I have an idea for an App, no idea about how to go about it but keen to learn.

Anyone know of a resource I can use (Apps for Dummies, idiots guide… Etc.)

for what platform?

iOS
Android
Windows

?

There’s a load of tutorials online depending on your choice of platform. Pragmatic Bookshelf does good books if you want to have a reference alongside you (they do digital downloads etc too).

Google?

if you can’t google then I claim you paddle and send you down the creek 🙂

Ahh ha, both IOS and Android…

Ta… Very…. Muchly

You need to learn to be a programmre first. It’s a fairly big undertaking.

It’s like saying ‘I want to release a record’. There’s a lot of learning about music first 🙂

Do you know any 10 year olds? Ask them.

so, on android you can pretty much start developing,

iOS will cost you big bucks to get started, and then apples powers that be have to approve your app for release.

do you have a history of programming?

I’m no programmer, no sirreee, but it can’t be that hard, my Nephew whose 9 & 3/4’s made one at Skool, so if he can, I can 😆

No i’ll have a go myself, fancy a bit of techie fun’isms..

I’m searching for an online resource, if I find it, I’ll post a link to it in case anyone else fancies a go.

Muchos.

On iTunesU there are a couple of courses from Stanford University.
Programming Methodology
iOS Programming (name may have changed)

The first teaches programming principles, using Java, and is very well taught IME. I bought the course book from an ebay seller in China.

The second is firmly aimed at iOS and using XCode which is the programming IDE for Macs/iPhones/iPads. Just need a Mac to run XCode which comes free with MacOSX. To release on the Apple App store you will need an Apple developer account ~£99 per year if I remember correctly.

I’m sure there will be an equivalent course for Android.

Enjoy.

http://www.eclipse.org/resources/resource.php?id=539
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp/index.html
Start with android as it’s free and you can publish and get emulators working properly for free.

I’m no programmer, no sirreee

You do realise that app making IS programming, don’t you?

If you’re not a programmer, ignore all that well-intentioned bollocks above and check out one of the many drag n drop style app builders such as these: http://www.ideatoappster.com/build-your-own-apps-3-diy-app-builders-for-non-programmers/

The hard part these days is coming up with an original/useful/entertaining idea, but it will still be a long process to see it through to the end.

This page from google doesn’t put you off then?
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ios-6-application-development-for-dummies.html

Of course I realise App=programming, that information has dispelled the myth that Apps are made buy Elves and Witches and Worlocks spells made out of larks spit and the breath of a Dragon.

I’ll crack on with Andriod, seems to be a much easier medium and less hassle that IOS at the moment… For me that is.

My mate with no programming background made a fantastic iOS app as part of his degree.

It got accepted on the app store and people have actually bought it.

He used a combination of Google, online tutorials, and pretending to be a girl on developer forums to get coders to write major segments for him.

I’m sure that is extra marks for being resourceful and then more knocked off for cheating!!

Of course I realise App=programming, that information has dispelled the myth that Apps are made buy Elves and Witches and Worlocks spells made out of larks spit and the breath of a Dragon.

🙂

What I meant was that it’s not like making a simple webpage.

However Zilog is quite right – there are ways around this. A great many apps (maybe even the majority) are actually web content in a simple shell. It’s an easy way to code for the different platforms. The facebook app is like that – the main content you see is just cut-down web content from their servers.

What sort of app?

How you build an app depends a lot on what you want it to do.

If it’s something like expedia, amazon or whatever, something that basically just links to a web server, or is very very simple and doesn’t need to be fast and responsive then web content in a shell is doable. Otherwise I’d avoid it, it is a right pain once you start doing things that are more complex, different OS versions and things work slightly differently. They are also often slow, and often hang up a bit at times. That’s why Facebook have moved to an approach that uses mostly native code now.

If it is an action game or similar that needs quick updates, or anything to do with image processing, then web content in a shell is a real no-no.

Oh, and you kind of need a Mac ($$$) and a developer account ($99 I think) to do iOS development. There might be hacky ways to do it, but it’ll never get on the app store and onto people’s devices without a dev account.

and pretending to be a girl on developer forums to get coders to write major segments for him.

