App Developer

[jackhos1]

Do you reccomend going $.99 on Android even with risk of piracy or should I go free with ads? I could also do a lite-premium style. Its a large niche (sports coaches and scouts)

If its a large Niche I would go free and make your money on the backend.

 

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[jackhos1]

how do you keep the people you are outsourcing from stealing your app?

People will always steal your product or app. You just have to be better then them.

 

[jackhos1]

First off if there is anything I can do to help you out or provide you with any value since I'm still new around here I would love to!

I know deep down over the past 2-3 years I have build a solid mindset on what I should be doing to do extraordinarily great things in this world. The one thing in my life though is school. Right as I am developing my app and at the beginning of growing my blog, I see that there is so much opportunity if I can get my app developed to the point where I it can be launched on the app store and receive positive feedback.

I am in my second year of college. halfway through the first semester of this year.

I am thinking of developing the app fully as I finish this semester off then go all in during the summer and possibly take next semester of school off.
With snapchat and their filters being pretty much the new emergence of a social media feature like hashtags were for all the other platforms I have some Ideas that I think would be incredible on the marketing of my app. But that of course takes time and as a computer engineering student that also works, it's not a matter of me making excuses but things that are genuinely requiring time to survive.

What's your take on developing an app while going to school and working. Would you say it would be worth it to finish this semester. Then take off next semester of school. This semester I would everything possible to get the app developed to beta testers liking then launch and go all in on marketing it and growth for the remainder of 2016 to see how it goes?

I Would appreciate it greatly!
-Elliott

You can easily make the app while still in school. I would start now and spend all summer on it. If it looks promising take the fall semester off. If not move onto the next thing. Take what you have learned and make something better.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

What is the barrier to entry for iOS as opposed to Android?
Would you recommend someone who's already put a decent amount of time into coding Android apps to stop and switch to iOS?

How long does it general take for your apps to become viral, from idea to first 1000 downloads? Or whatever number you think is good.

For a beginner in app development, would you recommend staying away from games?

 

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[Elliott_Diaz]

You can easily make the app while still in school. I would start now and spend all summer on it. If it looks promising take the fall semester off. If not move onto the next thing. Take what you have learned and make something better.

Awesome to hear, Thanks for the feedback! It's a good feeling to have when you are on the road of creating something! Re-reading what I sent you several hours later - I realize how poorly I described my situation! I am done with a prototype app(my first real app - after about 6 months of learning) but it is still very rough. These upcoming months will be refinement(letting followers, friends, and/or family beta test and provide feedback) before launching! But nonetheless I will heed your advice, finish the semester and just put in the hours into development! During summer I'll make the decision to take the next semester off knowing that school will always be there!

Thanks again!
-Elliott

 

[jackhos1]

Thanks for doing this AMA. Mind if i PM a private question about the costs of outsourcing, @jackhos1 ?

Of course.

 

[jackhos1]

How do you think the arrival of the Apple watch will affect the app development landscape as it currently stands?

It will allow more functionality for the apps outside of the smart phone.

 

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[jackhos1]

Awesome to hear, Thanks for the feedback! It's a good feeling to have when you are on the road of creating something! Re-reading what I sent you several hours later - I realize how poorly I described my situation! I am done with a prototype app(my first real app - after about 6 months of learning) but it is still very rough. These upcoming months will be refinement(letting followers, friends, and/or family beta test and provide feedback) before launching! But nonetheless I will heed your advice, finish the semester and just put in the hours into development! During summer I'll make the decision to take the next semester off knowing that school will always be there!

Thanks again!
-Elliott

Anytime. What school do you go too?

 

[Elliott_Diaz]

Anytime. What school do you go too?

I go to a local community college in Southern California. Ventura College pursuing Computer Engineering.

Listening to the advice of Mark Cuban, that is "If you aren't getting a full ride or your parents aren't paying for you school, choose the most economic route." (something along those lines)

 

[Leon Williams]

Firstly, thank you gor doing this.

I am completely new to programming and I would just like to avaoid wasting time and effort.
How would you recommend someone approach the learning process, basically what programming languages should I learn, which language first?
I would like to start off by creating a simple IOS app then work towards implimenting more complicated ideas that I have after proving to myself that it can be done.

