App Development Process

[Hedger]

What is the BlackBerry process like in getting apps onto the app world store?

More specifically, the charges / commission / fees expected for:

• Development of the App
• Listing on the App World Store
• Sales of each App

Can anyone recommend any books, tutorials or guides on how to go about developing applications? I'm coming from a solid Java background and I've dabbled with the iOS4 development kit for iPhone, however BlackBerry is definitely the mobile market I'd like to get into.

I'm already signed up with BB Developers I think, as I have their development plug-in for Eclipse. However, I just need some understanding of how developing and sales of the apps work. I appreciate any help.

[mikeo007]

In the past, you had to pay for code signing keys and the ability to list your app in App World.

Currently, I believe that both of those fees have been waived. However, RIM has reduced the Developer/RIM income split to 70/30 instead of its former 80/20.

A word of warning from someone who's tried to dabble in the Blackberry market: it's tough to make much money. In my opinion, either do it as a hobby or forget it. The dev tools feel like they're from 1995 and building any app that functions and LOOKS good will take a large time investment. And while the support community is great, app sales to end users are often dismal.

[Hedger]

Originally Posted by mikeo007

In the past, you had to pay for code signing keys and the ability to list your app in App World.

Currently, I believe that both of those fees have been waived. However, RIM has reduced the Developer/RIM income split to 70/30 instead of its former 80/20.

A word of warning from someone who's tried to dabble in the Blackberry market: it's tough to make much money. In my opinion, either do it as a hobby or forget it. The dev tools feel like they're from 1995 and building any app that functions and LOOKS good will take a large time investment. And while the support community is great, app sales to end users are often dismal.

Yes that's what I've heard. From very superficial research, I get the feeling it's down to general users not installing App world and the amount of people using a BlackBerry simply for work (therefore not interested in consumer products).

Can you recommend any support forums for developing for BlackBerry and possible any books/tutorials you've found useful?

Out of curiosity, what kind of applications have you developed and how big was your uptake? Do you have any opinions on what applications sell the most (games, business tools, etc)? Have you tried iOS programming? If so, how does it differ?

Sorry for the immense amount of questions. I've got a lot of work to do at the minute so don't have time for proper research!

[mikeo007]

Can you recommend any support forums for developing for BlackBerry and possible any books/tutorials you've found useful?

The official tutorials are probably the best. The starter tutorials are very nice because they walk you through things step-by-step. After you dissect that source code a bit, you can dive into the resource center: Java Development - BlackBerry Support Community Forums for more tutorials.

Out of curiosity, what kind of applications have you developed and how big was your uptake?

I've only released a few apps to the public, and the most successful one was an entertainment app which sold at a fairly steady pace for a while. I don't want to give exact sales figures, but basically, the amount I made could be translated into about ~$8 per hour of development time. I could have made more packing groceries. Part of the problem was the fact that RIM did not allow you to price an app below $3 in the past.

Do you have any opinions on what applications sell the most (games, business tools, etc)?

From what I've heard and witnessed, games seem to sell the best. Although, anything free will obtain way more downloads than pay apps. Take a look at the revenue numbers for ad supported apps, it may be more worthwhile in the long run.

Have you tried iOS programming? If so, how does it differ?

iOS programming in general takes a lot less time than Blackberry programming. Objective-C is kind of a mess, but for building GUI apps, the iOS SDK is a huge time saver. Being able to design in a WYSIWYG interface is so much faster than having to compile every time you want to see how a change affected your interface.