Things to Remember While Outsourcing Your iPhone Apps

With the wildfire success of Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch platform, creating and developing iPhone applications has become the latest craze of the mobile phone industry and the mantra of every iPhone developer. Well, coming up with the idea of an application and actually designing it to run flawlessly on the device are two equally important but, very different things. Most people tend to outsource their ideas and design apps from third party iPhone app developers.

In this article, you will find some of the basic tips that you must keep in mind while outsourcing your iPhone apps.
A professional approach from the beginning is something essential for any business dealings. Make sure you share a very professional relationship with your developer in order to extract the best from them, both in terms of timeline and quality of your final project.

When hiring a developer, make sure you make the right decision. Do not choose a developer solely based on the price he is demanding. When you post your project on the sites where developers bid for projects, it surely becomes easier for you to pick the developer who is willing to give you the lowest price. But, remember, that the developer might be offering a low price just to get your project. So, it is best for you to judge your iPhone app developers based on their portfolio and feedback.

Communication is the third most important thing you should take care of while outsourcing your apps. Provide your developer with as many details as possible about your app. Make sure let your developer know what exactly you want your app to be like including its design, function, appearance etc.

Getting an early version of the application is a part of its development process. This allows you to test your app and demand for further modifications, if required. But make sure that the first version you get is not the basic version – which wouldn’t help you to understand what the final app will appear like.

It is very normal that there will be few mistakes and bugs in the first or second iteration. So, be very careful while you test it. Make sure you point out every defect in the app and ask the developer to make the required changes.


When you have got the final iteration of your application, it is quite natural that your attention would completely get diverted to getting the app into the App Store. But as a good and professional client, it is your duty to leave an appropriate feedback about the app to the developers. This will not only help you to build up a healthy relationship, but will also add value to their profile, which would surely help them in future.


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3000 Awesome Facts Pro iPhone App: A Fact Book for Entertainment

3000 Awesome Facts Pro

Category: Entertainment

Released Date: 22nd April

Seller: Nikolay Nachev © 2009 Nikolay Nachev

Price: $0.99

Released on 22nd of last month, the 3000 Awesome Facts Pro app has made its place on the top 10 list in the App Store. Categorized as an Entertainment iPhone app, 3000 Awesome Facts Pro will truly keep you entertained and engaged. Well, this application is very simple – it offers pieces of facts that most people would love to hear about; some of them are useful and the rest are absolutely of no use. No matter whether these pieces of information will or will not add any value to your knowledge – it will surely let you share few moments of laughter or amusement with your near ones.


What’s the App About?

Although, you need to really go through the app to know what it is about - for the people who are not in a position to get the app right now, here are few examples: did you have any idea that people who are lying to you tend to look up and or to their left? Or the fact that there isn’t any English word that rhymes with the word “month”? Well, if you are amazed by these, then just imagine of having 3000 of these awesome facts on your iPhone. Developers have been constantly upgrading the database with more interesting facts.

Its Features

The 3000 Awesome Facts Pro application offers extremely easy and simple user interface. You can use the application simply by tapping your iPhone screen. To view random facts, you can either scroll down manually or tap on any part of the screen. Tapping the screen will take you to the next fact. The dark background makes it easier for the users to read and lowers the strain on their eyes. The texts on the other hand are written in big and prominent fonts, so that it’s easily visible. The apps simple interface, smooth animation and extremely convenient features makes reading the facts pleasurable and at the same time relaxing. Well, the best part of the 3000 Awesome Facts Pro app is that the updates are available for free.

It is every iPhone developer wish to see their apps get to the top of the list and become popular among users across the world. The developers of 3000 Awesome Facts Pro have made every effort to meet all the requirements, as a result of which the app has indeed become extremely popular and highly appreciated within this short period.

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Downgrading an iPhone App: Something We Never Thought Before

In the world of constant upgrades, updates and improvements, it's a race to stay ahead of the curve. But how about downgrading? Have you ever wondered if it were possible to download an older version of an app - for example, if you're not lucky or loaded enough to have the latest iPhone model, or - not that we are supporting such behavior! - if you have a jail broken or unlocked model? Well, none of the iPhone developer or user has ever spoken about this issue so far.

To find out a way, I did a little bit of experiment with the latest 1.0.3 version of the Skype app on my iPhone and tried to downgrade it to the older 1.0.2 version. It definitely took me sometime to come up with a concrete result – but finally got a breakthrough. Here is what you need to do to downgrade Skype 1.0.3 to 1.0.2 on your Mac machine:
First login to the iTunes Store with the account you used for downloading Skype.

