The Process of Making an Application

So it has always been in my interest to make a Mac application, heck, that is the only real reason I bought one. Is to mess with Xcode and Interface Builder (my favorite).

Anyhow, this is a simple outline of what you have to go through to make, develop, and push out an application.

Thinking of the idea
I think this is the hardest part other than coding the idea. The idea is something that will obviously benefit you, and it has to be marketable to others. You aren’t going to want to spend dozens of hours making a program that is only targeted to a low amount of people.

Developing the application
This takes a lot of dedication, you spend 8 hour days working on it, avoiding everything. Some things make you want to pull your hair out, but by the end of the day its all for a good cause.

Designing the application
You have to know when to not make it look, well, unusable. It can get very easy to go over board, but simple icons and the usual Mac interface will get you where you need to go so the users know where everything is.

Developing the site
This is another hard one, its the first thing that the user will see before using your application. It should stand out and grab them to use your program. Some sites that do this very well, are, Disco and Checkout its the subtle icons, the nice application icon, and a download link that is easy to find.

Making a secure bridge to license the application
This will be a tough one for me, not the actual authentication, just where do I set the line? You can only register it 4-5 times? I would hate for my application to have one key used hundreds of times for multiple people. My plan is to have them input a few details about them, like the key itself, and their email address that is used.

Future Updates
When do you cut off a release and push it to the public? When do you just keep on going? I think its the each critical feature, then you push out a X.1 or a X.X.1. Something I will have to wait to see.

I will post more about the app as time progresses and its almost finished.