iPhone and App Store Attracting Developers

[DN7335]

I also believe that it won't necessarily be the commercial developers (i.e. the companies that want to make big $$ selling iphone apps) that will drive the iphone's popularity, but rather the individuals that will write free applications just for the love of writing cool stuff and sharing it. Free apps through the app store will be very popular, and the more developers that are encouraged to get into this area, the better for the iphone and the community at large.

I believe we'll get to a point to where we won't be so frantically waiting for Apple to release the next firmware because all the functionality we need will be available through free apps. What other phone can offer that (currently?). Apple would be wise to get as many developers into the game as they can, one of the reasons that Windows took over the world is because MS very much catered to the developer community.

 

[shawnce]

Huh?? Developers and applications are exactly what the iPhone needs!

Yeah ... note I clearly said "crazy amount of developers"

Trust me their are already PLENTY of developers actively working on iPhone applications (was at WWDC 08). Apple doesn't need to go out of their way to bring more into the fold by making the tools available on Windows more then enough will invest in Mac systems to do iPhone development (some may then dabble in Mac development).

The iPhone doesn't need shovelware.

 

[eastcoastsurfer]

Yeah ... note I clearly said "crazy amount of developers"

Trust me their are already PLENTY of developers actively working on iPhone applications (was at WWDC 08). Apple doesn't need to go out of their way to bring more into the fold by making the tools available on Windows more then enough will invest in Mac systems to do iPhone development (some may then dabble in Mac development).

The iPhone doesn't need shovelware.

So if you don't own a mac, then you want to develop shovelware? Who decides what is a bad application anyways? Your bad app might be my best app. A crazy amount of developers is exactly what the iPhone/Mac needs. Apple finally figured out with Xcode that bringing on developers is the way to grow a system. MS figured that out long ago and have for better or worse tried to make their platform easy to develop for (at least tool wise).

I guess I'll never understand the mac owners elitism (and I even own 2 macs!). In this case more devs automatically means more choices of applications. If we really want to follow through with your idea, perhaps the iphone and ipod should go back to being able to sync only with a mac. We obviously can't have the unwashed masses using our precious devices. I mean really, if they aren't serious enough about Apple to buy a mac then they don't deserve an iPhone!

 

[DN7335]

So if you don't own a mac, then you want to develop shovelware? Who decides what is a bad application anyways? Your bad app might be my best app. A crazy amount of developers is exactly what the iPhone/Mac needs. Apple finally figured out with Xcode that bringing on developers is the way to grow a system. MS figured that out long ago and have for better or worse tried to make their platform easy to develop for (at least tool wise).

I guess I'll never understand the mac owners elitism (and I even own 2 macs!). In this case more devs automatically means more choices of applications. If we really want to follow through with your idea, perhaps the iphone and ipod should go back to being able to sync only with a mac. We obviously can't have the unwashed masses using our precious devices. I mean really, if they aren't serious enough about Apple to buy a mac then they don't deserve an iPhone!

Well said...this fanboy nonsense is ridiculous. Probably the same guy who was lamenting the fact that the cheaper iphone price meant more people would buy them and he wouldn't be as cool anymore.

Short of buying a Mac which isn't in the cards for me right now, I might investigate some of the hackware out there that will allow OSX to run on a PC. If I could get the SDK running well enough I wouldn't care about any of the other stuff for now.

 

[ricosuave]

Well said...this fanboy nonsense is ridiculous. Probably the same guy who was lamenting the fact that the cheaper iphone price meant more people would buy them and he wouldn't be as cool anymore.

Short of buying a Mac which isn't in the cards for me right now, I might investigate some of the hackware out there that will allow OSX to run on a PC. If I could get the SDK running well enough I wouldn't care about any of the other stuff for now.

If you do not own a mac, what are you doing in this forum? Just curious.

 

[DN7335]

If you do not own a mac, what are you doing in this forum? Just curious.

