I have an app-etite

Nowadays we are used to living with technology all around us. Some people have got a “technology addiction” so bad that they absolutely cannot live without their iPhones or Blackberries. Others are crazily hooked up on games they find for download on the different app markets. However, what no one talks about is how much a significant number of these people dream of becoming one of those cool guys that have an app out there on the market and become famous. Truth be told, a lot of the youngsters nowadays want to build apps of their own. The big problem that then surges is programming it.

Yep you heard right… you don’t need to know how to program. By now most people would be thinking “Well, then I just need to hire a developer.” Not necessarily. This girl has sold her app several hundred times, sure; but she didn’t actually build her own app. She hired a developer. But what happens when you want to do it yourself? Or simply, what happens when you don’t want to pay for a developer? Whether you want to tinker around with the programming or not, you have to find a way to do it, right?

But first things first: what is a mobile app?

I. What is a mobile app?

As usually defined, “A mobile application (or mobile app) is a software application designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices” (Wikipedia, “Mobile app”), or “An “app” is a software designed to help a user perform a specific task. Examples of applications include accounting software, vocal interface software, media players, graphic software tools, and many others.” (University of Texas, Information Technology Services) Someone that dedicates his or her life to technology would add some details to the former explanation: “Applications (…) are installed on the client, get started from the command line, and suffer from no download limitations (…) Applications run locally” (Java, Burke, Dailous et. al., “Java 2 Complete,” 4-6). Very basically, an app is a piece of software we can run on a mobile device and that doesn’t depend on the usage of the Internet. More locally though, we just say an app is software we are able to run on a mobile device.

There are all kinds of uses for a mobile application or an app. There are apps that are clocks, apps that measure, apps that entertain, and even apps to download other apps. Quite simply; “Applications (…) have no such restrictions or automatic display area. Because applications run locally, they can do anything.” (Java, Burke, Dailous et. al., “Java 2 Complete,” 6)
Everyone that uses a piece of technology such as a smartphone or a computer uses apps all the time. The calendar in iPhone is an app, the calculator in your PC is an app, and all kinds of games are apps. And just like in an aliens-invading-Earth movie, we are surrounded by apps and technology. Apps are the future, and everyone is interested in them, from Universities doing research to private individuals. As put in the Library’s Student Journal’s article “The patron-technology connection: The role of public library staff”: “Librarians have begun to notice a recent shift in site focus, though, with fewer people seeking help with social networking sites and more asking questions about sending resumes and submitting application. As explained by Staff Member 3: “We used to see mostly updates in social networking sites, and now it’s ‘how do I get my resume or application posted.’” (Library Student Journal, “The patron-technology connection”)

Apps are traditionally written in programming code. The most used programming codes nowadays are Java, Objective-C, and C# mainly. Objective-C is used in apps for iPhone, for example. Java is used in Android apps, and C# in Windows Phone apps. Finding tutorials and books about how to use them is nowhere near as hard as it is to actually use them though. And that is the main reasons why a lot of people are scared about having to program an app, so they don’t even try to do it. Actually, on a recent survey on this subject about making an app done on 72 junior and high school students from ages 13 to 19, I found that 65 of those 72 students use apps constantly, but only 7 had actually written one. Of these 65 students that use apps constantly, at least 17 admitted they had thought of writing one of their own, while 53 believed it “hard to do”. The main reasons the students provided for this answer were that programming is too complicated to their eyes and that they didn’t know how to make an app in the first two places, in third that they are not good at technology and in fourth that the process of doing it would be too long. From those 65 original students that use apps constantly, 38 admitted, after hearing what an app maker is, that they would like to use one to make an app (51.2% would like to make a game, 35% didn’t know what to do, and 15.38% would like to help other people – either with communication apps, to make everyday life processes easier, etc.).

The problem is that most of these students do not know there are these programs that can help them get started in writing apps. But let’s start by the start: what options do you have if you, like them, don’t know how to code but want to make an app?

II. The basics about writing an app

Therefore, one has got several options as to what one can do. Option 1: hire a developer. This is, after not creating their app, the most common solution by people all around the globe. It is easy to find someone that can do it, and it’s even easier to just pay them to make the app for you, including every quirk and sudden idea of change for the app. Quite simply: one thinks of the idea, lays out what is wanted, and waits around for it to be done. But the dark side of it is what one has to pay for it to happen. The fees for hiring a developer vary a lot depending on a lot of factors, such as how complicated the app will be, how much work has already been done, if one’s hiring a freelancer or a developer that works for a company, etc. For example, Freddie Ann Hodges, the girl that had her app done by a professional, had to pay $3,000 (all numbers are in dollars) for her app.³ As said by Bear Cahill, CEO of BrainWash Inc., an independent application development company: “I typically charge between $5,000 and $10,000, but I have charged as little as $2,000 and considerably more than $10,000 too” (Kristof, 2).

But then, what happens if one wants to do it by his self? Option 2: on your own.

III. How to do it yourself

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a winner! Jackpot! We found the perfect solution. Two words: app maker.

