Chocolate Lab Apps

When I started developing mobile apps, learning the basics in xCode was one of the most difficult things I had to do. My issues were multiple: I didn’t like using a mac (sorry Apple!), my programming was limited to basic HTML, and xCode looked like a pretty formidable animal to conquer.

I spent nearly 2 weeks hitting buttons in my first foray into iPhone app development. I must admit I cursed. I despaired of ever being able to get an app to build. The thought of actually being able to upload my own app to Apple was like a dream. And I was getting pretty good at copying all my errors into google in the hope someone out there had figured out the answer.

The whole thing just seemed full of these complicated steps that were fairly involved to try and figure out, let alone do successfully, as a non techie person. So here is a quick overview of what you need to know to make an iPhone or iPad app in xCode.

1. PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

First up you need to be enrolled as an Apple developer for $99/year. If you sign up as an individual iPhone app developer all you need is a credit card and its all sorted in about 24 hours. If you sign up as a company then brace yourself as it’s a lot more involved, you need to prove you are actually a legal company and it can takes weeks or months to get approved. You can have multiple individual accounts and you can upgrade an individual account to a company account in the future.

2. SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE

Then install the latest version of xcode on a recent-ish mac. My first mac was a second hand mac book I got for €550. It did the job perfectly. One thing to be aware of if you are buying a mac, made sure it’s fairly recent as the current xcode software will not run on old macs. So double check the spec of your mac with the latest version of xcode (on the mac app store) before you buy your mac.

3. TWO NEW WEBSITES

When you get your Apple developer account, you get access to two important websites:

iOS developer center – this is where you do the certs, App IDs and update your device UDIDs. It is a bit techy.
iTunesConnect – this is where you put in the content people will see in the store, like icon, name, keywords, categories, screenshots, etc. It’s much simpler

4. CREATE MAIN DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION CERTS

Once a year, and right at the beginning when you sign up to Apple, you need to make a main development certificate and a distribution certificate. You will make these in the iOS developer center. Click on the ‘certificates’ button as in the pic above. Then you clicking through a few steps and upload a file from your mac. Then download the two certs to your mac and double click to install them. Once you have them made, you can forget about them until next year.

5. MAKE A P12 (MAYBE)

If you already have an Apple account, and someone else has made these two certs for you (maybe you hired a devekoper to upload / build an app for you, and he made these certs on his mac), you will need to get a P12 made. Without a P12, only the person who made the certs can build apps with your Apple account. But the good news is that making a P12 is really easy…. here is how to make one. Once the original person who made the certs has made the P12 and emailed it to you, download it to your mac, double click on the file and then you are good to go!

6. ADD YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD

If you want to looks at apps on your iPhone or iPad, before they are published in the store then you need to add the UDID (a unique reference number each device has) of that device in the ‘devices’ section of the iOS developer center. You can add 100 devices max each year, and you can only delete them after the year is up. Here is how you find your UDID.

All everything above here you do at the start when you make an Apple developer account. Once it’s all set up you can forget about it for while anyway The next steps are what you need to do for every app you want to publish.

7. ‘APPY DAYS (SORT OF)

Log into the iOS developer center.

8. APP ID

Create an app ID. This is really quick to do.

9. DEVELOPMENT PROVISIONING PROFILE

Create a development provisioning profile on the iOS dev center (again this is fast, click through a few screens and remember the name you use). Select the app ID you just created and select the main dev cert you made at the start.

10. DISTRIBUTION PROVISIONING PROFILE

Create a distribution provisioning profile on the iOS dev center (click through a few screens and remember the name you use). Select the app ID you just created and select the main dist cert you made at the start.

Download both provisioning profiles to your mac, and double click them to install them.

A new screen should appear and you should see them in this screen. Filter by date if you have a lot of profiles already installed on your mac.

If you have got the 2 main certs on your mac, and you have made these little prov certs correctly, there’ll be a green tick beside them. If they are red back to the drawing board as they won’t work in your app.

11. BUILD YOUR APP

You should have all the correct certs etc on your mac. Now open xcode, and open your app. If you hit ‘run’ the app should build in the simulator on your mac and you’ll be able to see it.

