developers making huge amounts of money overnight. Developing and publishing software apps for iPhone and iPod touch is a relatively straightforward process, but once you have a marketable product, is it really a case of develop, publish, sit back and watch the money roll in?

The simple answer is “No”. Prospective “app” developers should not give up their day jobs just yet.

First of all you will need to learn Objective-C with Cocoa Touch; the languages used in iPhone development. You will also need to learn Xcode; the primary tool used for iPhone development. Learning these technologies is relatively easy; Apple provides excellent “required reading”, and several extremely good books are available on the subject. These should see you developing basic apps within a couple of days. Unless you’re the type of developer who can think in binary, more complex development will require a few weeks or more of learning.

Secondly, you will need to enroll in Apple’s iPhone Developer Program. For the princely sum of $99 you will have the pleasure of applying to the Program and subsequently face the challenges of completing the required contracts and tax forms Apple insists on before you can sell in the App Store. Searching for help with this process will reveal countless stories from other developers describing frustration and months of waiting. However, by reading everything carefully and making sure all your forms are completed in full and correctly, this process should only take a couple of weeks.

Most importantly, you will need an app idea and you’ll need to develop it. At the risk of trivialising this task, it is by far the most straightforward, and the only part of the process you have total control over, provided you conform to Apple’s policies for app content.

The final step is Apple’s app review process. Again there are many anecdotes about this stage, with some developers reporting that they have been waiting weeks for a response from Apple. With a little luck, however, you will receive an “approved” e-mail within a week and your app will be listed in the App Store.

Relaxing at this stage is not an option. Whilst some of the successful apps are genuinely excellent, for the most part instant success requires a truckload of luck. In reality, many hours and days of blogging, tweeting and inventive promotion are required simply to maintain a level of sales. There is no magic formula to increasing your sales. However, if you are prepared to invest the hours, a modest income from your apps can be achieved. The trick to avoiding disappointment is to view any income as a bonus, and remember that every single download is money in your pocket. You never know, you may wake up one morning to find you’re No 1 in the download chart…. but don’t hold your breath.

Next time: how to market your app

Noel Hartshorn is a Pembrokeshire-based iPhone developer who, with illustrator Dennis Harrison, has written several iPhone apps, including “i-Doodz” and “i-Doodz Sexy”. www.i-doodz.com

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