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Currently writing about iPhone Development, GWT, Ajax, Leopard, and Java.
IAmStillRich.com: I Am Rich for Poor iPhone Owners
Monday, August 11, 2008
Six iPhone owners can definitively prove that they are very rich, and very stupid. These spendthrift six purchased I Am Rich, an iPhone application costing $1000 from Apple's App Store. This app only displays an image of a shiny red gem, and comes with a matching shiny red icon entitled "I Am Rich". Apple removed this app from the AppStore after two users complained & wanted their money back, leaving only six users with proof of their richness.
This seemed like a shame to me, so I created an alternative for poor iPhone owners who love luxury: IAmStillRich.com. I Am Still Rich is a web application for the iPhone - just open Safari and type IAmStillRich.com as the URL, and you will see your very own shiny gem. IAmStillRich.com is completely free, enabling you to continue being rich after you see the shiny gem. And this shiny gem is even better than the original because it's green, and everyone knows green is the color of all things rich. Best of all, I Am Still Rich comes with an icon for your iPhone's home screen, so you can fool your friends into thinking you are one of the six idiots who spent $1000 on a useless iPhone application.
To install the icon on your iPhone home screen, simply follow these instructions:
1. Open Safari and visit IAmStillRich.com
2. Tap the + button on the Safari task bar on the bottom of the screen
3. Tap "Add to Home Screen" from the pop-up list
4. Click "Add", and the icon will show up on your iPhone's home screen
5. Tell everyone you know that you spent $1000 on the I Am Rich app
(I created this for a presentation on iPhone Web Applications at BarCampHouston3. To learn more about making your web sites iPhone friendly, check out Apple's iPhone Human Interface Guidelines.)
ForeFlight: The AppStore's Most Expensive App (and why it's a bargain)
Friday, July 11, 2008
Apple's App Store launched yesterday with 552 native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Over 25% of these apps are free, and 90% are $9.99 or less. Sitting at the top of the price distribution is ForeFlight Mobile v2.0, available in the AppStore for $69.99 in the US and €54.99 in Europe. (Disclaimer: I'm one of the ForeFlight developers.) After seeing this price, Joe iPhone Owner might share the reaction of the user who left this review on ForeFlight's App Store page: "I have honestly not tried this application, but that's why I'm leaving this review. I'm sure the value that this company put into it is of worth, but $70 seems way to steep. I would like to see this app more like $9.99"After all, if Sega's Super Monkey Ball is $9.99, shouldn't everything be $9.99? The answer is no, but let's establish some background first...
What is ForeFlight?
ForeFlight Mobile v2.0 is an iPhone application for aircraft pilots, whether they're ferrying passengers for Southwest Airlines, training out of the local airstrip on the weekend, or transporting celebrities on a private jet. ForeFlight Mobile lets pilots file flight plans, view detailed runway diagrams, receive FAA flight alerts, check flight conditions, and see weather reports.
Tyson Weihs and Jason Miller founded ForeFlight in 2007, launching the first version of ForeFlight Mobile as a subscription web application for the iPhone. This service cost $8.95/month or $79.00/year, and immediately built a strong user base in the aviation community. A couple months ago, I came on board the ForeFlight team to help them transition their successful web application to a native iPhone application. With yesterday's release of ForeFlight Mobile v2.0, the subscription service is no longer offered - just a native application for a one-time fee of $69.99.
Why does ForeFlight Mobile cost more than Super Monkey Ball?
Once Sega releases a game, there are no support costs other than the occasional bug fix. A preflight intelligence tool like ForeFlight Mobile, however, requires continually updated data streamed from robust servers. Out-of-date runway diagrams and yesterday's weather aren't very helpful to pilots, so ForeFlight Mobile is constantly updated with data from the FAA, national weather services, and international airport directories. Subscribing to these feeds and reliably maintaining this service costs money.
The other factor involved with pricing is potential user base. Raise your hand if you like playing games... now keep your hand raised if you're a currently licensed pilot. Sega can amortize development costs over a vast user base. Specialized applications aimed at vertical markets or enterprise organizations have fewer users, so end up costing more than consumer applications (or don't get developed at all). In order to use the "free" iPhone applications from Salesforce.com and Oracle, companies must buy server licenses that easily run into 6 or 7 figures (to say nothing of installation costs). AppStore offerings span the entire spectrum of the software market, which make it a fascinating experiment in software retailing.
