7 ms·

Why you should (not) create a mobile app

59 points by ZaneClaes 15y ago

kgreenek 15y ago
Nice article. And so true. As an engineering student taking entrepreneurship classes, I cannot tell you how many business students wanted to pay me good money to develop really (no offense) silly/boring/done-to-death/plain-stupid ideas.
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  Thanks :) and yeah...
king_magic 15y ago
I can't even begin to recall the number of times people have asked me to build an iOS app for them. The idea is always uninteresting or just a clone of something that already exists. The implementation would always take much longer than they would want it to take. The cost is always much higher than they expect. I always feel bad shooting people down, but it is just incredibly unlikely that the app will "take off" and make a boatload of cash. It's just not going to happen, so I don't waste my time on those types of requests or suggestions.
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  Exactly... you may feel like you're a jerk sometimes, but people need a reality check.
- a3camero 15y ago
  Why shoot them down? Ask for money. There's good money to be made in developing ideas that you might not see the value in but someone else does (possibly rightly!).
  - king_magic 15y ago
    That's a fair question - however, I'm employed full time and just can't spend all of my free time working on apps, even for money :) But you do have a good point about someone else possibly seeing value... however, many of the ideas I've been approached with are of the form "like Twitter, but for Poker players!" or something similarly silly. The problem I see with these types of projects is that they are typically championed by people who have no real understanding about how software is developed, a la clientsfromhell.net. Those are situations I just don't want to get involved in.
    - a3camero 15y ago
      Fair enough but maybe a higher bill rate would change your mind. Quote a high enough price that you're happy to do it. It's a win-win because they'll either leave you alone or pay you lots of money!
      - king_magic 15y ago
        Thats a really good point, actually - yeah, that makes sense.
      - ZaneClaes 15y ago
        I think sooner or later most freelancers learn to adjust their prices based upon expectations. Not all clients are created equal, and you have to know how to judge a client for the amount of headache he will eventually cause you. Sad, but true, and it certainly separates the wheat from the chaff.
saddino 15y ago
Today's "I have an idea for an app" = last decade's "I have an idea for a website"
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  And tomorrow's "I have an idea for a neural implant" ;) http://lifebyexperimentation.com/2011/06/musing-how-mobile-technology-will-make-us-cyborgs/ http://lifebyexperimentation.com/2011/06/musing-how-mobile-t...
shareme 15y ago
unfortunately the data out there contradicts this.. 1. For some reason people like to download apps for their mobile devices..some is social, etc. 2. While not getting rich, but several thousands per month is nothing to discount or ignore at this time. 3. Its not the idea, but people, execution, MARKETING, etc.
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  1) Sure. But they want good apps that do something useful. So what's your point? 2) I can state for a fact that the vast majority of the apps do not make more than $100 per month, both from my own experience and talking to other developers and to large companies. Pareto's principle at work. 3) That's exactly what I said in the article...
  - codebot 15y ago
    I think there is a big difference between a business paying an iOS developer $100-200 an hour to make an app and a software developer releasing an app in their spare time. I'm in the process of doing the latter. I've got an idea for an app which I believe is new and original and I hope I make more than $100 a month. Really, I'm hoping for 1000 sales a month in the first few months but that might be overly optimistic. I'd be fine with $100 a month though. Really, as long as I make $100-200 overall I will recoup my original investment and have learned a valuable professional skill. I think marketing is going to be a problem. Becoming lost in the appstore seems like it could be an issue.
    - ZaneClaes 15y ago
      True, and yes, marketing is always a problem. If you need any help, feel free to contact me through the site or by leaving a comment there.
benburton 15y ago
Is it difficult to have PHP display a splash page for 500 errors?
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  =\ I've been talking to HostGator support for 30 minutes and all I've managed to get from them is "500 errors are caused by too many processes running at once." Wow, thanks HG for that little gem right there. Sigh.
  - dhbanes 15y ago
    http://www.linode.com/index.cfm http://www.linode.com/index.cfm
    - Jach 15y ago