Brilliant 😀

I like his style.

and pretending to be a girl on developer forums to get coders to write major segments for him.

It’s a good trick for getting free stuff in multiplayer games too. I often roll female characters, not my fault if people then make assumptions…

Diving straight in to both iOS and Android in one go is what I’d call hardcore. I’d pick one and if it’s worth porting later then get someone to do that. In our case we chose Android mainly cos there was already something similar for IOS, but not Android, and it was pretty straightforward to create a new Android interface and cut+paste lots of code from an existing Java desktop app (same bunch of guys, and all open source GPL code).

There are some “App creator for dummies” type tools, but we just dived straight in with the full scale Eclipse/JDK/Android plugins and Android VM toolset. And everything will be free until you need to start thinking about Play store. Not sure at what point you need to cough up the $99 to Apple?

Not played with that for ages though. Really ought to pull finger out tbh.

to get coders to write major segments for him.

For me, that would cause me to fail my entire degree in one swift move.

I can’t comment on iOS, never done any development for it, but developing for android is relatively easy. It’s all just Java behind the scenes which is quite nice to work with. Building the interfaces is a horrible experience IMHO though. A job from hell. I’m sure if I did more of it though I’d get my head around the quirks and then it wouldn’t be so bad.

iOS will cost you big bucks to get started, and then apples powers that be have to approve your app for release.

The iOS SDK is free (or $199 for more features). You only need Apple approval for release to the iTunes store, you can distribute your app to a limited number of devices without any checks as part of the SDK.

We use it at work for in house apps.

The iOS SDK is free (or $199 for more features). You only need Apple approval for release to the iTunes store, you can distribute your app to a limited number of devices without any checks as part of the SDK.

It does appear you need a mac to run it though

@mikewsmith A Mac yes, but necessarily Apple hardware.

I’m typing this on a Hackintosh – 2008 era hardware, with Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

100% functionality…

I just got a Windows phone, and I’m quite tempted to knock out an app or two out of curiosity.

and pretending to be a girl on developer forums to get coders to write major segments for him.

It’s a bit like on here then. Only on here people pretend to be cyclists and nutritionists and god knows what else so they can dish out advice not ask for it. 🙂

Was looking at Chrome/ChromeOS apps. Look pretty straightforward compared to phone ones, and probably pretty straightforward to convert to FirefoxOS too (manifest looks near enough identical).

All just to scratch an itch, and see if it’s possible to get away with a Chromebook rather than a full blown lappy. In theory it’s all possible, in both connected and offline mode.

If you are planning to charge for it then iPhone users are more likely to part with their cash.

Chaps..

Chaps..

I have to say a HUGE THANKs for all your comments and helpful tips.

As always you’ve been most excellent when a simple idea from a numpty like me actually inspires me into thinking “I’ll have a go”

Of course there’s lots to learn, but that’s half the fun of it.

Bows down in thanks for your support and encouragement and resourcefulness.

Brilliant 😀

I wouldn’t plan to charge, unless it really stands out as something worth paying for. Although there are plenty of people more than willing to pay for “Yet Another Fart App” even if there are 100 free Fart Apps.

Anything I write is GPL open source, even if it competes with paid-for apps. It’s stuff to scratch an itch, and if as many as 50 people like it then they can buy me a beer or something if they want, rather than pay me $1 and Apple/Google a further 30%.

Don’t be put off by coding. I did some at university and in my early post-uni career. You’d be surprised how quickly you can pick it up and what you can do. It’s like anything. If you want to take it to an advanced level it’ll take you years and many thousands of hours, but you will be able to knock out a simple app very quickly. Give it a go, it is good fun.

You could use Phonegap and build your app using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. In true STW style, I have no experience of using it!

…and pretending to be a girl on developer forums to get coders to write major segments for him.

Just how far did he have to go with this pretence?

slowoldman – Member
Just how far did he have to go with this pretence?

It took you nine months to ask? Are you really a slowoldman or is this an elaborate pretence 🙂

Well I started, but work got a bit in the way, I still have the core idea and some code put together..

Maybe I’m a slowoldman too?? 😆