 

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[Scot]

@eTox not sure if you've seen this thread.

 

[eTox]

@eTox not sure if you've seen this thread.

@Scot thank you for pointing me back to this thread that I have seen and forgot some time ago. I wonder if there are any more app/game devs on TFLF that are actually getting results?

 

[eTox]

Firstly, thank you gor doing this.

I am completely new to programming and I would just like to avaoid wasting time and effort.
How would you recommend someone approach the learning process, basically what programming languages should I learn, which language first?
I would like to start off by creating a simple IOS app then work towards implimenting more complicated ideas that I have after proving to myself that it can be done.

It's not that I have more authority on this topic than OP does, but I will take a shot at answering the question.

I have not developed any apps for IOS, I have made only few games for Android.

I'd like to recommend to you that the forum per se is not dedicated to software development. There are more interesting places that are specifically dedicated to that such as youtube channels and other forums (I have not been part of any).

As per my recommendation for potential game developers, I would suggest you start off with C# and Unity3D from which you could launch IOS and Android apps/games. In order to learn the process I suggest using the following resources:

• The tutorials Unity team has come up with on their site.
• Youtube channels that will get you up to speed on difficult topics.
• Some beginner and intermediate C# textbook. Any.

Your success in the actual creation of mobile games depends on many factors. Your financial success depends on even more.

That's my $0.02

 

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[Leon Williams]

It's not that I have more authority on this topic than OP does, but I will take a shot at answering the question.

I have not developed any apps for IOS, I have made only few games for Android.

I'd like to recommend to you that the forum per se is not dedicated to software development. There are more interesting places that are specifically dedicated to that such as youtube channels and other forums (I have not been part of any).

As per my recommendation for potential game developers, I would suggest you start off with C# and Unity3D from which you could launch IOS and Android apps/games. In order to learn the process I suggest using the following resources:

• The tutorials Unity team has come up with on their site.
• Youtube channels that will get you up to speed on difficult topics.
• Some beginner and intermediate C# textbook. Any.

Your success in the actual creation of mobile games depends on many factors. Your financial success depends on even more.

That's my $0.02

Thank you for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

 

[Leon Williams]

It's not that I have more authority on this topic than OP does, but I will take a shot at answering the question.

I have not developed any apps for IOS, I have made only few games for Android.

I'd like to recommend to you that the forum per se is not dedicated to software development. There are more interesting places that are specifically dedicated to that such as youtube channels and other forums (I have not been part of any).

As per my recommendation for potential game developers, I would suggest you start off with C# and Unity3D from which you could launch IOS and Android apps/games. In order to learn the process I suggest using the following resources:

• The tutorials Unity team has come up with on their site.
• Youtube channels that will get you up to speed on difficult topics.
• Some beginner and intermediate C# textbook. Any.

Your success in the actual creation of mobile games depends on many factors. Your financial success depends on even more.

That's my $0.02

Thank you for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

 

[Obiwan]

So glad I found your thread. Maybe you could advice me on how to monetize my app. I'm going to copy and paste my request so you don't have to leave this page, sorry it's rather long..
"
First off, through a family friend I became aware of a possible amenity I could offer with a mobile app. So I did some research:

1. There are billions of people worldwide in the target market.
2. 22% of the target market earns in excess of $1 700 per month
3. I did my cash flow spreadsheet on getting ½% of the 22% in the first year, (Unrealistic?)
4. It’s more of a necessity than an amenity
5. Bummer, there are dozens of app’s that offer the same amenity
6. Or do they?

On closer inspection it became obvious they all suffered from the same flaw, a flaw that I could exploit! They all offered a way of doing something, but never showed the actual result of what they were doing. I am being deliberately obtuse here as I don’t wish to expose my advantage.
So, what did I do?

