Five Surefire Tips for First Time iPhone Developers Posted on September 09, 2009 Post a comment

We recently developed and launched the content rich Weber’s On The Grill app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. We thought we’d share our experience and have developed a rabble+rouser iPhone Development White Paper for download (available at the bottom of this page). 

Here are five surefire tips for first timers, from our White Paper:

1.  Tailor Your Content
The iPhone’s 480 x 320 resolution makes it quite a challenge to display large amounts of data, so take stock early on of all your content and make sure that it is in a format that will be easily read and navigable. Being diligent about this step will help reduce the amount of modifications you are making during and after programming/development.

2.  Get Familiar with Apps That Are Already Out There
With more than 60,000 apps available in the iTunes store, there is a good chance that you will find some excellent sources of inspiration. Download both free apps and paid apps and take note of standard UI elements that might be useful to emulate in your app.

3.  Tap Into Existing Resources
For Design: Download this layered Photoshop file. It’s perfect for mocking up UI elements such as pickers, sliders, etc.

For Learning Objective-C: Pick up a copy of Beginning iPhone Development from Apress, and download “Writing Your First iPhone Application” screen cast from The Pragmatic Programmer.

4.  Test on an Actual iPhone Device Sooner Than Later
Performance issues, in particular, won’t be apparent in the X-Code Simulator. So set up provisioning profiles and register your device early on in the development process.

5.  Prepare for App Submission Early On
Set up your company info, ratings, an app description, and, if a paid app, your financial info in iTunes Connect well before the actual app is tested and bundled for distribution. Submit your app to Apple at least two weeks before your anticipated launch date.

Learn more about the technical process

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