OK, so I wrote a #wp7 app...
Having seen even the contestants on The Apprentice build an app (sorta) then I figured I might be the only person in the entire technical world who hasn’t built an app. (Though, as with everyone else I’ve had tons of ideas...)
Inspiration to finally put one out there came in the form of the excellent book: 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps by Adam Nathan which is actually the first volume so actually contains 50 complete apps. Amazing effort – pragmatic and intelligent and almost forces you to start coding.
Anyway, I released 2 apps for $1 each:
- The first was Baby Shake-A-Name which is basically just Adam’s code, but with a few extensions and gave me the opportunity to remember how to code and understand the development and marketplace process.
- The other is Goggle Eyes which is “all my own work” albeit utilising what I learned from the book. You can add some Googly Eyes to a photo, resize and shake ‘em. Tons of extension potential and the only “googly eye”-based app I could find in the marketplace...
I suppose the thing that struck me about releasing an app to marketplace is the power of the distribution mechanism. This is something I already understood conceptually, but it’s a whole different feeling as you release your own app wondering if anyone will think it’s worth a dollar (or the equivalent in your local currency), what feedback you might get and so on. Then you start to think “hmm... maybe I should take this seriously...” as you realise that there is very little barrier to building a successful app given the right idea.
My next plan is to write another paid app (little bit more involved) but also try out something ad-supported. Just need to think of the right thing for that. OccasionalGamer has a ton of info on indie game development and ad-revenues.
Anyway, you should do the same – it’s a lot of fun. And I’m confident Goggle Eyes will present you with at least a dollar’s worth of fun. My daughter laughed a lot anyway.
Note to my friends and colleagues: there’s absolutely no reason to sabotage my burgeoning app development career with those rogue reviews. You know who you are ;)
