iPhone App Entrepreneur

Turn any Blog into a Native iPhone App

TechCrunch is reporting that iPhone analytics company AppLoop has announced a new service to turn any RSS feed into a native iPhone app. More detail can be found on AppLoop's website. Apparently the process takes less than two minutes and AppLoop will provide analytics and maintain the codebase. AppLoop itself submits the iPhone app and you decide if want to charge for the native app. AppLoop says you will receive 60% of the revenue (its unclear if that is 60% after Apple's 30%, or 60% of the total, which means Apple would take 30%, AppLoop would take 10%, and the publisher receives 60%). 

AppLoop's website states the service is free, with the possibility of premium modules being added later, and includes apps across platforms (they mention Android, but its not clear if the service makes both native iPhone and Android apps in less than 2 minutes). The service allows local access to content for offline browsing. There's no word yet on how long Apple will take to approve every Tom, Dick and Harry with a blog app that's bound to be created.

Although we haven't yet had the opportunity to test it out (who knows, maybe an iPhone App Entrepreneur Blog app is in our future), we can definitely see this being huge, especially for book and magazine publishers and any pro-bloggers looking to monetize their audiences who have been having trouble getting that strategy to work. I look forward to seeing how the service pans out and how well publishers react to it. 

Apple Drops NDA for Released iPhone Software

The big news today is that Apple has finally dropped the non-disclosure agreement affecting iPhone software. The change affects only released iPhone software. The NDA was severely restricting communication about Apple's iPhone software, development, even preventing the release of tutorials and books, so many people are happy to see it go. Developers should expect to see a lot more useful material coming out on how to build iPhone apps now that the NDA is history. 

Many people were frustrated with the NDA, since normally restrictions are dropped once software is released. In this case, many people were expecting to see the NDA dropped after the 3G iPhone with 2.0 software became available. When it was not, it put an unexpected crimp in many people's plans, including book publishers. 

via MacRumors. 

New Rejection Criteria for Apps

MacRumors is reporting that one developer's app has been rejected for being "of limited utility." The app appears to be a simple gag app, but as I've not downloaded it, I cannot be completely sure as to its utility. If Apple is indeed starting to reject apps that have less-than-great functions, then it signifies the start of a huge shift in how developers will approach the iPhone platform and the App Store. 

I can't really say anything good about this move on Apple's part. While Apple's guidelines have never really been specific, it wasn't hard to come up with app ideas that would get through. Now, Apple is signifying that they are going to apply a purely subjective decision making process, while simultaneously withholding information about what their criteria for "utility" is. I can honestly say that this is an unacceptable practice. Its one thing to have rules, even general rules like no porn or no bandwidth hogs, but another completely to reject apps based on Apple's idea of utility or fun. 

Apple has really thrown the developer community to the dogs with this decision, and the current lack of communication from them about their guidelines means that developers have no idea what it takes to be accepted now. If this continues, I'm afraid developers will refrain from putting time and effort into iPhone apps because the risk of being rejected has become an unknown variable. At the very least, Apple needs to move fast to publish some formal guidelines and set up a decision making process that will allow developers some feedback on how to meet those guidelines. 

This a huge step backwards for Apple, and one that could have been avoided by other means, such as making a new category for the App Store or revamping their review system. Instead, they've taken consumer protectionism to a new level, a dumbass level in my opinion. Trust me Apple, I don't need to be protected against a silly Pint 'O Beer application, and neither does anyone else. 

The Ins and Outs of iPhone Analytics: What Every Developer Needs to Know – Part 2

This is a two-part series on iPhone analytics explaining how analytics works and what it can do for a developer who wants to integrate it into their iPhone application. Part 1 covers analytics basics and explains what information a developer can get and how it might be useful. Part 2 covers the important issue of privacy and what a developer needs to be aware of when collecting information from users.  

Part 1 | Part 2  

The Ins and Outs of iPhone Analytics: What Every Developer Needs to Know – Part 1

This is a two-part series on iPhone analytics explaining how analytics works and what it can do for a developer who wants to integrate it into their iPhone application. Part 1 covers analytics basics and explains what information a developer can get and how it might be useful. Part 2 covers the important issue of privacy and what a developer needs to be aware of when collecting information from users.  

Part 1 | Part 2  

Create easy iPhone GUI Mockups

teehan+lax has put up a fully editable Photoshop PSD file that allows anyone using Photoshop to explain their iPhone app idea. 

- Information came courtesy of TechCrunch

iPhone Press and Promotion - List of Websites

**iPhone Press and Promotion Website List Page can be found here**

The App Store has been open for over a month now and developers are moving out of the coding stage and into the sales and promotion stage. Many developers are seeing numbers drop over time as more and more apps are added, attention wanes, or popularity goes up and down. I've decided to start a running list of websites that review or profile iPhone and iPod Touch apps to help developers in their promotion efforts. This way, developers working on promotion or looking to launch their app can have a list of sites they should contact with pitches or press releases.  

I've tried to find contact information for as many sites as possible. I've also put a brief description based on my knowledge or a short visit to the site to help you know what each site is about. I've divided the list into general websites and those specifically catering to games, as the games category seems to be particularly active. 

The list will be updated as often as I can, but the comments are open for developers to post other sites they know of or corrections to the list. Site owners and bloggers can feel free to suggest their site in the comments as well. Always list the URL and any contact information. If there are submissions guidelines, please include them as well. 

Good luck to all iPhone app developers out there.

Monthly reports now available

One developer is reporting that monthly reports are now available to developers who had sales during July. As always, good luck to all developers out there. If you are willing to share your numbers with the iPhone App Entrepreneur, please email tom@iphoneappentrepreneur.com. Those with high numbers willing to share their strategies can leave suggestions in the comments. 

An inside look into one developer's sales numbers

John Casasanta from Tap Tap Tap, the maker of Tipulator and Where To? has written an incredible post describing his application's sales numbers. I encourage every developer to check it out. John includes the amount Tap Tap Tap has spent on marketing and how that affected his sales, as well as some background on why he has decided to share this information. Mad props to John and Tap Tap Tap for sharing this. 

As expected, there is good money is iPhone development

9to5 Mac and Macrumors are reporting on developers being pleasantly surprised by their daily download stats. Eliza Block, developer of the crossword puzzle app 2 Across, found that the last three days numbers showed her downloads at around 400 per day, putting her earnings per day near $1800.00. Impressive statistics, and undoubtably a happy surprise for Eliza. I hope other developers are also doing as well, and as always, good luck. 

Apple Has Started Providing Daily Download Stats

Developers looking to track their daily stats can now find the information at iTunes Connect. This is welcome news for any developer who was frustrated about being in the dark about their sales. Developers can use the information to estimate sales volume and track their sales curves over time. Daily stats will also help a publisher develop the proper price point for their application, as they can judge whether comments about pricing are warranted or not and experiment with pricing without having to wait until the end of the month for results. 

If anyone currently has an iPhone application in the store and can check their stats, we'd love to hear if the information is just a single number, or if it is broken down by time of day, country, or currency. And as always, good luck with your sales. 

via MacRumors

Back to Work

I'm back after a much needed week off. I'll be catching up on some late posts in the upcoming week, so stay tuned. If you would like to see any particular topic covered in the future, feel free to email me at tom@iphoneappentrepreneur.com.