Using the iPhone and iPod Touch as a legitimate developer platform was something we had all begged Apple for since we first got our hands on it. Apple swore up and down that they had no plans of ‘opening it up’ and letting 3rd party applications be installed.
This was so huge that developers, in their spare time, decided to come up with a system to distribute applications onto the device. Soon we saw Installer(and then later Cydia) released for anyone who jailbroke their iPhone or iPod Touch. This was so big that it spawned an entire niche(with a huge community) around it. Websites left and right were launched to not only help, but also showcase these 3rd party applications.
In repsonse, Apple not only ‘re-locked’ the device on each upgrade, but they also came up with a way to put ‘legit’ apps on the device. Apple’s App Store launched on June 27th July 11, 2008 with 500 applications. . .150 of which were free. As with anything Apple releases, the App Store had tons of press surrounding it(even though there had been 3rd party applications via jailbreak almost a full year before). Apple reported 30 million dollars in sales within the first 30 days of the App Store launch. With developers like Namco, EA, and even anyone else who wanted to. . .they were about to take the mobile platform by storm.
Since that launch day there have been some great applications to hit the device as well as some not so great ones. Companies have split apart. . .and individual developers are on the verge of becoming millionaires. This platform has proven itself to be a stable and viable business plan for anyone who has the time(or money) to develop for it.
10,000 applications later and the App Store is still going strong. A few hundred new applications get released every week, and even though some might say it’s becoming diluted, I feel that it’s just growing. I mean, developers will learn what sells and what doesn’t. Even though it takes time, this will cause the best apps ‘rise to the top’, and over time this will help the mobile revolution continue to grow.
How much of those apps are actually good? Maybe 1,000. The rest are flashlight and single-book apps.
There are a LOT of useless applications out there. My goal is to go through them all and let you make an informed decision about which ones are good or not.
“This platform has proven itself to be a stable and viable business plan for anyone who has the time(or money) to develop for it.”
I’m confused by this statement. How is the platform a viable business plan? Do you mean developing original applications for sale through iTunes is a business plan? Or perhaps creating applications for others on a consulting basis is a ‘viable’ business plan? Maybe something of both?
A business plan usually includes a marketing component, which is a whole different function than coding up the applications. Competently marketing iPhone applications is a rare skill today.
Just having some extra time on your hands isn’t nearly enough. You have to be prepared for a serious undertaking. The number of ‘rags to riches’ stories is much lower than the media hype would make you think.
I have a blog post today about why we and other developers will focus on the iPhone and not Blackberry. “Why we develop for the iPhone or “Fish where the fish are.†http://blog.cosential.com/?p=166
The problem is that Apple doesn’t permit to create free new accounts anymore. “Payment Method: None†doesn’t work because it still wants valid credit cards. The problem has been for 1 week. More details on: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8526331
So, my question is how to try free applications if you can’t make a free account, so without using credit card ?
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