      Why would one use Linode over the amazon cloud? Anyway, while I'm sure Linode is very good, your response isn't helpful since I'm sure the grandparent, like me, uses HostGator because they're inexpensive and give you a decent amount of rope. Linode is just too expensive if you just need a basic shared host with ssh access and "unlimited" space.
  - rumblestrut 15y ago
    Presuming you're using WordPress, this will help: http://thingsthatarebrown.com/blog/2010/05/dont-get-fireballed/ http://thingsthatarebrown.com/blog/2010/05/dont-get-fireball...
- thwarted 15y ago
  The server displays the error pages, not PHP. Its not that hard to customize, and you can have a script do it, but once the misconfiguration page is being shown, your configuration is screwed up anyway. This kind of error usually results from your script not interfacing with the server correctly (like not sending the response code in the right format).
programminggeek 15y ago
You could probably apply much of this logic to building a webapp or native app for that matter. The rules all apply everywhere, it is just a matter of how mature the market is. Mobile is still new. Tablet is VERY new. Motion/kinect is basically nonexistant. So, understanding where the market is should change the way you target it. Launching an app on the app store is probably akin to launching a blog in 2002-2005. There was competition, but it was still relatively little compared to now, but there was still enough competition that you had to hustle to get noticed. Launch a blog now and nobody cares. You have to make them care. If you think pushing an app is hard now, wait 5 years.
- salbright 15y ago
  Good article. While I don't follow the app market that closely, it seems as if all of the new apps I see aim to enhance very specific functions of human life. Five years from now, with a mature market, seemingly just about every moment of my day could be enhanced by the use of a mobile application. When this time comes, how am I suppose to organize and manage all of these applications? I have enough going on in my life without having 500 different applications to manage. Are any companies working toward aggregating related applications to create "definitive" applications? For example, I play guitar. I don't want to have 50 different apps for tuning, techniques, music theory, etc. I just want a single "definitive guitar app" that covers everything. The same principle could be applied to daily functions across the board. Who's doing this?
dpcan 15y ago
Agreed, when I am approached to create a game or app for someone the idea is just dead on arrival. The worst part is, the people coming to me are friends, and it's terribly hard when I have to break their hearts. Usually it's not me being mean, it's me saying, hey, let's go to the App Store and see what else is out there like this - and usually, there are 10 pages of similar apps that nobody has ever downloaded. People have game ideas all the time too - but they want to make MONEY with their game, and to do that, you need a strategy more than just a concept.
johnx123 15y ago
Check Yahoo! mail webapp... it's in HTML5 and has offline stuffs
va_coder 15y ago
"each time I want to read something new or click a link, I need an active internet connection. " I think HTML5 is changing this.
- ZaneClaes 15y ago
  Yes, but I have been hearing that for literally years now ;)
andymoe 15y ago
Here is the thing, you can't just do one mobile app. You need to do 10, 20 or more. Grind it out at the low stakes tables until you have the capital (aka app install base, know how and cash) to play at the higher stakes tables. Install base is the key. Grow it to a reasonable size across all you apps (a few hundred thousand and preferably a million or more) the larger your network of apps the easier it will be to promote you new apps and eventually you may get a runaway hit. Also, start out with small (2d) self contained (no client server stuff), polished, engaging FREE apps. These types of apps are less expensive to produce (15-35k or 80-200 hours.) The apps should be free with some in app purchase stuff and ads if you are interested in bringing in a little lunch/parking/coffee money while honing your skills (if you're self publishing) and building up your network. After you learn some things about the market and start to build up your network of apps you can try doing some paid apps but unless you have an established brand I would recommend free + in app purchase for premium features. Some of your apps will do ok and some will be dogs. Learn from each and move on quickly. Now if you already have an existing service with established user base (a few million at least) that is another story, go ahead and make an app that compliments your service and you might do ok since you already have a network of users and marketing muscle to promote it. Remember you are going are going to have to make an ongoing investment in your app with money or time to fix bugs and continue to polish it if you want it to do well and gain traction.