Because I like Apple products and the Mac. I'm not one of those crazy "us versus them" people, I enjoy all technology even if I don't own it. I own a Wii but not a PS3, but I still keep up with whats going on in that area. If something runs on electricity, I'm pretty much interested. I got involved in these forums initially as I planned to get a new iPhone, plus I bought my son a MBP for graduation.

 

[shawnce]

if they aren't serious enough about Apple to buy a mac then they don't deserve an iPhone!

Wow way to read something into my post that I didn't state (and don't believe).

All I am say is that Apple has no real reason to port the tools to Windows since plenty of developers are ready to go already and have stepped up to purchase the tools that they need to do that. Long term more and more developers will purchase the tools that they need if they feel the market on iPhone is good enough for them to make the investment. The iPhone platform isn't and wont be hurting for developers or for applications.

Apple has their hands full getting their developer tools running with rich feature sets on Mac OS X (all heavily dependent on facilities that Mac OS X provides).

Well said...this fanboy nonsense is ridiculous. Probably the same guy who was lamenting the fact that the cheaper iphone price meant more people would buy them and he wouldn't be as cool anymore.

You are so wrong about who I am and what I think... no need for this kind of crap.

 

[helloadam]

I think ya'll should leave the man alone for wanting to make apps on a windows machine. He's right that most of the computer users use MS, and thus it would make sense that it would be available to them. Now if Apple ever does that, its up to them. Let a man dream eh?

Now back to the original topic. The release of the SDK and 2.0 is making me pumped up for some new goodies. I'm planing on getting the 3G when they come out so I'm thinking of making some little gadgets that would help me a bit, but I'm not sure if i want to do the whole licensed developer deal. Maybe if I make something worth sharing with the world.

 

[sonicwind]

what an awesome discussion.

Mac = Quality and Aesthetics
Windows = Quantity, quantity of installations, quantity of features, quantity of supported hardware

I'm a 15 year Microsoft technology developer. I didn't get the iPhone when it first came out for a variety of reasons, some of which had to do with features that WinMo provided that iPhone didn't.

But when the SDK came out, the jailbreaking evolved into a more stable action and the news of the impending 3G version broke, I became interested in the iPhone. I bought one, installed Leopard on my Dell notebook and downloaded the SDK. It only took about a week to realize the iPhone itself was a superior device in terms of usage.

I would prefer just to use Windows because that is what I'm used to and you get more performance for your $ for hardware. Now that I have used Mac OS for intensively for 6 weeks, I'm not particularly sold on Mac OS or XCode. They are OK and all, but nothing seems significantly better and I would prefer to be working in Windows and Visual Studio.

That said, I would have no expectation that Apple will create a Windows development environment. As mentioned, there's no shortage of developers for the iPhone. In fact there will be way more programs developed than Apple will approve for use on the phone as there are way more people applying to the developer program than Apple is approving. Apps requiring any kind of hack like jail breaking to install will never make any money. It will drive a certain amount of people to try out Macs, and many will "convert" at least partially.

I now have a bona fide MacBook Pro and Windows is riding shotgun in a VM. If I make any money on iPhone games, I will be running Mac for a long time. If not, MacBooks have great resale value

 

[GoBruins]

Apple SDK

I've been developing apps on the WHERE platform for about a year now. I like it because I can get feedback on my app pretty quickly and those guys are always willing to help out. I'm excited for the SDK store though. I've been working on my iPhone app for about a month. I'm wondering if there will be opportunities for me to get feedback on my app.

 

[mirffy]

I haven't got an iPhone (yet) but now with mobile me being revamped, and the app store coming, it does grow more and more appealing.

Personally I can see how a Windows based developer (like DN7335) doesn't want to buy a Mac (no matter if "ever" or "currently"). But add the cost of developing a Windows SDK to the fact that there are ample Mac based developers willing to develop iPhone apps, I don't see any financial reason for Apple to release a Windows SDK.

 

[ccrandall77]

Any other way to install apps?

Is anyone aware of a method other than iTunes to distribute applications to the iPhone? I know that's one roadblock to my company adopting the iPhone along with Treos, Blackberries, etc. We would want a way to distribute internal applications thru some kind of push mechanism.