[Q] App idea - need partner/developer/place to start - Buying, Selling, & Funding

So I think I've come up with an idea for an app that could be huge! (like everyone's killer app idea!) But I can't code for android, nor iPhone - and yes this is huge enough to be cross platform.
Don't know where to begin.
The idea?:
Private for now
What I offer?:
The million $ idea ("may" involve chat app, possibly cloud storage, pretty sure telecoms will hate it
Marketing
Entrepreneur mindset
My time
Research
My concerns?:
Can't code
Discussing this and stealing it from me
Really no idea where to begin
No silicon Valley contacts
What I need?:
Developer/coder/partner
Possibly investor or angel
Worldwide patent
I truly think I'm on to something and with chat apps, social and cloud storage beings popular this could be huge $

I guess you need to give us at least some insight in your million dollar idea, otherwise noone will be willing to help you. If you can't code, that's no problem! Try out programs like Construct2 or GameMaker, those allow you to create apps without any coding knowledge.

Related

Microsoft $5000 idea competition

Hi guys before some hours Microsoft announce a $5000 competition where they call us to submit and vote an idea for a windows phone 7 which will take place on the real devices with all others Microsoft apps free...
No development skills needed!!! you should just text your idea and describe it correctly and your idea will instantly complete other ideas for the best place. The inventor of the 1st idea will be prized $5000 for a nice holiday...
check out mine...
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43237689
have a nice day...
Andy
check out mine
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43241829
its so you can send & receive text & voice messages to & from the xbox to the phone
edit: dont forget to vote..for mine that is
nice idea
nice idea, do you do interesting my idea?
An Open Letter to Smartphone Users from the founders of appubator, inc.
appubator, inc. Suggests That Users Think Twice Before Participating In Microsoft 'App' Contest
This week, Microsoft announced a contest called "Hey Windows Phone, I Need This App". This contest offers a $5,000 prize to the person whose idea for a new Windows Phone application receives the most votes from the general public.
We at appubator, inc. want to suggest that people think twice before participating in this contest. While a $5,000 prize sounds attractive, there are many drawbacks to your participation.
1) Your great idea for a new smartphone app is no longer yours and out in the open for people to copy.
2) Microsoft is only commiting to develop one mobile app from the hundreds or thousands submitted.
3) No matter how successful your idea is, you will not participate in the revenue that your app provides above the $5,000 prize.
4) Your idea is limited to a single smartphone platform. More than 80% of US smartphone users are on other devices than Windows Phone and you're now missing the opportunity to make money from an app idea for those platforms.
We'd like to suggest instead that you visit our website at appubator.com. appubator develops new mobile apps for the leading smartphone platforms based on ideas submitted from the general public. Unlike the Windows Phone contest:
1) appubator allows you to keep control of your 'app ideas' by keeping them confidential. Just register at www.appubator.com and securely submit your idea to our evaluation team where it remains yours regardless if it is accepted for development.
2) appubator will develop as many apps as there are commercially viable ideas submitted. With appubator, we develop a significant % of the apps that are submitted (not just one as MS suggests in their contest). We've had over 300 submissions so far and have 35 apps under contract / development.
3) While appubator cannot pay $5,000 upfront to one lucky winner, we fund 100% of the app's development and sign a contract that gives each submitter 30% of future revenues.
4) We look to release apps based on approved ideas for all major smartphone platforms in addtion to Windows Phone. This increases the chances for the app to succeed and generate more money for you.
The Microsoft contest is certainly fun and a great way to see your name in lights.
On the other hand, if you'd prefer to have more control of how your ideas are used and want to make real money from the exploiding economy around mobile software and smartphones, be sure to come and visit apppubator at www.appubator.com.
thanks
thanks igolfchip i will take a look...
thank you all
thank you all who supported me (rank 32 of 264)
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedt...spx78x253Fbidx253D40032x2526scidx253D538x2526
keep voting...thank you all
That submission system is horrible, in every way possible.
I think that the one who developed it was TRYING to make is as bad, irritating and un user-friendly as possible.
