My iPhone App Experience
After having Risk/Reward on the App Store for a little over 2 months now, I thought I would share my iPhone development and App Store experience. I know a lot of people have already done this, but perhaps this post can add something new (but you can be the judge of that).
What to make?
Like a lot of geeks, I really wanted to make an iPhone app. However, not having any gaming or advanced graphics experience, I was really at a loss for what to make. A lot of the useful things I could think of had already been done, and done well. I finally came up with the idea for Risk/Reward when I actually wasn’t thinking about making an iPhone app! I was closing in on the end of Van K. Tharp’s book Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom when I decided to apply some of the principals in the book to a few of the trades I had done in the past month or so. So, I took out a piece of paper and started doing the calculations. About 5 minutes later I said, “iPhone App!!!” And with that, I started on my iPhone app development journey.
Getting Started
The first thing I did was get the SDK from Apple. I have been a long-time member of the Apple Developer Connection, so I just logged into the iPhone Dev Center, and downloaded it. Once I did this, it was tutorial and sample code time.
As great as the Apple samples are, they only get you so far, so I searched for iPhone App tutorials online. At this time — back in September 2008 — the iPhone/Apple Developer agreement restricted what could be said/written publicly about the SDK, which meant examples on the internet were scarce. I was fortunate, however, to come across iCodeBlog (which I highly recommend) which had some pretty good tutorials that allowed me to really understand how an iPhone app is supposed to work. Although I had no ObjectiveC experience at this point, I did have a leg-up on the total newbie because of my WebObjects (WO) experience. Even though I have only used WO in its Java incarnation, Apple actually ported the entire ObjectiveC framework to Java, NSMutableArray and all. This meant a lot of objects and collections were familiar to me, and I knew how to work with a fair number of them already. So, I basically only had to learn the syntax of ObjectiveC, which is pretty simple (I happen to love the syntax, so that made it easy for me to absorb it). Oh, and when I did use WO, the developer tools for doing “interface building” were very similar to Interface Builder, so the concept of “click-dragging a line to make a connection” was not at all foreign to me, and I was actually happy to finally be using these cool tools again.
Taking the Plunge
Once I got going, I wanted to test out my app on my iPod Touch (I didn’t actually have an iPhone at the time). To do this, I had to pay my $100 to apple to officially join the iPhone developers program. (The only way to get a “provisioning profile” from Apple so that you can load your app onto your phone or iPod for testing is to join the program.) I really had to be committed at this point, and I thought I was. I mean, why not, how hard could it be?
With all that said, it took me a fair amount of time to write the app. I worked on it after work, on weekends, and on BART while traveling to and from work. Then, when it was done, I just sat on it. Even though I had paid my $100 to join the program, I still sat on it for about 2 months, and for three reasons:
- I knew the next process of dealing with Apple and the iPhone Portal was going to take a lot of time and effort for a newbie
- I wasn’t sure if I would have time to deal with supporting it long-term
- I didn’t know how I would react if no one bought it
Then, on the week between Christmas and New Years, I took the plunge. I spent several hours navigating the Program Portal, getting my distribution provisioning profile, and then getting the app compiled properly and ready to go for the store. This also involved taking screenshots of the app (which have to be to the pixel or Apple won’t except them) and writing up what the app was about. I then set up a website (this site) as the public face for the app, in an effort to let potential purchasers of the app know that I was serious about development and support.
I did all of this and got the app submitted to the App Store on the 30th of Devember and said it should be available on the 31st…then…waited. Everyone who has ever submitted an app to the App Store knows about “the wait”. For some, this is very painful time. A lot of people have spent serious money developing their application, only to have weeks or a month go by before Apple approves it (or even denies it). My app was finally approved and ready for sale on January 7th. Of course, this was partly my fault. Why? Well, I had some paperwork to do that I didn’t realize. In the iTunes Connect application there is an area for financial stuff, and Apple will not release the app until you have all of that stuff (like bank account, agreements, etc.) completed. Of course, once I discovered this was part of the hold-up, it still took me several days to complete all of the items (like making calls to my bank during lunch to get the Swift Code, etc.).
Then, at 10:36 AM I got an email from Apple saying that the status of my app was “Ready for Sale”. I was ecstatic! I went to the App Store and…couldn’t find my app! Yes, the search feature take quite a while to catch up with the submissions, and, because I had put my app for sale as of December 31st, that’s the date it had when it was released. Now, if you pay attention to the dates of apps on the App Store, you will notice that a lot of apps (for any given category) are released in 8 days. So, one release day, my app ended up on the 3rd or 4th page of the Business section. Not quite the impact I was hoping for.
