Why I develop for iOS • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#11

Post by tomelders » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 10:57 AM UTC

eulo wrote: post #2

Should be titled, "Why I think I'm better than web developers". Gosh iOS devs love themselves, they seem to ooze ego. Incoming downvotes...

I'm a web developer. I didn't read it like that. I did't even realise there was an iOS/Web dev divide....?

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#12

Post by slowpoke » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 10:58 AM UTC

  You need to do memory management, need to work 
  with design patterns, learn a new language, and more.

While he does raise some valid points (with which I still disagree, but then again I wouldn't be caught dead on anything by Apple, so I'm biased too), this is plain and simply nonsense. Assuming someone knows neither Objective-C nor any language (including HTML) for web development, the learning curve is probably about the same. Web development wold probably even be harder, since you need to deal with much more than 'just' Objective-C.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#13

Post by itssoobvious » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 10:59 AM UTC

Money. That's your reason.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#14

Post by bignoggins » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:01 AM UTC

Disclaimer: I'm a full time indie iphone developer.

I'm an iOS developer for one reason: it is the best platform if you want to start your own business and keep writing CODE. Apple takes care of distribution, payments, marketing (via features and top lists), and some legal issues (you get a default ToC with every app).

What this means in practice is that I spend roughly 80% of my time actually in the code, which is significantly more than the numbers I've seen quoted for web businesses. Writing code makes me happy. Dealing with angry customers, SEO, hosting issues, and the plethora of other things that web businesses have to deal with does not.

I see a lot of posts on HN where someone tries to make several hundred dollars a month on a webapp. Speaking from experience, you can literally throw just about anything on the app store and it will make a couple hundred a month. If you are seriously looking to make some side income, and potentially even quit your job, I don't think there is a better option than iOS development right now.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#15

Post by xradionut » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:01 AM UTC

Apple isn't trustworthy if you don't fit into their future profit and marketing plans for the consumer market. Try selling an astute CIO on Apple and they will point out Cupertino's history of abandoning and screwing enterprise customers and partners. There's more platforms to develop for than just mobile.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#16

Post by sanj » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:02 AM UTC

This article raises a point about getting paid. I haven't seen any solid approaches (other than SaaS) about getting paid with HTML5 apps. Between your source (effectively) being available to the public and no clear way to do "mini" payment ($0.99), it limits what a indepedent developer could bootstrap with.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#17

Post by chriseidhof » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:08 AM UTC

itssoobvious wrote: post #13

Money. That's your reason.

Yes, most definitely. I have significant experience in web development, functional programming and iOS development. iOS development is by far the easiest way to make money (see also the low hanging fruit comment by somebody).

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#18

Post by beaumartinez » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:08 AM UTC

kingofspain wrote: post #4

chriseidhof wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there are a lot more difficult problems getting solved in web development (e.g. in Big Data, scaling, etcetera) than in iOS development. I meant to say that it's harder to get started.

It's simple to whack up a HTML page with "hello world" printed bold on screen, yes. But then it's also pretty simple to do the same on iOS. If you want something quality then suddenly you have HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP/Ruby/Python/Java, server tweaking, cross-browser hassles, graceful fallbacks and whatnot to deal with. It'll always be easier to create a crappy website than a polished iPhone app. Not that I want to…

> Cross-browser hassles, graceful fallbacks.

You don't have to make your web app compatible with every browser ever released—know your target audience. You can develop only for Mobile Safari—and, with a bit of effort, make your app run on Android, desktops, and even Lynx as well if you want.

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#19

Post by aphexairlines » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:09 AM UTC

> The iPhone and iPad are the high-end of the smartphones and tablets.

I don't think that's true anymore. The iPhone is often heavily subsidized by carriers to the point of being cheaper than other smartphones -- in Japan, for example, it costs zero yen and its data plan is further subsidized to be the cheapest in the country. Also, aren't most of this year's hyped tablets (whether Android ones, or webOS, or BlackBerry) more expensive than the iPad?

Re: Why I develop for iOS

#20

Post by garron » Thu, Aug 04, 2011, 11:13 AM UTC

"but it is a lot harder to come up with new ideas."

I would like to start with it, but the above statement keeps me out. I'm still thinking about what to start with.