1. Well, first of all, if you read my profile, what I thought was my business was actual my job, thanks Fastlane, and secondly, I just got fired from my job, i.e., no job, no income, no money just a bunch of assets that are worth half what I thought they were worth.
2. So to the war room, draw up a rudimentary business plan.
3. Write a Non-Disclosure, Non-Circumvention, and Non-Competition (NDNCNC) Agreement.
4. Write a Profit Sharing and Copyright Assignment (PSCA) Agreement.
5. Design the look and feel of the app.
6. Find an app developer that has a good track record, get them to sign the NDNCNC agreement.
7. Then get them to write the app for a percentage of profits.
8. Let the app developer suggest a percentage, good, it was far less than what I would have been prepared to pay, and get them to sign the PSCA.
9. Do the same with the marketing video-producer.
10. Get sporting personalities and organisations to endorse the app.

All achieved, except item 10, still working on that.

Now this is where I need help. How do I monetize the product?


I would like to charge a usage fee, say 50ȼ each time the app is used. The average user should use it about 150 times a year. But I don’t know how to collect the usage fee, and I do want it on Play Store.

If I can’t charge the user each time the app is used, maybe I can charge an annual subscription fee. How much should the annual fee be? I thought $12 a year. But how do I collect the annual fee?

The easiest option is a one-time fee through Play Store. How much should I charge? Once again I thought $12.

So, can you suggest, how much should I charge?
How I can make this into a recurring fee?

Obiwan

After reading your comments on Android I think I would like to go iPhone

 

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[toxicrain]

So glad I found your thread. Maybe you could advice me on how to monetize my app. I'm going to copy and paste my request so you don't have to leave this page, sorry it's rather long..
"
First off, through a family friend I became aware of a possible amenity I could offer with a mobile app. So I did some research:

1. There are billions of people worldwide in the target market.
2. 22% of the target market earns in excess of $1 700 per month
3. I did my cash flow spreadsheet on getting ½% of the 22% in the first year, (Unrealistic?)
4. It’s more of a necessity than an amenity
5. Bummer, there are dozens of app’s that offer the same amenity
6. Or do they?

On closer inspection it became obvious they all suffered from the same flaw, a flaw that I could exploit! They all offered a way of doing something, but never showed the actual result of what they were doing. I am being deliberately obtuse here as I don’t wish to expose my advantage.
So, what did I do?

1. Well, first of all, if you read my profile, what I thought was my business was actual my job, thanks Fastlane, and secondly, I just got fired from my job, i.e., no job, no income, no money just a bunch of assets that are worth half what I thought they were worth.
2. So to the war room, draw up a rudimentary business plan.
3. Write a Non-Disclosure, Non-Circumvention, and Non-Competition (NDNCNC) Agreement.
4. Write a Profit Sharing and Copyright Assignment (PSCA) Agreement.
5. Design the look and feel of the app.
6. Find an app developer that has a good track record, get them to sign the NDNCNC agreement.
7. Then get them to write the app for a percentage of profits.
8. Let the app developer suggest a percentage, good, it was far less than what I would have been prepared to pay, and get them to sign the PSCA.
9. Do the same with the marketing video-producer.
10. Get sporting personalities and organisations to endorse the app.

All achieved, except item 10, still working on that.

Now this is where I need help. How do I monetize the product?


I would like to charge a usage fee, say 50ȼ each time the app is used. The average user should use it about 150 times a year. But I don’t know how to collect the usage fee, and I do want it on Play Store.

If I can’t charge the user each time the app is used, maybe I can charge an annual subscription fee. How much should the annual fee be? I thought $12 a year. But how do I collect the annual fee?

The easiest option is a one-time fee through Play Store. How much should I charge? Once again I thought $12.

So, can you suggest, how much should I charge?
How I can make this into a recurring fee?

Obiwan

After reading your comments on Android I think I would like to go iPhone

sell virtual currency for which users can use the app. problem solved.

 

[Obiwan]

sell virtual currency for which users can use the app. problem solved.

OK "toxicrain" you're going to have to be a little bit more explicit. I don't want to take up a lot of your time, time is money right, and I appreciate that you wish to help me. To the best of my knowledge there is more than one virtual currency. There's Bitcoin and Steemit to name two. Which one to choose? So I sell my user virtual currency, that defeats the objective of what I want to do. Nobody objects to paying 50ȼ for a necessity. If they do that 200 times in the year it doesn't hurt. You pay a lump sum $100, that F*cking hurts.
So I abandon the pay per use model. I want an annual subscription. Something that is not painful. If I am not mistaken the user will still have to pay for the virtual currency. How does this solve the problem? I am not being critical of your suggestion. I just don't know how it will work. Maybe you could point me to a website that can explain it.
Many thanks. Obiwan.

