

Ask HN: I have 9 days off for the holidays. I want to write/submit an iOS app. - allsystemsgo

I don't care how simple it is. Maybe Tic-Tac-Toe? I've played with Cocos-2D before. Think that might be the best route?
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andymoe
Just go with Cocos2d. There is certainly not a dearth of Tic-Tac-Toe games in
the app store however when I was first learning iOS development I built one of
these for a client and it did not take much longer than the two weeks you
describe. (Though I had a little help with the art and the Ad integration)

I'd recommend you collect the art and sounds you think you will need from
iStock photo ahead of time and I'd push you to leave room for some ads in the
app to give yourself an idea of what putting together a complete app that can
generate some sandwich money takes. (Or figure out what you could sell via in
app purchase) Make it universal if you can as well - anything to get it in
more categories on the store. Also go look at existing games that do well to
see what they are doing well and poorly. Writing the code is only part of
publishing apps and Id say probably not the most important part.

Also, for fun google "Tick Tack Toe in lisp" I found these to be neat little
programs to read though not especially relevant to the production of the game
:)

------
xauronx
You want to release an app or a game? Cocos2D would be your fastest route for
an ios game with moving sprites and all that. You don't NECESSARILY need to
have all that for a game. You'll lose a half day with provisioning and a half
day with submission. Anyhow, there's any level of things in between. You could
take an open source game like cloudjump and customize it, or create your own
utility.

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evanh
I too am planning to set "my first iOS app" as a christmas holiday goal.
debating between learning objective-c and doing it in ruby using RubyMotion.
better decide quick, my holidays start friday!

Learning objective-c shouldn't be difficult as I have some (though quite
dated) experience with c/c++ (as well as java, javascript, ruby, python).

resources i am considering:

<http://pragprog.com/book/carubym/rubymotion>

[http://www.bignerdranch.com/book/ios_programming_the_big_ner...](http://www.bignerdranch.com/book/ios_programming_the_big_nerd_ranch_guide_rd_edition_)

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ipad-iphone-app-
development...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ipad-iphone-app-
development/id571023793?mt=13)

------
weef
Look at the Corona SDK for developing iOS and Android apps in Lua. This is
fantastic tool. A friend has used this to crank out a number of book apps for
iOS using this SDK and the Kwiksher add-on. One note, last time I looked this
SDK wasn't using the native UI components, maybe that's changed recently.

------
jvrossb
Shameless plug: makegameswith.us. Drop me a line at jeremy@makegameswith.us if
you want help making this happen.

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olieH
Stick with cocos2d. You can get free art at <http://www.vickiwenderlich.com>
and some good tutorials at <http://www.raywenderlich.com>

------
japhyr
I've always wondered how Apple approaches learning projects like this. I
thought one of the reasons for having an app rejected was its redundancy with
existing apps.

Is Apple likely to approve your app as long as it works like its supposed to?

~~~
GoldenMonkey
Yes, they are rejecting similar apps right now. And apps that look like it
only took a few days to develop.

You'll need to register to see the guidelines:
[https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guid...](https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html)

Also, put in now for the apple developer account, that could take weeks to get
approved to publish on the app store.

And, during the holidays the app store shuts down for approving apps.

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aymeric
It depends on what you are trying to achieve: do you want to learn? do you
want to raise your profile in the market? do you want to make money through
the app?

~~~
allsystemsgo
Only looking to learn. If I enjoy the process, then making I'd like to make
some cash but, it's unrealistic of me to want to make money off my first
application.

------
tluyben2
What are you good at? Probably Lua or Javascript will be faster to get going
if you are not experienced in Objective C.

~~~
andymoe
Two weeks is plenty of time for a novice iOS developer with a bit of
programming experience to publish tic-tac-toe. I think struggling to learn the
existing well used tools would be the best use of his two weeks. Try something
outside the normal path on the next one once you get something out there.