Updating the App
Once the app was out I started telling friends about it. Of course, it’s not like Risk/Reward is a cool game that anyone might be interested in. So, the number of friends who were interested in the app was quite small. One of my good friends, Russ, was eagerly awaiting my app as I had consulted with him about the concept of the app, as he was once a trading software programmer. Soon after he downloaded the app he sent me an ominous email, “Dude, I think your calculations are wrong.” I was completely freaked out. After about 20 emails back and forth, it turned out that the calculations were correct, but the terminology I used was misleading at best. So, I set out to update the app.
It took me several weeks to find time to get the app updated. In this time, purchases of the app had pretty much dropped to 1-2, or even 0 per day. However, those 2-3 purchases a day add up, and by the time I submitted the update, over 60 people had purchased the app. I was pretty thrilled, and it was extra motivation to do the update in the first place. Initially, my only goal was to recoup the $100 I spent getting into the program, so, for a $.99 app, that is 143 apps. So, I quite a ways to go.
I had a freak-out when submitting the update because nowhere on the iTunes Connect site does it say that updates to an existing application are automatically free (I mean, I didn’t people to have to pay again for an update that only changed some wording!). The information in the update section made it sound like people where going to have to pay for the update, and I sent off a rather hasty letter to Apple. Surprisingly, I got a response! Of course, the response was after the update was released (and by this time I had already learned that the update was free).
When the updated version came out (again several days after I said, “Make it for sale on this date”), it landed on the front page of the Business section! It was already half way down because of the date issue, but I was thrilled. And…the next day when I checked the sales report I learned that 18 people had purchased the app the day before! Wow, visibility means something with an iPhone App! The numbers stayed high while the app was on the front page, then started to trail off after the app moved to the second page. By the 3rd page, they had fallen to the 3-5 range…then…I did another update!
Updates
I just now submitted my 3rd update. I hope Apple only takes a day to approve this one and it winds up on the front page of the Business section again (my second update did, too). I already have ideas for the 4th and 5th updates. My goal is to do an update at least once per month, if not once every 3 weeks. I think there are plenty of things to add to my app, and I can easily spread these out over numerous updates.
Of course, doing an update is not just fixing code, especially when you modify the interface! With each update, I have had to take new screenshots and get them uploaded to the store. I also sweat it out because there is a pretty big lag between when you modify something in iTunes Connect, and when it shows up on the App Store. I don’t want to submit my new images before the update comes out, but then I don’t want it to be hours after the update is released, either. The last time Apple told me that the status of my application was “Read for Sale”, it was 1:13 AM, and I was sleeping. Of course, people in the rest of the world are not necessarily sleeping at 1:13 AM Pacific time, and now my screenshots and general description are out-of-date.
I am still working on getting this timing correct, but it remains elusive. For instance, with the last update I thought, “Oh, well, I know it takes Apple 2-4 days to approve an app, so I will say it should be ready for sale 3 days from now.” An hour later I went to check on my app and the App Store said, “This application is currently not available in the US iTunes Store.” Excuse me? So, I had to quickly go in and set the date back to that day’s date!
Summary
In general, I have to say, I have had a lot of fun working on this app, getting feedback from people, updating it, etc., etc. It has been really rewarding, and right now, I am working on my next milestone: Getting paid by Apple! You need to sell $250 worth before Apple will pay you, and for a $.99 app, that means you have to sell 358 apps. I am currently at 337. I hope this latest update carries me over 400 before the daily sales start to trickle back to 2-5/day!
Risk/Reward 1.1 Almost Out
Risk/Reward 1.1 is currently being reviewed by Apple and should be available by the end of the week.
This version allows you to do the calculation for a long or short purchase. The interface has been updated with two new buttons — “Calc: Short” and “Calc: Long” — which replace the one “Calculate” button. See the screenshot for the example.
You can do one calculation, then go back and do the other if you want. I debated putting the results for both on the results page, but thought it would be too cluttered, so I opted for the two button option.
The next version (1.2), which will be out in another few weeks, will have a preferences section where you can save default values for any of the fields.
Risk/Reward 1.0.1 Now Out
Apple finally published Risk/Reward 1.0.1 on Feb 4th. This is the write up for the new version:
In version 1.0.1, the term “Trailing Stop” has been changed to “Max Loss/Share” because some users of the application felt that the application is more about protecting against an initial loss than about locking in profits (which is what a Trailing Stop is really for). So, semantically, “What are you willing to lose per share traded?” is more correct when performing this calculation.