 

[Kid]

sell virtual currency for which users can use the app. problem solved.

@currencies, as long as it is not physical products it has to go trough In-App Purchase (with 30% fee)

"If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than IAP"

source

OK "toxicrain" you're going to have to be a little bit more explicit. I don't want to take up a lot of your time, time is money right, and I appreciate that you wish to help me. To the best of my knowledge there is more than one virtual currency. There's Bitcoin and Steemit to name two. Which one to choose? So I sell my user virtual currency, that defeats the objective of what I want to do. Nobody objects to paying 50ȼ for a necessity. If they do that 200 times in the year it doesn't hurt. You pay a lump sum $100, that F*cking hurts.
So I abandon the pay per use model. I want an annual subscription. Something that is not painful. If I am not mistaken the user will still have to pay for the virtual currency. How does this solve the problem? I am not being critical of your suggestion. I just don't know how it will work. Maybe you could point me to a website that can explain it.
Many thanks. Obiwan.

If you want to go every-day-pay be sure to read like above. For example this section:

If you offer an auto-renewing subscription, you must provide ongoing value to the customer. While the following list is not exhaustive, examples of appropriate subscriptions include: new game levels; episodic content; multi-player support; apps that offer consistent, substantive updates; access to large collections of, or continually updated, media content; software as a service (“SAAS”); and cloud support

same source.

 

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[Obiwan]

@currencies, as long as it is not physical products it has to go trough In-App Purchase (with 30% fee)


source



If you want to go every-day-pay be sure to read like above. For example this section:


same source.

OK Kid, thanks for the info, you've been very helpful. I think I'm beginning to get the gist of this. BTW I was aware it had to go through IAP, including the 30%, and I was cool with that. However, didn't know about the substantive updates.
Please excuse my naivety but what is meant by "...large collections of, or continually updated, media content..." Would that be something like "twitter" or "snapchat" content? Could one then say "to continue using xxxxxx please renew your subscription", or something like that?
I am still a bit vague about virtual currencies. I don’t know if “toxicrain” is suggesting I float a virtual currency or what?
But, whatever, you’ve been a great help. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

[toxicrain]

OK "toxicrain" you're going to have to be a little bit more explicit. I don't want to take up a lot of your time, time is money right, and I appreciate that you wish to help me. To the best of my knowledge there is more than one virtual currency. There's Bitcoin and Steemit to name two. Which one to choose? So I sell my user virtual currency, that defeats the objective of what I want to do. Nobody objects to paying 50ȼ for a necessity. If they do that 200 times in the year it doesn't hurt. You pay a lump sum $100, that F*cking hurts.
So I abandon the pay per use model. I want an annual subscription. Something that is not painful. If I am not mistaken the user will still have to pay for the virtual currency. How does this solve the problem? I am not being critical of your suggestion. I just don't know how it will work. Maybe you could point me to a website that can explain it.
Many thanks. Obiwan.

I should've have explained myself a little better.

By virtual currency i meant selling YOUR OWN currency, or points. Say your users buy 100 coins for $10 using in-app purchases. And each use of premium features inside your app costs 5 coins.... this way for $10, your users can use your app 20 times.

If you are worried about the 30% app store cut, just adjust your prices higher.

 

[toxicrain]

@currencies, as long as it is not physical products it has to go trough In-App Purchase (with 30% fee)
source
If you want to go every-day-pay be sure to read like above. For example this section:
same source.

and your point is?

 

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[Obiwan]

I should've have explained myself a little better.

By virtual currency i meant selling YOUR OWN currency, or points. Say your users buy 100 coins for $10 using in-app purchases. And each use of premium features inside your app costs 5 coins.... this way for $10, your users can use your app 20 times.

If you are worried about the 30% app store cut, just adjust your prices higher.

