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The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

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Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#31

Post by Someone »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

I doubt it ever will become easy; the goalposts will keep moving.

For example, if, 20 or even 10 years ago, years ago, you built a webpage with nothing but a textarea and a 'save' button that allows people to save a single text per URL, you have a CMS that could have made you real money. Nowadays, wikis must be more advanced than that.

Having said that, it is possible to lower the barriers. I think it would be extremely cool and useful to have something HyperCard-like on iPad. I do not think everyone's five minutes of work should be on the app store, though.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#32

Post by drewcrawford »

DuncanKinney wrote: post #28

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I was the editor who commissioned the piece. To give some context the writer had about 12 days to write the article. An impartial observer (not me obviously) might get the impression that the people offering up advice here might need to take themselves a little less seriously. Have a lovely day and thanks for reading and commenting.

To give some context, most of the people on this site are professional software developers. i.e., my full-time job is writing iPhone apps, so I've been thinking about that process for the last 2-3 years.

For me personally, 75% of my working hours is spent talking to people who have an app idea and don't have the funds to execute, and trying to separate those from paying clients. If I could cut that number in half, I would literally be twice as productive. It would be like adding 3 hours to every workday, or producing an additional ten apps a year.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#33

Post by DuncanKinney »

drewcrawford wrote: post #32
DuncanKinney wrote: post #28

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I was the editor who commissioned the piece. To give some context the writer had about 12 days to write the article. An impartial observer (not me obviously) might get the impression that the people offering up advice here might need to take themselves a little less seriously. Have a lovely day and thanks for reading and commenting.

To give some context, most of the people on this site are professional software developers. i.e., my full-time job is writing iPhone apps, so I've been thinking about that process for the last 2-3 years. For me personally, 75% of my working hours is spent talking to people who have an app idea and don't have the funds to execute, and trying to separate those from paying clients. If I could cut that number in half, I…

Fair enough. This is hackernews. I've passed the link to this comment thread along to the writer and we'll slowly educate the client base, one at a time.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#35

Post by [deleted] »

Cushman wrote: post #5
wccrawford wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha, I thought you meant he just paid someone else to do it... No, so much worse. He didn't even -try-. His app could have had a working version on the store in 2 weeks, if he'd really tried. It would benefit from further work, but would have proved his point. Instead, he got dazzled by how much work the -best- apps take and gave up. It's like looking at a guitar and realizing how much work it takes to become a rock…

Hah, wow... I read both of your comments first and still didn't know what to expect in the article. Yes, she literally just Googled "how do you make an app?", saw that it was hard, and is now reporting this to us.

[deleted]

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#36

Post by jasongullickson »

trustfundbaby wrote: post #25
wccrawford wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol You are correct, if you meant he would program it himself. I meant that he'd pay someone to write it for him. Since that was obviously his idea all along anyhow.

And you think a firm/dev worth their salt would take up his project at short notice, go from start to finish (including testing and debugging) in 2 weeks and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg?

I would if I knew it was going to generate some press :)

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#37

Post by jasongullickson »

mikeocool wrote: post #19
ams6110 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question: is Xcode and ObjC the best way to write a "quick" iphone app? As opposed to using something like Corona[1] or Wax[2] [1] http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/ [2] https://github.com/probablycorey/wax

It depends on what your goals are. Arguably, the easiest way to make a "quick" iphone app, is to write a web app with a UI optimized for mobile and put it on a server and give out the URL. The app won't feel quite like a native app, it won't be able to run background tasks, each time you run it, it'll probably need to load all of the resources, but it's a great way to quickly test your concept, it'll work on all mobi…

Agreed, and if getting it into the App Store was a requirement, wrapping a functional "Web App" in something like PhoneGap is probably the easiest thing you'll ever do using Xcode.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#38

Post by Wilduck »

gojomo wrote: post #21
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, a non-programmer cannot create an iPhone app in 2 weeks, even a really bad one. You've been programming too long.

I interpreted 'If [reporter] really tried' in the grandparent post to mean, "if reporter earnestly sought out and hired an expert". Of course, the know-how for doing that takes time to develop as well. But, if this reporter's real goal was getting an app done, rather than writing a story, she probably would have spoken to more people who had actually hired devs for short projects. Instead, she seems to have spoken to…

I noticed the use of the word "invent" as well. It kind of hurt to read the first time. I thought after her first Google search she might realize that there was a better word for it, and start searching for how to "create" or "write" or "code" an iPhone application.

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#39

Post by rpwilcox »

carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

I think the author went about it the totally wrong way for a startup. (Although, maybe typical).

Instead of picking up a mockup tool, or using HTML/CSS to create a simple mobile web version (or a native app using PhoneGap), he goes asking other people to do it for him. (Probably for "sweat equity" ;) )

The article started out with promise: yes, kids can write iPhone apps. But those kids wrote those iPhone apps not by talking with consultants who charge $$$ for app development. You know how those kids developed their apps? By sitting down, learning about how to program for the iOS, and writing f#$$@ code. Not by talking to developers to do it for them. That's how.

I was half expecting an article talking about the state of the art of entry level development: PhoneGap, or other drag and drop methods. MacRuby for getting on the Mac App store... whatever. Something maybe easier to laypeople than "here's this weird objective-C thing with []s everywhere".

Having said that, I do make my living as a freelance developer (Rails, iOS)...

TL;DR: This is the story of a lot of startups: "I have this great idea! Oh, it's going to cost $N,000 to develop a minimum viable product? This is hard". On the other hand, it may serve as a reality check for people with a new idea that think we (as developers) can program DOOM in a weekend, for free err 'exposure'."

Re: The idea ain't the hard part. One writer finds out hard it is to create an app

#40

Post by eru »

Someone wrote: post #31
carols10cents wrote: post #15

Should it (programming, creating an app, executing an idea) be this hard? Or would that only lead to more fart apps and more disappointment later in the process when the app doesn't hit it big?

I doubt it ever will become easy; the goalposts will keep moving. For example, if, 20 or even 10 years ago, years ago, you built a webpage with nothing but a textarea and a 'save' button that allows people to save a single text per URL, you have a CMS that could have made you real money. Nowadays, wikis must be more advanced than that. Having said that, it is possible to lower the barriers. I think it would be extrem…

Also think of spreadsheets. They allow normal people to write simple programs.
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