If you want to see the app on your iPhone or iPad, then you need start to figure out where you type in your bundle ID / App ID, and where you select the correct development provisioning profiles, that you have just downloaded to your mac. Do it all correctly, plug in your iphone and hit ‘run’. The app will build on your iphone. This is a Big Deal to get this far!

12. ITC

Once it’s running nicely on your iPhone, then log on to iTunesConnect and set up your screenshots, app name, icon png etc.

13. FINAL DISTRIBUTION PROVISIONING PROFILES

Once thats all done, then its back to your mac again. Now you need to change your selected certs to your distribution provisioning profiles that you downloaded earlier. Here is quick way to upload your app from your mac to the store.

14. UPLOAD TO APPLE

15. WHAT TO DO WHEN IT GOES WRONG

It’s unlikely you will get through this process without errors the first time round… and it does seem a lot can go wrong, speaking from experience. Three things will make it easier though:

1. If you get an error (and there are thousands!!) copy the error into google and do a search

2. The first time is the worst and it definitely gets better. When you start to recognise the errors you know you are on the right path.

3. If you want more in-depth info on any sections, try the Apple overview and Ray W’s blog.

Good luck!

1. Everyone needs battles stories, so the worse yours are – the better. Make sure you’ve done it all. Burnt by rogue developers, stranded in foreign countries during a military coup, derailed by natural disasters, the dog eating your hard drive, being broadcast worldwide on the Border Security TV show as your laptop is fumigated, loosing your iPhone down the toilet, etc. Your stories should run the length of your imagination.

2. Start writing a blog. Documenting your failures and money losses will offer comfort and support to other indie developers.

3. Travel to at least one foreign country per year on an app related mission. Since late 2011, app developers qualify to get free upgrades on all international flights. These upgrades are jointly sponsored by Apple and Google. They allow treasured app developers to sleep on flights when wifi is not available on board. To get upgraded, you must be carrying at least 2 laptops, 3 mobile devices and whisper the words ‘I am an app developer, so help me God’ to the stewardess when boarding. You will then be carefully placed in first class with a complimentary glass of champagne.

4. Figure out the stuff that you do every time you publish an app. Chances are it includes repetitive boring work that you can delegate, so hire someone else to do it or outsource. Get hustling and free up your time so you can focus on growing your business, instead of being employed by it. This will also allow you time to write the aforementioned blog.

5. Statistics show that 98.75% of all developers do not get the minimum recommended amount of sleep each night. Of course the question is what are the other 1.25% doing. All app developers MUST avoid sleep at all costs. 74% of surveys have shown the longer you sleep the less work you can complete. PRO developers live primarily off natural and biochemical stimulants.

6. Fill up your trusty car with petrol/gas and head out on manovres. Identify and travel to an unnamed small village of your choice, where life moves at its own speed. Sit on a wall, eat an ice cream and enjoy the sunshine. You must have nothing else to do and nowhere else to be for at least 36 hours. This is called ‘having a day off’. It is a new concept in app development, and is currently in beta mode.

7. Tipperary Natural Mineral Water is tenderly bottled in the Devils Bit Mountain range in North Tipperary by celestial app angels. Tipperary Natural Mineral Water is proven to increase iOS iPhone and iPad app rankings 10 places, for the 7 days after the liquid is consumed. Quantities of ‘TNMW’ are now shipped worldwide to hordes of thirsty developers, including those at Queen, Pinga and Pocket Diamonds.

8. The medicinal qualities of Thai Green Curry have long been celebrated in rural Thailand. Recently scientists in Palo Alto have linked consumption of the Asian delicacy with increased cognitive and mental abilities, and a significant boost in verbal reasoning. Combined with the use appcod.es and appstorerankings.net, the intake of Green Curry has been prove to have remarkable effects in keyword optomisation leading to SIGNIFICANT increases in long tail downloads.

9. From time to time is has been known for app developers to leave their desks and venture outside to what is know as ‘the world’, to undertake various forms of exercise. A lack of fitness is ranked by leading global WHO advisors as one of the 3 main threats to our increasingly metabolically challenged society. Many leading indie developers have now integrated treadmills into their app workstation and early results have shown a marked increase in both efficiency and endless runner games. As a result Apple review times are now 14 days.

10. It has been scientifically proven that the more fun you have while making apps, the more fun your users will have playing your games. So enjoy your job and the freedom of a mobile lifestyle