KATR Software Inc.

Okay, so we have these ultra-COOL new mobile devices created by Apple, the iPhone and the iPod touch. These gadgets have redefined the mobile computing arena and a number of competitors are scrambling to catch up. In the meantime, we’ll just have to be satisfied with trying to dream up new applications for the Apple platforms.

But, what do we have to do to get started…?

Our mobile development team at KATR.com had to do that very thing in order to begin and we’re here to share that information with you. Here is a summary of the steps needed to develop and deploy an iPhone application successfully ( by the way, the information contained here applies equally to the iPhone and iPod touch platforms):

To get started developing for the iPhone you will need to do the following:

1. Obtain a Macintosh. That’s right, the iPhone SDK does NOT have a Windows version. Pretty much any Mac will do.
2. Register as an Apple developer at http://developer.apple.com/iphone/ (do not do this under your normal iTunes account, if possible, create a new one).
   
3. Download the iPhone SDK and install it on your Macintosh

You are now ready to start writing iPhone applications. The SDK that you downloaded includes the xcode ide, the objective-c compiler, and the iPhone simulator (plus a few additional tools). There is a catch, however, you cannot deploy your application unless you are paid developer under at least Apple’s “standard program”, which as of the time of this writing cost $99.00 and was valid for 1 year.

Here are a few pointers when completing this process:

1. Your Apple developer registration must be complete.
2. You must be willing to spend $99.00 on the registration.
3. You will need to provide bank information for paid applications. Make sure this bank can provide a SWIFT code, some smaller banks cannot and Apple will not approve you for paid applications without one. In short, a swift code is used for international fund transfers and the Apple Store is an international venue.
4. You will need to provide proof of identity, for us this was our incorporation documents followed by a phone call.
5. You will need to provide tax information to Apple.
6. Have patience, this process took a couple of weeks. Do it early and you can be working on your application while Apple sorts through your material.

Technically, the bank and tax information isn’t required to deploy to your device, but you may as well complete this step now so that you don’t have to wait. After you have completed these steps, you should be a paid, approved Apple developer. Don’t forget to follow Apple’s provisioning documents in order to get your device setup properly. We’ll leave that discussion for Apple (or if there’s enough interest, perhaps a future post).

Okay, you should be rocking and rolling at this point, creating applications, deploying to your device and testing. Don’t forget to rotate your app from all possible orientations to make sure it is functioning properly. Do things such as starting from flat on the table as well as upside down, you just never know what your users are going to do. Our first application suffered from the case where a user started with it sitting on the table, and the initial screen display did not paint properly. Our testers always began with the device in their hands pointing up.

Okay, you’re ready to go to the store. You’ll have to zip up your application and submit it to Apple. They reserve the right to reject it for a wide range of reasons and we’ve never found a list published on these guidelines. Just make sure to meet Apple’s UI standards, make sure it doesn’t crash or have memory leaks, or violate it’s sandbox and you should be fine. Be patient, our experience is that it takes Apple 7-10 days to review and approve a simple application. If yours is complex, it may take longer.