Hmmm toxicrain, you are the clever one! I like it. I have to admit, thanks to kid and your good self, I did a bit of googling of virtual currency, and it is a lot clearer now. But your suggestion is a stroke of pure genius. I will now do my spreadsheet incorporating your idea. Thank you, both of you.

 

[Kid]

and your point is?

By virtual currency i meant selling YOUR OWN currency, or points. Say your users buy 100 coins for $10 using in-app purchases. And each use of premium features inside your app costs 5 coins.... this way for $10, your users can use your app 20 times.

If you are worried about the 30% app store cut, just adjust your prices higher.

You clarified now and that part of my answer is not actual. I was under impression that You suggested virtual currencies like BitCoin.

 

[Obiwan]

and your point is?

I've spent the weekend reading about virtual currencies. Interesting! And thinking about what you had to say. I could kick myself. I should have thought of what you suggested weeks ago. Not as sharp as I used to be.

Believe it or not I've been in involved in IT, well it wasn't called IT back then, since, and I can remember the date like it was yesterday, such an easy date to remember, wait for it, 6/6/66. I used to code in Basic Assembler Language back then! And now I can get a youngster to code something in days something it would have taken me years to code.

Anyway, I have now come up with a plan of action using a virtual currency of my own, and equating it to the USD. What I'd like to do is reward a user with some virtual currency if they recommend the app to someone. They can then use this for more use of the app. The recommendation will have to come through the website, or FB. So once again a big thank you.

 

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[toxicrain]

I've spent the weekend reading about virtual currencies. Interesting! And thinking about what you had to say. I could kick myself. I should have thought of what you suggested weeks ago. Not as sharp as I used to be.

Believe it or not I've been in involved in IT, well it wasn't called IT back then, since, and I can remember the date like it was yesterday, such an easy date to remember, wait for it, 6/6/66. I used to code in Basic Assembler Language back then! And now I can get a youngster to code something in days something it would have taken me years to code.

Anyway, I have now come up with a plan of action using a virtual currency of my own, and equating it to the USD. What I'd like to do is reward a user with some virtual currency if they recommend the app to someone. They can then use this for more use of the app. The recommendation will have to come through the website, or FB. So once again a big thank you.

I am glad I could help. Rewarding users with currency for actions is a great idea. Some of the biggest games use that strategy today.

I would also suggest to try monetizing with "rewarded videos" which will give your users coins for watching videos. Those who don't have $ to pay, might find that useful because they will be able to watch ads and gain access to premium features of your app. You in turn will receive some money from those ads from ad networks.

Chartboost, Unity and now even Admob support reward interstitials.

 

[Obiwan]

I am glad I could help. Rewarding users with currency for actions is a great idea. Some of the biggest games use that strategy today.

I would also suggest to try monetizing with "rewarded videos" which will give your users coins for watching videos. Those who don't have $ to pay, might find that useful because they will be able to watch ads and gain access to premium features of your app. You in turn will receive some money from those ads from ad networks.

Chartboost, Unity and now even Admob support reward interstitials.

Thanks! That's sounds like a neat idea. Make modest amount in lots of places. I will definitely pursue that line of thought, in fact I love it, the more I think about it, the more I like it.

 

[hatzil]

Is it smart for a note app to program it cross-platform? (Andriod&iOS) by javascript,etc?
what are the disadvantages and advantages to this?

 

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[Alxander]

Is it smart for a note app to program it cross-platform? (Andriod&iOS) by javascript,etc?
what are the disadvantages and advantages to this?

Look at react-native, your building in javascript but it eventually gets compiled to native Android/IOS code. Otherwise use Ionic 2 with some optimizations.
I can't see any downside to react-native, other than that it's still a little young.

 

[Obiwan]

Look at react-native, your building in javascript but it eventually gets compiled to native Android/IOS code. Otherwise use Ionic 2 with some optimizations.
I can't see any downside to react-native, other than that it's still a little young.

Talking of Android/iOS, I've just learned to my dismay that I can't run a service with iOS. I want the App to give the user a notification to use the App, but the App has to be open all the time. That's a bummer! Anyone have any idea how to overcome this limitation?