Also, in 1.0.1, Info buttons have been added to the right of each field. Just tap on the button and info about the field, including an example, will show up in an alert view.
The next version (due out around the end of Feb./beginning of March) will have two new options: 1) Calculation for when you want to short a stock, 2) Calculation for when you don’t know how much stock you want to buy, but you know how much money you want to spend, and the maximum amount of that money you are willing to loose.
Thanks to everyone who has purchased the app so far!!!
iPhone App Support
If you need help with the iPhone/iPod Touch application Risk/Reward (which was made by Lucas Rockwell) please send email to:
iphone-support@lucasrockwell.com
You can also send general comments/suggestions/praise/etc., to that address as well. And again, thanks for purchasing Risk/Reward!
Risk/Reward now in App Store on iTunes
Risk/Reward is now in the App Store on iTunes. You can download it here:
And thanks to the people who already have! Let me know what you think and what you would like to have added.
About Risk/Reward iPhone App
RiskReward is an financial application for your iPhone and/or iPod Touch that allows you to calculate how much risk you are taking when you buy a stock using a trailing stop. You enter a buy price, trailing stop, number of shares, and cost to trade (buy and sell), and the app calculates how much you will lose if the price goes down to your trailing stop (1R risk), and then how much you will gain if the price goes up 1 – 10 times the amount of the trailing stop (1R – 10R profit).
Even though the current market is going “sideways”, there is still a lot of money to be made in the stock market. However, you have to be smart about your stock picks, and using a trailing stop and knowing the risk and potential reward of each trade is essential if you are going to be successful.
This app was inspired by Van K. Tharp’s Book, Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom
Risk/Reward Submitted to the iTunes Store
I have just submitted Risk/Reward to the App Store. It is in review now… That was quite the process, and it still remains to be seen if I did everything correctly…
Never mind that…
Well, if you look at the dates on my blog, you will notice I’ve been a little remiss in my posting. Until tonight, I have not written on this blog since May 2005! Wow, that was over 3 years ago.
So, why am I writing again, and where have I been?
Well, I started writing again because I just couldn’t stand the sharp edge on my new MacBook. So I had to say something about it, so I did. I also have some other things I’ve been wanting to talk about, so stay tuned for more writing from me very soon.
Where have I been?
Well, I have been right here, but I have been very busy. Aside from renovating the condo (which I mentioned in my second post, I have been working on a few websites. One in particular I have been working on a lot: Timefo.
Timefo is a website that allows you to make a timeline of your life, or anything else you want to make a timeline about, very quickly. The end result is a pretty slick timeline, so check it out. I still have a lot to work on, but it is getting there.
Oh, and I also decided to finally do something with a domain name that I have had for 9 years now: sftonight.com. It is not updated all the time, but I thought it would be fun to finally do something with that domain. Bernadette and I have fun with it now and then. We obviously need to put more time into it… Yea, like we really have time for that.
Weddings
Well, since I just went to a wedding a week and a half ago and got invited to another wedding this week (don’t know when it will be yet), I thought I’d list out all the weddings I’ve ever been to. I’ve listed out the names, location, and whether or not the couple is still together. So, starting with most recent first.
22) Kiki and Dan Emeryville, CA together
21) Jussi and Sirke Espoo, Finland together
20) Jeff and Ashley Portland, OR together
19) Aaron and Eiko SF, CA together
18) Alyssa and Jim Scotia, NY together
17) Gabe and Amanda Bloomsburg, PA divorced
16) Derek and Lisa SF, CA divorced
15) Two people Sausalito, CA don’t know
14) Jussi’s cousin Finland don’t know
13) Matt and Tori Key West, FL together
12) Betsy and Bruce Kennett Square, PA together
11) Darby and Frank SF, CA together
10) Todd and Julie Philadelphia, PA together
9) Shelley and Jeff Boulder, CO together
8) Leigh and Karen NY together
7) Greg and Tara Moline, IL divorced
6) Mom and Bob Albany, NY together
5) Mallie and Adrian Des Moines, IA together
4) Robin and Joe Saratoga, NY together
3) Shaun and Nancy Saratoga, NY divorced
2) Dad and Simone Ballston Spa, NY together
1) Mom and Phil Scotia, NY divorced
I know I am missing a handfull… I’m sure I’ll be updating this.
Weddings I was invited to, but could not make:
Lesley and Christian
Diana and Scott
Jo and Shadow
Shaun and Peggy (Did I get invited to this one…)
Michael and …
Sponsors