Why is ForeFlight Mobile a bargain?
Traditionally, applications like ForeFlight Mobile are offered via subscriptions costing pilots over $100 annually. One competitor charges $169 for the first year of service, and $129 each additional year. ForeFlight's purchase-once, use-forever price of $70 is revolutionary in this market and already getting great feedback from pilots. (On the MacRumors iPhone forum, one pilot was surprised it didn't cost twice as much.)
So ForeFlight holds the distinction of being the App Store's most expensive application, and in my opinion, also one of its best deals.
3G iPhone Price Increase: Total Cost of Ownership $40 More
Monday, June 09, 2008
I'll be first in line to buy a new 3G iPhone as soon as they're released on July 11. 3G, GPS, AppStore - I can't wait.
That said.... it's worth noting that in the United States, where AT&T is the only provider, the iPhone's total cost of ownership increased by $40 over the previous version. As reported by the Associated Press, AT&T will charge $30/month for an unlimited data plan, up from the current $20/month. Over the life of the mandatory 2-year contract, this means the 3G iPhone will be more expensive:
I thought the original pricing was a good value, so I don't mind paying $40 more over the life of the phone for all the additional features. If anything, the change in pricing will actually make it easier to justify an upgrade to my wife: "Look, it's half the price!" As long as she doesn't read the fine print on the AT&T contract, I'll get my new toy in July... : )
That said.... it's worth noting that in the United States, where AT&T is the only provider, the iPhone's total cost of ownership increased by $40 over the previous version. As reported by the Associated Press, AT&T will charge $30/month for an unlimited data plan, up from the current $20/month. Over the life of the mandatory 2-year contract, this means the 3G iPhone will be more expensive:
- Old 8GB iPhone: $400 purchase price + ($20/month X 24 months) = $880
- New 3G 8GB iPhone: $200 purchase price + ($30/month X 24 months) = $920
I thought the original pricing was a good value, so I don't mind paying $40 more over the life of the phone for all the additional features. If anything, the change in pricing will actually make it easier to justify an upgrade to my wife: "Look, it's half the price!" As long as she doesn't read the fine print on the AT&T contract, I'll get my new toy in July... : )
iPhone vs Android: A Matter of Touch
Thursday, March 13, 2008
After last week's press conference, my friend Ed Burnette compared the iPhone SDK to Google's Android SDK on his ZDNet blog. It's a great rundown of the platforms, and describes the dev kit differences (developer tools, application life cycle, devices) and the many similarities (location based services, acceleromater,
OpenGL ES, SQLite).
From the software developer's perspective, Android openness is appealing: less restrictions on applications, easier deployment to devices, and a lower barrier to entry (any OS, no $99). But Ed points out two advantages for iPhone that I think will end up being Apple's aces in the hole:
The second half of 2008 will be an exciting time in the mobile space: Android devices will be on the market, iPhone applications will be in AppStore, and hopefully a 3G iPhone will be flying off the shelves. I can't wait to see what developers start releasing and, more importantly, what consumers start using.
OpenGL ES, SQLite).From the software developer's perspective, Android openness is appealing: less restrictions on applications, easier deployment to devices, and a lower barrier to entry (any OS, no $99). But Ed points out two advantages for iPhone that I think will end up being Apple's aces in the hole:
- Multi-touch: The multi-touch experience is the iPhone's killer app, and Android doesn't have it.
- Consistent hardware: Android devices will come with differing screen sizes, processing power, and input devices. This will lead to cheaper phones, but an inferior user experience: applications designed to accommodate never excel. Desktop apps have room for error (what's 1024 pixels among friends?), but mobile apps have to shine or they stay in the pocket. With the iPhone, developers can target their application to one specific platform and fine-tune a pixel-perfect user interface.
