Every once and awhile, I think of something I would want to use my iPhone for, but when i check the App store, there is no app for it yet. The things I think of are usually somewhat specific to me. I usually get pretty close to buying a book and learning how to develop for iPhone, but I always remember the stories of how difficult it is to get something published on the App store. Actual development aside, is it practical to develop a small single use app? Will it take forever to get approved?
+1
A:
It can take a while to get approved, although approval times seem to vary wildly.
If you are developing your own app though, you would likely need to provision your device for development. If you are doing that anyways, then you can just install the app on your phone right from XCode and not even bother going through the app store.
Eric Petroelje
2010-07-19 14:57:02
A:
Apps get approved pretty fast nowadays, usually in a couple of days. So, it depends upon what you mean by "Single Use" apps. Most apps do only one thing. But if you mean that the app would be only of use for one person, I doubt that you will get it approved.
Nikolai Ruhe
2010-07-19 14:57:26
Care to share how you get your apps approved in just a couple of days...? I would say this value is closer to 7 days for updates, 14 days for new apps (if everything goes well). Unless you have a critical bug update, I've never seen that fast of approval.
iWasRobbed
2010-07-19 17:26:38
+2
A:
If the purpose is simpel enough, I wouldn't bother with Objective-C. Instead you could write a small WebApp using HTML, CSS and JavaScript (jqTouch).
Check out: http://building-iphone-apps.labs.oreilly.com/
So you don't even need to buy an developer account! (99$ saved, wohoo!)
yan.kun
2010-07-19 15:02:43
+1
A:
If the app is just for you, you don't need to put it in the app store. You can build it with Xcode and install it yourself on your device or on up to 100 other devices using ad-hoc distribution. There is a $99/year developer fee.
progrmr
2010-07-19 15:06:55