After upgrading one of the existing apps in your iPhone when you sync the device with iTunes, it automatically sync the updated version to your computer and at the same time deletes the older version and moves it to the trash. So, to find the older version, go to the Trash folder and copy the Skype.ipa file and copy it to a new location.





3. After copying the older version, delete the updated version from the device. Tap and hold the icon on your iPhone screen until it jiggles. Then click on x and delete.

4. Next, go to your Mac machine → Music/ iTunes/ Mobile Applications → find the Skype 1.ipa file, the latest version and move the file to the Trash folder.

5. Empty the Trash folder.

6. After that copy the older version from where you saved it and move it to Music/ iTunes/ Mobile Applications.

7. By double clicking the Skype.ipa, you will get a message saying “A newer version of the application “Skype” is already in your iTunes library. Are you sure you want to replace it with the one you are moving.”




8. Click on Replace.

9. With the iPhone still connected to your Mac machine select your iPhone from under the “Devices” option → click on the application tab → find whether Skype has a check mark at the side of it → click on Apply.

10. Finally, you will find that the older version of Skype has been installed on your iPhone.


However, you must also understand that this technique doesn’t always work perfectly. But, it is definitely the best way I could find or think of. If it doesn’t work for your app, don’t get upset – simply go to the iTunes App Store and download the latest version of the app once again.


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AT&T myWireless iPhone App: Enjoy a Free Access to Your AT&T Account from Your iPhone!

myWireless

Category: Utilities

Seller: AT&T Services, INC, © 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property

Price: Free






After keeping the users waiting for so long, AT&T has finally released their very own app for the iPhone. The company released the myWireless application in the App Store for all AT&T subscribers to download. This smart app will allow you to access your AT&T account directly from your iPhone. You can view and pay your bill, keep a record and track of your voice as well as data usage and also make changes in your plans.

AT&T is the sole wireless carrier of iPhone, over which millions of users get access to the Internet from their iPhones. Until now, users of this wireless service had to check their accounts on their iPhone browsers by visiting the wireless.att.com website. The site is by default bookmarked on Safari in every iPhone across U.S. But, as it wasn’t actually optimized for the device, users found it quite difficult to navigate. With the myWireless app now available on the iPhone platform, checking, maintaining and modifying AT&T accounts has become simpler and much easier.

This free app is featured under the Utilities category in the iTunes Store. You can download it from the store onto your iPhone and directly start using it. With this app you can not only view or pay your bills, but you can even add and remove different special features such as text messaging or early nights/ weekends and a lot more. Not only that, myWireless further supports viewing of your detailed bill in a PDF file format, which will surely help you to go through the bill minutely.

However, to use the myWireless application, you must have an existing active Mobility account. Without registering for online account management, you would not be able to access your AT&T account from your iPhone.

Every iPhone developer as well as users from all across the globe has highly appreciated the effort of AT&T and has rated the myWireless app as one of the most useful applications available in the iTunes App Store.

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AT&T Reconsiders their Terms of Services: A Relief for iPhone Developers

Early this month, AT&T had announced to prohibit video streaming, file sharing or data tethering to personal computers or other devices. AT&T’s wireless terms of services created a lot of agitation among iPhone users, as it would seemingly restrict the usage of few applications that AT&T customers already enjoy. Later, due to the outcry of millions of people over the matter, the company decided on reconsidering their terms of services and explained that the changes that they made earlier were “in error”.


Surprising everybody, AT&T has made some changes in their TOS (Terms of Services) within the past few hours. According to the new rules the company will ban the place shifting activities that used the wireless network to stream data from Slingbox or any other similar devices to personal computers. The term states:


“While most common uses for Intranet browsing, e-mail, and Intranet access are permitted by your data plan, there are certain uses that cause extreme network capacity issues and interference with the network and are therefore prohibited. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation...downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, redirecting television signals for viewing on Personal Computers, Web broadcasting, and/or for the operation of servers, telemetry devices....”

By this AT&T clearly states that the company does not want their wireless network to get overwhelmed with heavy video use, which maybe logical to certain extent. But, it is quite surprising why the company is banging on such restriction when it is the ideal time for AT&T to grow. On the other hand, there is a rumor of Apple releasing a next generation iPhone with video capabilities sometime this summer, for which AT&T is performing a network upgrade in order to double the speed of download to 7Mbps and higher in the future.