Why the **** would you block the browsers back function AND open in new tab function. Also, the UI makes no sense at all. It took me several minutes to realize that there actually was a way to step back to the enteries list.
And. The idea at first place is horrible. Who the **** would use that?
a lot of people apparently. I found it pretty confusing as well...anyway heres my idea
~style~
sorry re did the link
style1 said:
a lot of people apparently. I found it pretty confusing as well...anyway heres my idea
~style~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you link doesnt lead to your idea try redoing it plz...thanks
Location based reminder
How about a Location based reminder application? it should be really usefull
Support my Idea
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43312565
thats a great idea, similar the the Else phone prototype I've been playing with for the past couple days.
~style~
igolfchip said:
appubator, inc. Suggests That Users Think Twice Before Participating In Microsoft 'App' Contest
This week, Microsoft announced a contest called "Hey Windows Phone, I Need This App". This contest offers a $5,000 prize to the person whose idea for a new Windows Phone application receives the most votes from the general public.
We at appubator, inc. want to suggest that people think twice before participating in this contest. While a $5,000 prize sounds attractive, there are many drawbacks to your participation.
1) Your great idea for a new smartphone app is no longer yours and out in the open for people to copy.
2) Microsoft is only commiting to develop one mobile app from the hundreds or thousands submitted.
3) No matter how successful your idea is, you will not participate in the revenue that your app provides above the $5,000 prize.
4) Your idea is limited to a single smartphone platform. More than 80% of US smartphone users are on other devices than Windows Phone and you're now missing the opportunity to make money from an app idea for those platforms.
We'd like to suggest instead that you visit our website at appubator.com. appubator develops new mobile apps for the leading smartphone platforms based on ideas submitted from the general public. Unlike the Windows Phone contest:
1) appubator allows you to keep control of your 'app ideas' by keeping them confidential. Just register at [removed] and securely submit your idea to our evaluation team where it remains yours regardless if it is accepted for development.
2) appubator will develop as many apps as there are commercially viable ideas submitted. With appubator, we develop a significant % of the apps that are submitted (not just one as MS suggests in their contest). We've had over 300 submissions so far and have 35 apps under contract / development.
3) While appubator cannot pay $5,000 upfront to one lucky winner, we fund 100% of the app's development and sign a contract that gives each submitter 30% of future revenues.
4) We look to release apps based on approved ideas for all major smartphone platforms in addtion to Windows Phone. This increases the chances for the app to succeed and generate more money for you.
The Microsoft contest is certainly fun and a great way to see your name in lights.
On the other hand, if you'd prefer to have more control of how your ideas are used and want to make real money from the exploiding economy around mobile software and smartphones, be sure to come and visit apppubator at [removed - new user].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the main point of this Microsoft initiative is to allow regular users (not power enthusiasts) to get their ideas out and there and iterate in a community fashion. Already, I've been threads pop up on the site, with people contributing new features and fleshing out applications. Sure, the idea gets out there and is essentially public domain, but if the user truly believes in the idea, perhaps someone else, not necessarily Microsoft will pick it up.
Appubator sounds like a pretty neat business model, but the apps that do get submitted seem to go into a deep, dark hole. There's no visibility into how the final application will develop from the initial kickoff idea. And to play devil's advocate, there's little to stop you from 'rejecting' an idea, only to come up with another application that is but a variation on a theme. I am in no way saying that you have, or will do this.
Both models are valid, I'd just like to throw a somewhat counter-argument out there for people to consider as well. No offence intended at all, Appubator!
anaadoul said:
How about a Location based reminder application? it should be really usefull
Support my Idea
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43312565
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey lol, your idea is like mine!! hahaha its the same concept! only problem is that I put it first XD