59 points by ZaneClaes 15y ago

Nice article. And so true. As an engineering student taking entrepreneurship classes, I cannot tell you how many business students wanted to pay me good money to develop really (no offense) silly/boring/done-to-death/plain-stupid ideas.

ZaneClaes 15y ago
Thanks :) and yeah...

king_magic 15y ago

I can't even begin to recall the number of times people have asked me to build an iOS app for them. The idea is always uninteresting or just a clone of something that already exists. The implementation would always take much longer than they would want it to take. The cost is always much higher than they expect. I always feel bad shooting people down, but it is just incredibly unlikely that the app will "take off" and make a boatload of cash. It's just not going to happen, so I don't waste my time on those types of requests or suggestions.

ZaneClaes 15y ago
Exactly... you may feel like you're a jerk sometimes, but people need a reality check.
a3camero 15y ago
Why shoot them down? Ask for money. There's good money to be made in developing ideas that you might not see the value in but someone else does (possibly rightly!).
- king_magic 15y ago
  That's a fair question - however, I'm employed full time and just can't spend all of my free time working on apps, even for money :) But you do have a good point about someone else possibly seeing value... however, many of the ideas I've been approached with are of the form "like Twitter, but for Poker players!" or something similarly silly. The problem I see with these types of projects is that they are typically championed by people who have no real understanding about how software is developed, a la clientsfromhell.net. Those are situations I just don't want to get involved in.
  - a3camero 15y ago
    Fair enough but maybe a higher bill rate would change your mind. Quote a high enough price that you're happy to do it. It's a win-win because they'll either leave you alone or pay you lots of money!
    - king_magic 15y ago
      Thats a really good point, actually - yeah, that makes sense.
    - ZaneClaes 15y ago
      I think sooner or later most freelancers learn to adjust their prices based upon expectations. Not all clients are created equal, and you have to know how to judge a client for the amount of headache he will eventually cause you. Sad, but true, and it certainly separates the wheat from the chaff.

saddino 15y ago

Today's "I have an idea for an app" = last decade's "I have an idea for a website"

ZaneClaes 15y ago
And tomorrow's "I have an idea for a neural implant" ;) http://lifebyexperimentation.com/2011/06/musing-how-mobile-technology-will-make-us-cyborgs/ http://lifebyexperimentation.com/2011/06/musing-how-mobile-t...

shareme 15y ago

unfortunately the data out there contradicts this.. 1. For some reason people like to download apps for their mobile devices..some is social, etc. 2. While not getting rich, but several thousands per month is nothing to discount or ignore at this time. 3. Its not the idea, but people, execution, MARKETING, etc.

ZaneClaes 15y ago
1) Sure. But they want good apps that do something useful. So what's your point? 2) I can state for a fact that the vast majority of the apps do not make more than $100 per month, both from my own experience and talking to other developers and to large companies. Pareto's principle at work. 3) That's exactly what I said in the article...
- codebot 15y ago
  I think there is a big difference between a business paying an iOS developer $100-200 an hour to make an app and a software developer releasing an app in their spare time. I'm in the process of doing the latter. I've got an idea for an app which I believe is new and original and I hope I make more than $100 a month. Really, I'm hoping for 1000 sales a month in the first few months but that might be overly optimistic. I'd be fine with $100 a month though. Really, as long as I make $100-200 overall I will recoup my original investment and have learned a valuable professional skill. I think marketing is going to be a problem. Becoming lost in the appstore seems like it could be an issue.
  - ZaneClaes 15y ago
    True, and yes, marketing is always a problem. If you need any help, feel free to contact me through the site or by leaving a comment there.

benburton 15y ago

Is it difficult to have PHP display a splash page for 500 errors?

