Developing an app - which platform?

luckylucky

I worked as a programmer years ago so have a background in development, anyway I was reading an article on a flight magazine about developing apps for the iPhone and in short I was intrigued. The article was saying I'd need a Macbook and an iPhone and spend about 6 months learning how to develop an app. Now I don't have either a macbook or an iphone or the money to buy either at this point in time. Also I realise there's more out there besides the iPhone, Samsung and the Android platform are also very popular. I've never used Android before though so don't have a clue about it.

Anyway was wondering what people's thoughts were on which would be the best platform to develop apps from the point of view of
1. making some money
2. costs of equipment
3. fun to develop
4. learning curve to begin developing

Or any other reasons you can think of for choosing a development platform, doesn't have to be iphone or android either if you think there are better alternatives.



Thanks for any help!

Maximus Alexander

I was in a similar situation and I chose Android, I have just released my first Android application to the market, which is pretty exciting.

My reasons were as follows:

- Android development is done in Java, which I already had some experience with from college.

- The entry barrier is really low for Android, Google only charge $25 once off to open your developer account, you can develop on PC or MAC, all the tools are free including the SDK, IDE and emulator. You can pick up Android devices for pittance to test on too.

- Android is growing rapidly, there are now far more Android devices out there than Apple devices, and more are being activated at a ridiculous rate.

- The Android development community is generally extremely helpful, probably because the platform itself is open. There are tons of resources and forums on the web where you can find help, examples and advice. Google's Android Developer site itself is superb.

- The Android market is maturing and Android users are finally starting to pay for apps. Even still, free apps can make a fortune through in-app advertising which is made extremely easy by Google. Google also provide support in-app purchasing, which would otherwise be pretty tricky to implement.

The only problem I've run into is now that I have an app on the market, I have not bloody idea how to market it.

Tom Dunne

I've dabbled in both Android and iOS, plus I have also supervised student projects in both.

If you a familiar with Java, it's a no-brainer - Android. I've seen students take to it like a duck to water with only 2 years Java experience behind them. Plus the initial outlay is much lower - you can use your regular Windows PC, plus download the IDE for no cost.

With Xcode and Objective C for iOS, there is a large learning curve. I struggled quite a bit getting used to Xcode (not helped by the fact that books cannot keep up with Apple's yearly upgrade cycle, so most books refer to the previous version of Xcode). Like most things, once you persevere and get past that learning curve, Xcode and Objective C are extremely powerful, dare I say even intuitive.

And of course the cost of the equipment is substantial - a Mac, plus ideally two devices (an emulator will only get you so far) is quite high.

One of our students actually wrote what I would consider commercial quality, though very niche, app. We are pushing him to release it on the app store, but we are also quite clear that he won't become a millionaire out of it. I don't think money, or making money, shouldn't even factor into app development at the beginning.

Maximus Alexander

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I don't think money, or making money, shouldn't even factor into app development at the beginning.

Agreed. Obviously I harbour dreams of one day releasing a multi-million euro app (don't we all?) but it's a tough market, there's a lot of competition, and you have to come up with something really special to break through.

Developing can be a lot of fun and extremely satisfying, regardless of the financial return.

luckylucky

Great replies, thanks very much. Guess Android is the way to go then for all the reasons mentioned. I haven't actually studied Java but have studied C++ a long time ago, so hopefully that will help a bit. Just wondering offhand if any of you know of an Android course in Ireland?

Maximus Alexander

luckylucky wrote: »

Great replies, thanks very much. Guess Android is the way to go then for all the reasons mentioned. I haven't actually studied Java but have studied C++ a long time ago, so hopefully that will help a bit. Just wondering offhand if any of you know of an Android course in Ireland?

I don't know of any, but I also don't think that is necessary if you are self motivated.

I started with a fantastic Java book which, while having nothing to do with Android, covers the language in serious depth and is really well written with shed loads of examples.

Once you're comfortable with Java, pretty much everything you need can be found on the Android Developmer site. The SDK includes the source code for plenty of fully functional sample applications and the web is absolutely riddled with great tutorials and samples which should give you everything you need.

I specifically wanted to write games, so I also bought this book. It was good, but looking back I don't think I needed it and if you were looking to make games, a more general game development book would probably serve you better.

luckylucky

Yeah I was thinking afterwards that a course would be an unnecessary expense alright. Might be good though if there was some exam qualification though - just in case I wanted to get a job in it at some point.

I wouldn't be that much into writing games - more practical type apps - not that I've any ideas beyond very general ones at the minute.