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43302578
chuck232 said:
I think the main point of this Microsoft initiative is to allow regular users (not power enthusiasts) to get their ideas out and there and iterate in a community fashion. Already, I've been threads pop up on the site, with people contributing new features and fleshing out applications. Sure, the idea gets out there and is essentially public domain, but if the user truly believes in the idea, perhaps someone else, not necessarily Microsoft will pick it up.
Appubator sounds like a pretty neat business model, but the apps that do get submitted seem to go into a deep, dark hole. There's no visibility into how the final application will develop from the initial kickoff idea. And to play devil's advocate, there's little to stop you from 'rejecting' an idea, only to come up with another application that is but a variation on a theme. I am in no way saying that you have, or will do this.
Both models are valid, I'd just like to throw a somewhat counter-argument out there for people to consider as well. No offence intended at all, Appubator!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying to my posts! No offense taken at all.
You bring up few interesting points and since this is out in the public, I'd like to clarify a few things:
appubator isn't intended for power users. Its more for the 'average joe' who uses smartphones and might have a great idea but no understanding or resources to make it happen. By submitting an idea and our current high rate of approvals, they have a real chance of their app making its way to market.
As for your 'black hole' comment, we've worked hard to build a system that's based on secure submission of the idea and to provide timely feedback to the user. When submitted, we score the idea (which the user can see) and look to provide approval / rejection for most ideas within 30 days.
Your point about rejecting then doing variations is the farthest from our minds. We don't believe our business will work f we did not treat submitters fairly and regard their submissions with the highest levels of integrity. There's actually been a case where we independently had an idea prior to a submission, but to ensure that there were not concerns, we recognized the submitter's idea anyway and executed our rev. share agreement.
Basically, we at appubator think that throwing all these ideas out into the public domain is wasteful. There would likely be a dozen or more commercially viable concepts within and folks have better odds of making their $5,000 by working with appubator or other app development houses than this contest.
This is my idea, please comment, thanks!
heres my Automotive/nav App
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp?pbb_qsi=43443148&=PP_EntryDetail_538_PPIMEMAIL_PPIMEMAIL
Weather Alarm for Windows Phone
How about supporting my idea?
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp?pbb_qsi=43456444&=PPIMEMAIL
Weather Alarm is an app that checks your current location via my location service and then checks accuweather or other weather service for upcoming weather changes.
Just before the regular alarm clock ring time, the weather alarm checks the weather. If the forecast is significantly different from what it was the last couple of days, the screen flashes at the time of the alarm notifying the user of clothing/accessories he/she must carry for this day (ie. take the umbrella, take a hat and sunglasses, take water with you, take your coat, use non slippy shoes, wear sun lotion etc.)
How do you find my idea? If you like it, please follow the above link. Don't forget to click on that green button on that page saying: "Vote for this entry"
Thanks so much for your support!!!
Dimitris.
I'm supporting everyone who posts here. I truely hope someone from XDA wins. Microsoft owes its existence to this site, we've been fixing WM since forever, give us some love. I honestly think we should all get together, choose the best idea and have everyone we know vote for that one idea. We might be salting the waters but its for a good cause.
~style~
Halo4WP7
Created this one before the job posting for MS Game Studios for Mobile was even found. Now that we know there's a chance, let's boost it higher!
windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43474572
Just a reminder to all members deciding to vote for the ideas in this thread...
You can vote once per day until the end of the competition, ie July 8th, 2010.
So if you want to support us (and if you have the time of course while checking out XDA developer forums ), you can click on each of our idea links on this thread once a day.
Here is my idea for the Weather Alarm app..
http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedthisapp/?pbb_qsi=43247062&=PBB_ineedthisapp_538_PPIMEMAIL
Thanks!
Dimitris.
PS: Don't forget to click on the green "Vote for this Entry" button of the idea pages