The second half of 2008 will be an exciting time in the mobile space: Android devices will be on the market, iPhone applications will be in AppStore, and hopefully a 3G iPhone will be flying off the shelves. I can't wait to see what developers start releasing and, more importantly, what consumers start using.
iPhone Software Development: No Anger Here
Monday, March 10, 2008
I'd like to follow up on my initial impressions of the iPhone SDK. Overall, I think Apple did a great job with the SDK, and released a powerful, comprehensive environment for developers. I brought up a few minor criticisms in my post, but concluded with:
Now, back to happily writing code with the iPhone SDK...
"Setting aside these concerns, I'm very impressed by the iPhone SDK. It builds on the strong foundation of OS X, while integrating with the multi-touch and mobile capabilities of the iPhone. You can tell a great deal of work went into preserving the Mac experience on a device lacking in memory & computing horsepower."The Internet being the Internet, I shouldn't have been surprised to see my post quoted in an article by Alexander Wolfe of InformationWeek entitled "iPhone SDK Developers Angry at Apple's Tight Control." A few points of clarification:
- I'm not angry at Apple or the SDK. Thrilled, actually. I can't wait to release native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch.
- Access to calendar appointments & media would be nice, and I hope it's added in a future version. (As Fraser Speirs notes, this is the beta SDK.) After perusing the technical docs, I thought it was a noticable omission and worth pointing out. It probably wasn't worth the "glaring" adjective, but I surely wasn't suggesting Apple keeps all the good stuff to itself.
- Access to the phone & SMS functionality would be great, but is problematic from a security/carrier standpoint. I made that point in my post, and Wolfe included it. I was actually impressed to hear Steve Jobs say that a 3rd party VOIP app would be allowed over WiFi.
Now, back to happily writing code with the iPhone SDK...
Visiting Aspen: A Trip Through the iPhone SDK
Saturday, March 08, 2008
The real iPhone SDK has arrived. While I enjoyed developing iPhone web apps (and have another one in the works), software developers like myself were waiting for something beefier, and Apple delivered a heifer. The previous web-only "human interface guidelines" weighed in at a measy 54 pages. The new guidelines are double that size, and serve as an addendum to the 200 page iPhone OS Programming Guide. I've been plowing through the docs and tools to learn about the new SDK and v1.2 of the iPhone software, codenamed Aspen. It's been a fun trip.
The Good
Apple delivered an architecture familiar to any OS X developer: Objective-C, Cocoa, and lots of Core* frameworks. Built on top of a Mach kernel, the iPhone OS contains all the basics like threading, networking, and file-system access. The gaming industry will be happy with support for OpenGL ES (embedded systems), 3D audio, and access to the accelerometer. For business software developers, the exciting technologies are SQLite (a lightweight, embedded database that is taking over the world) and XML parsing via libXML2 and libxslt.
But in my mind, the real All-Stars of the SDK are:
- Full access to multi-touch events via the Cocoa touch framework
- Location-based services (triangulation and bonjour)
- System-wide access to address book contacts and photo albums
The Bad
The biggest letdown is that Apple didn't expand this mobile platform far enough. While the shared address book contacts and photo albums are great, there are a few glaring things that developers can't access:
- appointments from the Calendar app
- music or videos from the iPod app
- phone or SMS functionality
For an entirely different reason, there's no way to compete with Apple's iPhone Mail app. Applications can register custom URLs to launch their application. For example, my Flickr viewing app could register "flickr". If a user clicked on the URL "flickr:user123" from another app, my Flickr app would launch and display photos from user123. According to the iPhone OS Programming Guide, URL conflicts between 3rd party apps are undefined: so if two apps register "flickr", there's no guarantee who wins. However, if a 3rd party application tries to register a URL identical to one defined by Apple (like "mail" or "tel"), the Apple-provided application always wins. Here's hoping the rumors are right about Apple improving the Mail app, since there's no getting rid of it.
* Technically you could design a new iPod app with all the media enclosed in its sandbox, but without iTunes integration you'd be DOA.
The Controversial
The iPhone SDK's first big, public firestorm arose over AppStore and Apple's cut. Native iPhone applications can only be distributed by Apple, and they take 30% of the revenue for their efforts. I'm reserving judgment on this one: when John Siracusa and John Carmack take opposing sides of an issue, I'll wait on the sidelines to see how it plays out.
