The document outlines how to become an independent mobile application developer, detailing essential skills, tools, and platforms for development across various devices like iPhones, Androids, and Windows phones. It emphasizes the importance of starting with familiar platforms and encourages utilizing available resources such as virtual machines for cross-platform development. The text also covers the different career paths in this field, including freelancing and working for established companies, and highlights the significance of networking and learning from industry leaders.

1. How to be an Independent
Mobile Application Dev
By Terence J. Grant
tjgrant@tatewake.com

2. About Terence
For my clients
• Freelance iPhone / iPad contractor, working
mostly with streaming audio and video.
• Working out of Van Nuys, have worked with
companies in L.A., Irvine, Silicon Valley.
• Some work is on site, some is remote.
• Surprisingly, I’ve gotten a lot of non-iPhone
work via my iPhone experience.

3. Companies I’ve worked for
• EA – Electronic Arts – I worked on the Madden
Football and Nascar Racing franchises for
PlayStation 2 and Xbox
• Adidas America – I worked on a delivery
shipment program using Palm Pilot devices when
“handheld computers” were still fairly new
• Final Draft – A company I’ve most recently
worked with, doing cross-platform development
for Mac and Windows.

4. My Projects
• Currently have games in the App store, simple
games that generate a little income.
– More for portfolio purposes than anything else
– But they’ve already paid for themselves in terms of
sunk costs. (App store fees, etc.)
• Actively developing games with OpenGL ES 2.0
for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X.
– (OpenGL is a 3D Graphics API.)
• I’m investigating Windows Phone 8 as a viable
platform as well.

5. What’s out there to develop for?
• Phones phones phones!
– There’s iPhone
– Android, Google’s offering
– Windows Phone 8, which is based on Microsoft’s
new APIs
• Pads
– There’s the iPad – Runs iOS
– Galaxy Tab – Runs Android
– Microsoft Surface – Runs Windows 8

6. Your development environment
• For iPhone / iPad, you’ll need a Mac.
• For Android, you can develop on Mac, PC, Linux.
• For Windows Phone, you have to run Windows.
Don’t have a Mac?
Or have a Mac and don’t run Windows?
Are there any other options?

7. Virtual Machines
• If you own a Mac, two pieces of software help
you conquer this problem:
– VMWare Fusion
– Parallels
• Each lets you run Windows– like Windows 7 or
Windows 8, Linux (Ubuntu), even Android itself,
without having to have two machines.
• Similar products (by the same companies) are
available for PC. Rumor has it you can run Mac on
Windows, so there may be possibilities there.

8. What do you own?
• So what should I develop for?
– iPhone, Android, iPad, Blackberry?
• A good strategy is to start with what you have
and use already
– If you have an iPhone, start with that. If you’ve been
an Android fan, start there instead.
– You already have a feel for what your device is like,
and you’d be surprised at the little differences
between platforms, if you’re not used to them.
– Don’t own an iPhone, Android, or other SmartPhone?
May be time to invest in one, if you’re looking to get
into this market.

9. What’s your current skill set?
• Are you a “dyed in the wool” C or C++ guy/gal
already? Use that to your advantage!
• Not a hardcore programmer?
– Well, have you ever made a web site?
– There’s tools that can already help you with design,
and you can still publish apps that are HTML based…
• Not a web designer either?
– Well, may be time to learn
– Or, you can always collaborate with a programmer…

10. How to set up your dev environment…
• Apple provides a compiler, called Xcode
– Which allows you to program for iPhone, iPad, and Mac Desktop
– Apple prefers you use Objective C, but allows for C and C++
• Microsoft provides their solution, Visual Studio
– Which is essentially the same thing, but allows you to program
Windows Phone, and for Windows all the way from Windows XP to
Windows 8 itself.
– Microsoft prefers you use C#, but (now) allows for C and C++
• Google, for Android devices, points you to use a solution called
“Eclipse”
– Eclipse is an Open Source product, that can do more than just Android
development
– Google wants you to use Java, but also allows for C and C++
• Best news for all of this is that 99% of what’s out there is free!

11. How to learn all those crazy languages
• Objective C, C#, Java… do I have to learn any of
these?
– Well, yes and no. You do have to learn the ins and
outs a little.
– If you want to make “native” apps, speak what the
“natives” speak.
• Pros: Learning the native language tends to give
you more control over the device.
• Cons: But only for the devices you’re learning on.
And there may be a learning curve.

12. I ain’t learnin’ nothin!
• That’s okay too! (Well, kinda.) There are other
tools you can use:
– PhoneGap – This tool allows you to make an
application based almost purely in HTML / JavaScript.
– Adobe Air – Adobe’s offering allows you to use
familiar things like Flash, HTML, ActionScript, and the
like.
– Unity and Unity3d – This is a tool that allows you to
publish 2d and 3d games in a cross-platform manner.
• So you’ll still have to learn something either way,
but you have many options in what way you want
to learn.

13. Let’s make a game!
• What kind of games do you want to make?
– Simple?
– Flashy?
– Immersive?

14. Simple games
• You can make super simple games, like the ones
you played as a kid, or the ones your parents /
grandparents taught you.
• Such games have simple logic, easy enough that
you can implement them in a fairly short time
period, without spending weeks or months
spinning your wheels.
• Games such as Tic-Tac-Toe, The 15-Puzzle,
Concentration, BlackJack
• The logic is simple, and the art assets, amount of
visual representation is simple too.

15. Card Games
• Card games you might consider the next level up from
a simple game.
• The rules of Solitaire are pretty simple, but now you
have to draw 52 cards on screen at once, and keep
track of their places.
• How will you place them on screen?
• Is each card “drag-able,” even “touch-able,” do you
have buttons, etc?
• Even a simple game can be complicated to write.
• Now think about the rules of Poker, Bridge, Gin
Rummy… things get messy pretty quick.

