

Show HN: Tag Along (my first iPhone app 37 days later) - tsalfie
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tag-along/id470010236

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jamesgagan
I'm interested in knowing what you found to be the best resources for building
your first iOS app. Did you use anything like PhoneGap or just Xcode? I have
been looking at making an iOS app and while there are lots of examples of how
do specific things, I haven't found any good overviews of how to properly
architect an iOS app or what if any framework to use.

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jashmenn
Hey jamesgagan, I feel your pain. I found the same thing when I started iOS
development a few years ago: plenty of tutorials on how to restyle a specific
widget, but not many resources on how a real-world application should be
structured as a whole.

I've got a few iOS apps under my belt and I feel like I could have something
to offer in this area. Feel like Skyping for a half hour or so? I'd love to
help talk through your architecture. My email is in my profile.

~~~
jamesgagan
thanks for the offer - i may take you up on it at some point!

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tsalfie
I built this in 37 days with no prior iOS experience (though I did have
experience with ruby/rails). I think it could be useful but I'd love some
feedback.

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tansey
I would consider some sort of free version of this app, so people can join
without risk. Maybe make a version that limits you to 3 friends for free, or
unlimited friends for $1.99?

~~~
tsalfie
Yeah, combined with the above comment, I think this is a good idea. This was
actually my initial thought (but with 2 friends) early on, but I wanted to
experiment with the idea of only having a paid version because I believe paid
apps get more usage (I might be crazy here).

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zarprey
From my experience free trumps paid unless the paid app is promoted by
apple/lots of blogs. You may get more return users with a paid app (since they
shelled out the cash they will probably want to get their money's worth) but
if you're trying to build a user base and especially if your app relies on
one, which yours seems to, free is the way to go.

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seltzered_
honest question: how will you differentiate yourself / market your app better
than a group texting app?

~~~
tsalfie
I think the big advantage here is reducing the noise and the effort. If I'm
going mountain biking this afternoon it only takes me about 10 seconds to let
all my mountain biking buddies know that. I don't have to figure out which
group I'm sending the invitation to and explain what I'm going to do and
where.

I believe simple, targeted apps can be useful.