However, for iPhone developer it is a relief that the new AT&T TOS does not fully prohibit video streaming, which would mean that apps like SlingPlayer can still be accessed from iPhones. But, whether or not the iPhone SlingPlayer application will be available in the iTunes App Store still remains uncertain.

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App Store got 1 Billion Download; is it worth?

Just a few days back, the App Store reached its billionth application downloads. It is indeed an achievement worth applauding. This huge success indicates that iPhone users from all across the world are using their smart phones mostly for entertainment or fun rather than using it as a mobile phone. Well, there is a huge deal of controversy regarding the worth of each of the application available in the App Store. According to some people iPhone users are nowadays eagerly turning the device into a visual music instrument or a gaming device, forgetting its actual functionality. They further consider this to be the sole reason behind the success of the store.


Applications like Flick Fishing, Bubble Wrap and other games have indeed helped the store to get its 1 billion download over the period of just nine months. Whatever the reason is, the App Store has indeed sparked a revolution in the world of mobile phone technology. It has successfully changed the way consumers interacted with computers and by introducing a software development kit (SDK); the company has helped to build up a new economy around a piece of glass and plastic.


The success of the store further keeps Apple’s profit higher than what the company had expected. According to a recent report, in its second quarter, the profit margin of Apple jumped to $1.21 billion mainly because of the sale of 3.79 million iPhones across the globe. It is due to this reason people from every spheres of work are now trying to establish themselves as an iPhone developer by creating some worthwhile and some absolutely useless applications for the device. All of them are trying to make their application stand out among the 35,000 application currently available in the App Store.


Well, it has been observed that the most popular apps have been downloaded from the iTunes Store at a rate of 10,000 times in a day. Apple generates a serious amount of money at an average rate of $0.99 for every download. The company keeps a certain percentage of the profit and the rest goes to the developer of the app. Well, if you could measure, there are iPhone app developers who made it really big in this field and there are others who couldn’t even make it to the store itself.


But, with the upcoming release of the new version of iPhone operating system, developers are becoming more and more hopeful. There would be more scope for the developers to show their creativity. This new system is sure to give developers a lot of new feature to work on and eventually turn the iPhone into one of the biggest industries in the world.

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Apple Plans to Develop Their Very Own Mobile Chips

The hottest news in the market of mobile technology is perhaps the news of Apple Inc. planning to develop multifunctional mobile chips for themselves, for which they are hiring highly skilled developers from different segments including engineers. The inner technology of the first and second generation iPhones are mainly based on off-the-shelf parts obtained from third party suppliers. But, according to the latest news, it looks like Apple has made up its mind to become independent and build its own chips.


In the world of mobile phones, most of the chips are ARM-based. However, there are few that are outliers. But the point is that each of the chips has a similar power profile. So, by developing their own chips, Apple will be able to get a control over its own graphics, audio and video output – which will be of a huge concern especially with devices like the iPhone.


The company hopes that this significant capability to design their own computer chips will create a unique feature for the device and keep their works shielded from competitors. Apple plans to use these internally developed chips to reduce the power consumption of iPhones or iPod Touches. Further it would help the hardware of the devices to run realistic gaming software or high end videos by powerful graphics circuitry.


According to a recent news update, Apple has hired Bob Drebin, a former chief technology officer of the graphics products group at AMD and Raja Koduri, who worked in Advance Micro Devices Inc in the same post to work on this project. The company has further focused on hiring dozens of other programmers and engineers who have experience in this field. The aggressive hiring is another proof of the company’s soaring success, which has allowed Apple to increase their number of employees, when other tech tycoons are busy on trimming their work forces in this period of recession.


Although, Apple has refused to leak any news, some people who are quite familiar with their moves have made certain comments. According to one, besides the desire to beat others by creating newer and advanced features, Apple further plans to stop sharing their technology plans with any external suppliers of chips. Some people further reports that even though Apple has progressed with their designing plans, the chip will not emerge until next year.


Even though Apple officials are closed their lips, Steve Jobs, the company’s Chief Executive in last spring told P.A. Semi engineers that the purchase of Silicon Valley start-up is to make a way to gain expertise in technology to be able to run more sophisticated software on the iPhone and iPod Touch platform. He said; "You can't just go out and buy the chips off the shelf to do that".


Apple’s strategy has also made a mark by breaking the long term trend of outsourcing the development of chips and other components from external suppliers, which was a very common practice of most big electronic companies.

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