16. Flash Games
• iPhone doesn’t run Flash, but that doesn’t
mean you can’t make Flash-style games.
• Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride are
good examples
• Highly animated, media rich, arcade-style
gaming– people dig it!

17. Immersive Games
• Story rich
• Massively multiplayer
• Epic adventures
• These are the kind of games big studios make,
and an indie developer can too, but realize the
more complicated something is, the more
time it’ll take to make.

18. Where do you start?
• What do most games we can think of have in
common?
• There’s things you can do to “win,” and there’s
things you can do to “lose.”
• There’s a score of some kind, and there’s a
“high score” you gotta beat.
• Whenever you “do something,” something
else happens as a response.

19. So if it’s that simple…
• Let’s start with a small game you already
know…
– Tic Tac Toe
• You can do things to win,
• You can do things to lose,
• We can keep score between players.
• We can also do it as two-player without having to do
any crazy artificial intelligence or anything like that.

20. Add some polish…
• Adding color, art assets, and animation can
take you a long way.
• You can add player names
• Artificial Intelligence
• Let’s take a look at someone else’s version of
Tic-Tac-Toe:
– http://youtu.be/-hdSMWNKPmM

21. I’d buy that for a dollar!
• Well, except that guy’s version is free.
• In fact, many simple games like this are free.
• However, there are people who will pay for
your version.
– Whether they’re friends, family, co-workers
– Perhaps they’re just iPhone game enthusiasts?
– But they do exist.

22. How to build your skills
• There’s so many things you can do…
– Make your own game
– Forget games, just make your own app!
– Learn a new programming language
– Collaborate with a friend
– Work for a start-up
– Work for an established company
– Work for yourself!

23. The wonderful world of freelancing
• Types of work that’s out there
– Full-time employment
– Contracting
– Freelancing
– Start-ups
– Setting up your own Store-front
• There’s pros and cons to each approach.
• Something that’s a con for me, may be a pro
for you. It’s all in how you view it.

24. Full-time employment
• Pros: Steady paycheck, health benefits, stable
work environment
• Cons: Often just one project (limited growth),
very long term, company tends want to "own"
your work in and out of office

25. Contracting
• Pros: Typically higher "per hour" than a full-
time, can be extended, not permanent
• Cons: Unstable teams, no benefits, no sick
days, pay your own taxes, sometimes end
early

26. Freelancing
• Pros: More "creative" control over projects,
your free time, and you can build a portfolio
• Cons: Can be riskier, may go "too long" term
or want too many quick gains over a short
term.

27. Start-ups
• Startups that aren’t funded are essentially the
same as freelance.
• If they’re funded, they’re more akin to
Contracts, but typically with longer work
hours and more commitment and dedication.

28. Your own store-front
• Pros: Similar to a start-up, but you publish
your own apps; you can just publish apps as
you please.
• Cons: You might have "make this" your job,
and you have to keep publishing new ideas,
keep publicizing, etc. Also, there's lots of
competition that might be better, and many
give away their stuff for free.

29. What drives you now, and what do you
want to accomplish?
• So there’s lots of options, probably more than
you thought.
• But what are your goals?
– Do you want to make your own apps?
– Do you want to make someone else’s apps?
– Do you want to “be the guy” making the app, or do
you want to “find the guy” to help with your app?
• Always keep your eyes on the end-goal.
• Deviation from a goal is okay, as long as you’re
learning a skill, but go too far and you’ll be on the
different road altogether.

30. Networking with peers, and
collaborative projects
• Networking with peers is good–
– It’s a form of marketing your services, sure…
– But you’ll also be surprised who you meet too–
you might meet someone who has a service you
didn’t even know you needed!
– And hell, make a friend while you’re at it; couldn’t
hurt, right?

31. What you can learn from the big guys
• EA does games
• Apple does hardware and software
• Google is a search engine that somehow does
everything
• Microsoft is that 800 pound gorilla
Surely there’s something we can learn from them,
they’re in our market, right?
But what?

32. Electronic Arts
• These are just vague generalities, but let's go with
it…
– EA publishes games on multiple platforms
(sometimes)
– and they typically have a tie-in game for mobile.
– For games, they typically have a "quick game" mode
as a first option as well
• So, think about more than one device, and think
about “how quick can I make my app to use?”

33. Google
– Google does a lot with Open Source, simplicity,
and usuability.
• They leverage existing technology with no cost
to them. You should do that.
– They were also a key innovator with "small ads"
on websites.
– Guess who else does “small ads” now, only for
mobile devices?
• Google, Apple, Microsoft.

34. Apple
• Apple has a high aesthetic for their devices
and high quality for their software.
– High quality, nice aesthetic… you should do that.
• They also invent new ways of doing things,
and this can be quite challenging for
developers.
– Simple sometimes isn’t always best, so “think
different” like them.

35. Microsoft
– Microsoft values the quick and simple. They see someone
else do something (like Apple), and they do something
similar.
• “Just do it”
• They also will venture into new markets—
• The xbox was the first true American Video Game
console developer since Atari.
– Xbox vs Sony’s Playstation
– Zune vs iPod
– Windows 8 vs Apple's iOS strategy.
• Competition is exciting! You should be competitive.

36. Open Source Software
• There’s a lot out there, from beginning
projects to the complex.
• Many programmers *use* Open Source
Software, but the vast majority don’t
contribute.
• Yet another opportunity to build portfolio
material.
• There’s opportunity everywhere!

37. Questions?