ZaneClaes 15y ago
=\ I've been talking to HostGator support for 30 minutes and all I've managed to get from them is "500 errors are caused by too many processes running at once." Wow, thanks HG for that little gem right there. Sigh.
- dhbanes 15y ago
  http://www.linode.com/index.cfm http://www.linode.com/index.cfm
  - Jach 15y ago
    Why would one use Linode over the amazon cloud? Anyway, while I'm sure Linode is very good, your response isn't helpful since I'm sure the grandparent, like me, uses HostGator because they're inexpensive and give you a decent amount of rope. Linode is just too expensive if you just need a basic shared host with ssh access and "unlimited" space.
- rumblestrut 15y ago
  Presuming you're using WordPress, this will help: http://thingsthatarebrown.com/blog/2010/05/dont-get-fireballed/ http://thingsthatarebrown.com/blog/2010/05/dont-get-fireball...
thwarted 15y ago
The server displays the error pages, not PHP. Its not that hard to customize, and you can have a script do it, but once the misconfiguration page is being shown, your configuration is screwed up anyway. This kind of error usually results from your script not interfacing with the server correctly (like not sending the response code in the right format).

programminggeek 15y ago

You could probably apply much of this logic to building a webapp or native app for that matter. The rules all apply everywhere, it is just a matter of how mature the market is. Mobile is still new. Tablet is VERY new. Motion/kinect is basically nonexistant. So, understanding where the market is should change the way you target it. Launching an app on the app store is probably akin to launching a blog in 2002-2005. There was competition, but it was still relatively little compared to now, but there was still enough competition that you had to hustle to get noticed. Launch a blog now and nobody cares. You have to make them care. If you think pushing an app is hard now, wait 5 years.

salbright 15y ago
Good article. While I don't follow the app market that closely, it seems as if all of the new apps I see aim to enhance very specific functions of human life. Five years from now, with a mature market, seemingly just about every moment of my day could be enhanced by the use of a mobile application. When this time comes, how am I suppose to organize and manage all of these applications? I have enough going on in my life without having 500 different applications to manage. Are any companies working toward aggregating related applications to create "definitive" applications? For example, I play guitar. I don't want to have 50 different apps for tuning, techniques, music theory, etc. I just want a single "definitive guitar app" that covers everything. The same principle could be applied to daily functions across the board. Who's doing this?

dpcan 15y ago

Agreed, when I am approached to create a game or app for someone the idea is just dead on arrival. The worst part is, the people coming to me are friends, and it's terribly hard when I have to break their hearts. Usually it's not me being mean, it's me saying, hey, let's go to the App Store and see what else is out there like this - and usually, there are 10 pages of similar apps that nobody has ever downloaded. People have game ideas all the time too - but they want to make MONEY with their game, and to do that, you need a strategy more than just a concept.

johnx123 15y ago

Check Yahoo! mail webapp... it's in HTML5 and has offline stuffs

va_coder 15y ago

"each time I want to read something new or click a link, I need an active internet connection. " I think HTML5 is changing this.

ZaneClaes 15y ago
Yes, but I have been hearing that for literally years now ;)

andymoe 15y ago

Here is the thing, you can't just do one mobile app. You need to do 10, 20 or more. Grind it out at the low stakes tables until you have the capital (aka app install base, know how and cash) to play at the higher stakes tables. Install base is the key. Grow it to a reasonable size across all you apps (a few hundred thousand and preferably a million or more) the larger your network of apps the easier it will be to promote you new apps and eventually you may get a runaway hit. Also, start out with small (2d) self contained (no client server stuff), polished, engaging FREE apps. These types of apps are less expensive to produce (15-35k or 80-200 hours.) The apps should be free with some in app purchase stuff and ads if you are interested in bringing in a little lunch/parking/coffee money while honing your skills (if you're self publishing) and building up your network. After you learn some things about the market and start to build up your network of apps you can try doing some paid apps but unless you have an established brand I would recommend free + in app purchase for premium features. Some of your apps will do ok and some will be dogs. Learn from each and move on quickly. Now if you already have an existing service with established user base (a few million at least) that is another story, go ahead and make an app that compliments your service and you might do ok since you already have a network of users and marketing muscle to promote it. Remember you are going are going to have to make an ongoing investment in your app with money or time to fix bugs and continue to polish it if you want it to do well and gain traction.