An app maker is explained in John Herman’s article “How to Make Your Own Apps” as: “… a wave of new tools designed to allow people without programming experience to create apps and games for their phones and tablets” (Herman, 2). What Herman means is that app makers allow people to create apps without using code. These app makers have been surging in the last five years and are quite popular, to the extent that some of the apps created using these programs are now successful apps in the app market. The app stores are wide open now for non-programmers.

To explain what an app maker is we will have to refer to what it actually does. The user interacts with a pick-and-drop basic screen and designs actions and places in his app while the app maker, at the same time, creates the code for it in the background. In Herman’s words: “What… [app makers] …do is automate the creation of code, hiding it from view” (Herman, 2). Simply, the computer creates the code for the user.

Based on this idea several app makers have been created. Different app makers have different characteristics, ranging from their capabilities to cost and complexity in their usage. The most important or world-wide known to non-programmers of these programs are two: GameSalad and App Inventor, the first one developed by a small enterprise, the second by Google.

Focusing on GameSalad and App Inventor, fees do not always stay in buying an app maker or an upgrade for it. For example, to access Apple’s Developer’s Center and tools one needs to pay a fee equivalent to $99 a year, without any restriction concerning the number of apps published.⁶ On the other hand, to have access as a developer to the Android Market to upload apps one needs to sign up and pay a one-time fee of $25.⁷ As well, the download of the App Inventor is free, but Google isn’t quite as ready for this kind of apps just yet.⁸

Following that thought, several non-programmers agree in saying that GameSalad is easier to use compared to the App Inventor, just as most programmers believe that the iPhone platform is simpler than the Android platform.⁹ Nonetheless, no matter which is simpler or cheaper, the fact is that these programs open the app stores for non-programmers and by themselves are not too hard to use for any average person that wants to invent an app. The real problem when inventing apps isn’t, according to a programmer, writing it so much as “coming up with an app that hasn’t already been developed”¹⁰, and, then, making it stand out in the app stores.

But how do these app stores work?

IV. Deeper into the app markets

What an app store does is publish a developer’s app so it can be downloaded by any user. But, even if saying so is easy, the acceptation processes can sometimes be not as easy as it might sound. All acceptation processes differ in one or another way from the rest, but all focus on some main points.

The main points all app stores look for is that the apps don’t have bugs (programming errors), glitches (similar to bugs), or say use something when they don’t (for example, that say one can use the phone’s camera but one can’t access it from the app). Focusing specifically on Apple’s App store acceptation process, Chloe Albanesius explains in her article “How Does the Apple App Process Work?”¹¹ how does Apple choose its apps.

Apple employs over 40 app reviewers, and each app is revised by 2 different reviewers, who look for the errors mentioned above. Furthermore, a specific review team that meets once a week looks over the more controversial apps. When any error is encountered, the apps are rejected and an explanation concerning why it was rejected is sent to the developers, so they have the option to fix it and submit it to revision one more time.

Apple has declared that they receive around 200,000 applications each year, from which around 95% are approved within two weeks, even if 20% had to undergo some kind of alteration to be approved. ¹² Apple isn’t a saint though, as said by Dave Howell, the CEO of Avatron Software (a mobile app development company), in an interview, “most of my frustrations in this business can be attributed to the sometimes unpredictable caprice and arbitrariness of Apple’s review process.”¹³ It must always be kept in mind that the road is made easier by app makers, but is not completely easy.

When talking about publishing apps and app stores, the subject of money comes into place. Apps can be divided into two categories: Free to Play and Pay to Play. The names say enough of these apps: Free to Play apps are free apps. Pay to Play apps are apps that have to be paid for before trying them out. From both styles the developer can win money, what changes is what generates it.

It can be sometimes believed that Free Play apps cannot win any money. The truth is that FtP (Free to Play) apps can be, in some sense, PtP (Pay to Play). That is, when an app can be used but to download more upgrades one has to pay, or when it works with ads. The rent of those ads, if they don’t cost the user, are a source of revenue for the developer. PtP apps can win a lot of money or very little, with this not only depending on their cost, but also on their popularity.

It is to be noted that strict FtP apps don’t make Apple money by themselves. Where Apple gets its strongest income is from the downloads of the PtP apps. As explained in Kristof’s article, Apple keeps around one third of the price of the app, and this has to be considered when thinking about the price one app can have. As she says: “you’ll get about $2 per sale if your application sells for $2.99”. Plus, if one paid for a developer, to make a gain from an app, the amount of apps that have to be sold goes up. This is another reason why GameSalad and all app makers are becoming more popular nowadays – more profit.

V. Final notes

All these small issues form the big reason why the app market is important and forever growing, but tough. With over 200,000 apps in the market, to stand out is not easy. All kinds of apps have already been developed, so getting a fresh idea is hard. Plus, making it profitable with all this competition is a struggle. It has to be kept in mind that app makers make it easy to make apps. And one can live from these apps, just as one can win no money from them, even if the satisfaction of writing them remains.