Mobile App Developer Hiring Continues

By John Houghton on January 31, 2014

Mobile app developers are in demand and will be for the foreseeable future.  According to what I’m seeing in the marketplace, projects that were previously shelved due to lack of funding are now starting to get attention and funding.  Apple’s iOS is still the first target for an app’s release, with the iPhone being first, followed at a distance by the iPad.  This is despite Android’s dominance and having the market share of mobile devices, but not yet having the mindshare.  Apple is the number one brand (according to Interbrand), and everybody wants to be associated with it.   All a company has to do is develop a good iOS app; however, that’s not as […]

Android Developer Salaries Surpass iOS

By John Houghton on January 31, 2014

According to Indeed the average salary for an Android Developer in San Francisco is $124,000, while a Senior Android Developer makes $150,000 (as of 1/30/14).  When compared to iOS developers, I’ve been seeing evidence of Android developers making more, $122,000 and $139,000 respectively.  This is reflected by the dominance of the Android operating system in the marketplace, and due in part to the success of Samsung.

Overall, I find that Android programming (which is done in Java) goes quicker than iOS programming, but there are significant holdups when it comes to QA (Quality Assurance – testing).  There are so many different types of Android devices, and for a mainstream app, you can’t ignore them.  To test, […]

iOS Developer Salaries Hold Steady

By John Houghton on January 31, 2014

I get a lot of questions about what it costs to develop iOS (iPhone/iPad) apps, and people often wonder what it takes to retain an iOS developer.  My company is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I’ve hired a lot of iOS developers, so I can share some insights and interpretations about what I see going on.

I checked a number of sources, and it looks to me like the job site Indeed.com has the most accurate numbers.  According to Indeed, and as of today, January 30th, 2014, the average iOS developer in San Francisco makes $122,000 per year, while a senior developer makes $139,000 per year.  The salary for this job category is […]

iPhone App Development On Windows

By John Houghton on January 30, 2014

I get a lot of questions about the requirements for iPhone app development, and wanted to write a post to clear up some of the confusion.  In order to create an app, you need a software development kit, or SDK.  It’s best if you get the native SDK from Apple.  “Native” means that it is the primary tool that Apple intends for you to use when writing your iPhone app.  This SDK can also be used to code apps for the iPad.  I recommend that you use the SDK that Apple provides.  It is possible to download non-native SDKs from different providers, such as Appcellerator or Phonegap, but by using these non-native SDKs, you become […]

Increase Your Customer Knowledge with Mobile Analytics

By John Houghton on January 29, 2014

Do you want more data about your customers and prospects?  It’s a worthwhile pursuit.  He who has the data, has the power; and if you have the data, you also stand a much better chance of winning.  I remember in my Marketing class at UC Berkeley, when my professor David Aaker explained that in the ‘70s, the grocery store retailers held the power because they controlled the shelf space.  Then when the brands began to harness the data, the power position reversed, so that the brands now told the retailers what to do.  This is because the brands were first to harness customer data.  Information is power, and as the playing field has shifted to mobile, […]

Extreme Mobile Targeting Through iBeacon

By John Houghton on January 29, 2014

One of the biggest problems companies face in advertising is that the majority of advertising spend is wasted, and this drives up the cost a company has to charge for goods and services.  Enter iOS (iPhone/iPad) apps and iBeacon.  One of the biggest promises in mobile advertising is the ability to put together customer profiles, not only based on online activity, but also physical activity.  What if the supermarket knew that a customer had been to the beach on a hot day?  Why not suggest a six pack of cold beer and a spray can of sunburn reliever?

Enter the iBeacon.  iBeacons work via 2.4 GHz Bluetooth 4.0, which can be powered by small batteries.  The […]

Mobile App Development Cost and Design

By John Houghton on January 28, 2014

Two of the toughest issues for mobile app development company stakeholders are cost and design.  On the iOS platform (iPhone/iPad), particular attention is paid to design, and Android also has its own design language; however, the navigation patterns can be quite different between the two platforms.  In this video episode of Mobile App Development TV, we talk to Pete Petras, who is the US Creative Director for Globant.  Globant is a technology service provider focused on developing compelling experiences with particular expertise in mobile app development.  Pete talks about the cost incurred when companies undertake development projects, and how user experience is becoming a driving factor in app success.  Watch the video now:

Watch MP4 (iPhone/iPad)

People […]

A Software Lesson Applied from Orson Wells

By John Houghton on January 24, 2014

Winemakers know it, software developers know it, but some people outside these industries sometimes don’t understand.  In 1979, Orson Wells delivered an infamous outtake for a Paul Masson wine commercial when he said, “We will sell no wine before its time.”

Understandably, the pressure is great upon the vintner as well as the software publisher.  You can’t make any money or meet promised deadlines until you release your product.  But the drawback of releasing a poor quality product is that your customers will immediately know what’s going on, and you will tarnish your brand.  When you taste sour wine, the experience is unforgettably unpleasant.  When you use an app that is buggy and crashes, you become […]

6 Tips to Get Your App Discovered in iTunes: App Store Optimization

By John Houghton on January 22, 2014

We spoke generally before about promoting your app, see the article 8 Steps to an App Marketing Strategy, so let’s speak specifically now about how to optimize it for the iTunes Store.  We’ll cover the Google Play Store in a future article.  It used to be that users could browse the latest apps by category in the iTunes store, but for some reason that functionality has since been restricted to a limited set of select apps in the top categories.  In order for users to discover your app, they need to query for it and search through the results.  Like it or not, we’re living in a keyword-based world, and apps in the App Store […]

8 Steps to an App Marketing Strategy

By John Houghton on January 21, 2014

So you’ve spent a lot of your budget on building the app, and now you want to release it.  How do you drive adoption?  A lot of first-time app developers don’t consider this crucial next step, and as a result their app doesn’t go anywhere.  How you market your app and drive adoption in the marketplace is as important as the building of the app itself.  A lot of well-known brand marketers will say that it’s less important what the product does than how it’s marketed.  Therefore, app marketing is key to the success of your app.  If you want to go the social/organic marketing route, you need to start at least 6 months before […]