I couldn’t help but film this quick video fo Apple’s HUGE full page ad in USA Today featuring the best of the best iPhone Apps

You might be surprised by all the good that can come from writing apps for the Iphone. Trust me, writing apps for the Iphone gives you more than just money. Here are three benefits of writing apps for the Iphone. 1. Programming Knowledge – If you begin to develop a lot of apps for the Iphone, you will notice that you can also develop a lot of other things, like a website, or web-based apps. All programming languages have the same basic core, so once you start getting good at one, it is a lot easier to start learning other ones. Think of it as learning Spanish and then learning Italian. It will probably be much easier than jumping straight to Italian. 2. Networking – If you begin to develop Iphone apps you will probably notice that you have a lot more business connections. You also might just have a lot more casual friends that really like your work. If you are full time app developer then you are undoubtedly meeting a lot of business savvy people who want you to develop their app. All of these people can come in handy later on when you have a big project in mind that could use some outside funding. It is all about who you know. 3. Money – I am pretty sure this is the one you all were looking for. And yes, it is true, writing apps for the Iphone can make you solid amounts of money. And if you are also an idea person and not just a developer, you can make a lot more by making your own apps to put up on the appstore, rather than having other people hire you to make theirs. If you get 5 semi popular apps up on the appstore you can make over $100k a year.

There are many people that choose not to even attempt to make an Iphone app because they have have no programming experience. Learning a programming language is difficult, and can take a lot of time and effort before you are at a point where you can start building solid apps. A lot of people simply do not have this time, but they would still like to make an app for a great idea they have. If this is your then hop on Twitter right now and find a trustworthy Iphone app developer. There are so many awesome app developers available today that prices are very reasonable, and the quality is excellent. Developers won’t risk creating a sub-par since they know you are a potential recommendation to other people. Most basic, non-game apps cost around $2k to develop and with a little marketing, can make you over $15k a year. Obviously there will be those who don’t want to spend the money on a developer and still want to program it themselves even though they don’t have any experience. This is also attainable, just remember you will have to put in a lot of hours, and handle a lot of frustration. A great place to start learning how to develop iphone apps with no programming experience is at howtomakeiphoneapps.com. It runs you through all the things you need to do as a programmer to start developing your app. Also, learning another language first can’t hurt either. You can try to find a simpler one like Visual Basic to learn the basics of programming, and then switch over to Apple’s to start developing your iphone app. Remember: The main thing you need is dedication. If you choose to learn the language on your own, you need patience and drive to battle through the frustrations.

Most people that create an Iphone app put so much effort into the actual app that by the time they need to make an icon and get ready to ship it, they just sort of slop a couple of graphics together thinking that the icon is not that big of a deal. IF YOU THINK THE ICON ON YOUR APP IS NOT IMPORTANT, THINK AGAIN! People absolutely love visually compelling images. If you have a crappy icon, people will instantly be turned off to it, simply because it isn’t going to look good on their Iphones! If you have an amazing icon, people will want to put that on the first page of their Iphone, which will then advertise itself to anyone that picks up the phone to see what is on it. If you really don’t think people look that deeply into what the icon on your app looks like, then maybe these customers thoughts will help: “For me, every single pixel of the app is an expression of its personality. An average icon can lower my opinion greatly—it’s often the most frequently viewed part of the app. I really dislike icons that try to break the square-with-rounded-corner format (Peggle).” “I hate bad icons. They make me not want to use an App. In my experience apps that have horrible icons also tend to have sub-par user experiences attached to them.” “It’s really annoying, to tell you the truth. I pre-judge a lot of apps on the icon – a dodgy-looking icon tells me the developer doesn’t care for polish.” “If it has a crappy icon, i refuse to buy it. No matter how good it is.” “I can’t stand crap icon’s… they are enough of a reason to delete the app IMO” As you can see, these customers feel very strongly about how good an icon looks. Some will simply refuse to buy your app if they don’t like your icon. If you get one thing out of this, it is to make sure you DO NOT submit your app with a polished, great-looking icon.