However, my immediate concern with AppStore is not with the 30% cut, but with the iPhone Developer Program. In order to deploy and test an application on an iPhone, you have to become a member of the iPhone Developer Program and pay $99. Like the thousands of developers hammering the ADC site on Thursday, I signed up for the program and gladly offered to pay. But alas, I just got a message thanking me for my application and promising to get back to me in the future. The fine print says the program "will initially be available to a limited number of developers in the U.S. and will expand to other countries in the coming months." Until my membership gets approved, I can only test my iPhone applications via the software emulator, not on my actual iPhone. I'm sure they're deluged with applications and I don't mind waiting in line with everyone else, but I hope it gets processed in weeks, not months. Please Apple, take my money! (They're usually so good at that...)
As we get closer to the official SDK launch in June, it will be interesting to see how long it takes from developer submission to AppStore appearance. What will the screening and approval process be like? When Microsoft started the XBox Arcade service, they were deluged with ideas and submissions from independent developers. It took them months to work through the backlog, with the bigger companies usually getting preferred treatment. I anticipate a similar deluge from indy iPhone developers, and I hope Apple has the resources to handle it when June rolls around. If not, expect another round of controversy
The Apple Polish
Setting aside these concerns, I'm very impressed by the iPhone SDK. It builds on the strong foundation of OS X, while integrating with the multi-touch and mobile capabilities of the iPhone. You can tell a great deal of work went into preserving the Mac experience on a device lacking in memory & computing horsepower.
My favorite nugget is that developers can include an application launch image in their distribution. Quoting from the programming guide, this image "should closely resemble the application’s initial user interface; the system displays the launch image before an application is ready to display its user interface, giving the impression of a quick launch." Even when it's computationally impossible, Apple found a way to make apps feel snappy.
Announcing iDoc: Javadoc for iPhone
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Got an iPhone? View iDoc demo of the OpenJDK Javadoc
Want to make iPhone Javadoc? Download the iDoc source code
Want to make iPhone Javadoc? Download the iDoc source code
Every Java developer loves Javadoc. Every software developer* loves the iPhone. iDoc brings these two worlds together and generates iPhone-friendly Javadoc for your source code. Now you can browse API documentation when you want it, where you want it - all in the palm of your hand.
The cynical set might question the need for iDoc. After all, isn't Javadoc only useful while programming? And doesn't all programming happen at an eight-core workstation with a high-speed Internet connection and two 30" monitors? Surely Javadoc is best viewed when tethered to a desk.
Sadly, that view (shared by 100% of my coworkers) is mistaken, as evidenced by the following...
Top 10 Uses for iPhone Javadoc
10. Settle an API argument at the Google cafe
9. Give the observer in your pair programming team something to do
8. Study open source on the subway
7. Justify the iPhone's business use to the your IT department
6. Sound smart during an interview (requires hidden iPhone & discreet fingers)
5. Impress Blackberry users
4. View Tomcat docs while flying an F-14 Tomcat (not recommended)
3. Cheat on the Sun Java Certification test
2. Write off your iPhone in next year's taxes
1. You're writing an article about iPhone Web Development and need to create an iPhone application that appeals to developerWorks' readers
That last one happens to be reason for writing iDoc. My article, "Develop iPhone Web Applications with Eclipse", describes the creation of iDoc and covers best practices for iPhone web development. While designing the iDoc user interface, I use two slick open source tools: Aptana's iPhone Development plug-in and Joe Hewitt's iUi framework. If you're looking to create an iPhone-specific web site, I highly recommend you check them out. The article was published today on IBM developerWorks and can be found in the Open Source and Java Technology zones.
I generated iPhone-specific Java 7 Javadoc using OpenJDK and posted it online as the iDoc demo. If my Top 10 list won you over and you want to generate Javadoc for your own code base, download the v0.1 iDoc source code. I'd love to hear any feedback on the project or article. Right now the generator is very simple: it doesn't resolve links within comments or display full signatures for Java 5 generics. (So maybe it won't help you cheat on a Sun Java Certification test after all...)
* every software developer who doesn't work for Microsoft or Nokia
