I have noticed on a few developer forums like this one that there are a decent amount of people who are looking for guidance as to how best execute their ideas. Most often these “idea people” are berated by the hardcore developers in the forums, written off as little more than a symptom of the iPhone app store hype. While no doubt there are a decent amount of Trism or iShoot wannabes who give the rest of us a bad name, I am writing this post for those of you who think you have something good and are actually serious about getting your product developed and following through. While I am still working on my 1st app, and have no idea how it will do in the App Store, I can tell you that I sat on my idea for a good 6 months so I have a pretty good idea of how hard it is to get started and where the pitfalls are.
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If you are considering outsourcing some or all of your project then you should definitely think about having a Non Disclosure Agreement signed by everyone that will see your specifications or idea. You can find some decent NDAs on Docstoc and then simply put your name or Company name in the document or have a lawyer help adapt it for your needs. Especially with outsourcing the project abroad, it is just too difficult to know whether you can trust all of the developers you will speak with. While I am sure most NDAs won’t hold up internationally anyways, even the fact that someone is willing to go through the trouble of printing, signing, and scanning says something in my mind.
Once you have a signed NDA and you have sent out your specs and chosen someone to your liking the next step is drafting a contract. What worked well for me was to create a contract between the developer and myself outlining, via milestones and detailed specs, what was going to be done at each stage. While it takes a lot more up front work on your end to know exactly what you are looking for, it pays off in the end by having everything out on the table for everyone involved. I learned from my experience developing application for The App Farmtm , that it is worth the trouble to get it right the first time to avoid confusion down the line.
Things to consider in terms of a contract with a developer for an iPhone application:
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I started by posting a local (Philadelphia) advertisement to Craigslist and also by going to oDesk and posting an advertisement looking for an iPhone developer. My ad on Craigslist was straightforward and I offered both a salary while in development but also a portion of the returns. I got some good feedback and received inquiries from individuals, local iPhone development companies but also many international development firms. Initially I was interested in finding something more like a partner with technical skills to work with and share the return. This quickly proved to not be an option.
I still don’t think it is a bad deal to offer a developer: 1) an application idea, 2) a salary, 3) a flexible schedule, and 4) a portion of the returns. I wasn’t able to find anyone experienced, however, with enough interest and skill to really dive in to the project. While I am sure this is a symptom of the high demand for iPhone developers and my lack of being able to find / convince anyone locally (I only posted on Craigslist so wasn’t exactly scouring the city), it was still surprising how few serious inquiries I received. Let me just add, as someone who is learning the iPhone SDK, I was amazed at how little most developers who reached out to me knew about developing with the iPhone SDK.
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I have had an idea for a while now to create a tank game that would utilize some of the new features of the iPhone such as the accelerometer and tap firing. I had always been fairly certain that it would be a 2D game, as I assumed 3D costs would be much higher (I don’t actually think this is true at this point but I never did really check into it), and I wanted to replicate some of the playability of the games of my childhood without screwing up the game play with unnecessary gimmicky features. My last console was the Sega Genesis and I had owned many of the preceding consoles from the 90’s and 80’s including the N.E.S. and Atari 2600 so I was used to simpler graphics, fewer keypad options, but much better game design.
I decided to develop a basic tanks game that would leverage the 2 player via Wifi as well as accelerometer and tap features of the iPhone, but include little in the way of characters, story line, etc.
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