[ATTENTION DEVS] Donations and Open-Source/Freeware Discussion

I just thought I'd start this thread to ask other developers about their opinion on the matter.
I spent many hours across several weeks reverse engineering the Samsung Galaxy S flashing protocol and then programming, testing and distributing Heimdall as open-source software.
Based on bandwidth consumption Heimdall has been downloaded anywhere between 2000 and 8000 times (depending on whether the source or binaries were downloaded). I have received no more than eight donations, a very sincere thank-you goes out to those eight people! Let's assume that 25% of the total number of downloads were repeat downloaders, so we have somewhere between 1500 and 6000 unique users. So only 0.134-0.534% of users actually donate. Those sorts of donation rates are barely able to cover the cost of bandwidth, if at all.
I know there are a lot of people out there who consider themselves avid supporters of open-source and open-source software. I wouldn't necessarily call myself one of those people, however I do believe there is definitely a time and a place for open-source software, Heimdall being a perfect example.
I also know a lot of people who distribute ROMs, apps, tools, mods etc. are hobbyists who do what they do in their spare time, and the community should be very thankful of that. As for myself, I work as a independent software/games developer, not particularly the most monetarily rewarding profession around.
As much as we do enjoy releasing free software for the community, it is difficult for developers such as myself to justify the work involved when there is little to no return, after all the bills need to be paid somehow.
My question is this, is it possible for developers releasing open-source software directly to the community, not large corporations, to make a living off their work? Furthermore, how do we encourage community members to give back to developers who have donated their time to the community?
Can't you use Google Code instead for hosting? or SourceForge? all provide free bandwidth IIRC.
Don't expect any donations as a rule, if you are expecting profit then either use ads on your website or charge.
I would have thought the primary reason for developing OSS on your phone is to improve the product you originally bought.
Cheers,
MiG
If you want free hosting, I can hook you up at http://www.sgscompilebox.dreamhosters.com/ that I'm paying for anyway for z4mod. Unlimited bandwidth/space. Offer goes out to anybody who wants to host anything for the SGS.
EDIT: Oh, and to answer your question: No, I don't believe it's possible to make a living off making 3rd party open source tools that only a fraction(technical users) of a device's users will use. If you want to make a living off open source, the best bet is through a company such as Canonical, or by creating applications focused at casual users with as much potential marketshare as possible. Or do what most people do: get a regular 'closed' job, and do open source stuff as a hobby.
MiG- said:
Can't you use Google Code instead for hosting? or SourceForge? all provide free bandwidth IIRC.
Don't expect any donations as a rule, if you are expecting profit then either use ads on your website or charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you fully understand what I'm trying to discuss. The bandwidth costs are fairly negligible, especially if I'm approximately able to cover the costs with just eight donations. A developers time however is substantially more expensive, and in some ways the effort and intention is priceless
I'm not expecting profit as such, nor do I particularly wish this discussion to center around myself (I'm just using my statistics as an example). I'm just curious to know whether people think it is possible to be a "sustainable" open-source developer who contributes software directly to a community? As opposed to large open-source products targeted towards large corporations who pay technical support contracts.
I'm also not a big fan off stuffing ads down the throat of my user-base. Also, in this particular context I seriously doubt that sort of approach would work, especially if third-party free hosting (sourceforge, github etc.) is used.
MiG- said:
I would have thought the primary reason for developing OSS on your phone is to improve the product you originally bought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily. In my particular case I've simply released a tool to further enable the community to do something that other users (myself included) could already do, in some capacity or another.
For most developers releasing open-source software isn't so much about improving something they own. It's more about providing something for a community to use and benefit from without constraints. It's not unreasonable to ask the community to support you in return. After all there is nothing that forces developers to ever release the software they develop, unless you've used GPL code which is another matter entirely.
MiG-, based on your answer I'm assuming you're saying, no you do not think it's possible, which is definitely a perfectly valid answer to questions I've asked. Although I would definitely love to hear what more community members, particularly developers, have to say about the topic.
RyanZA said:
If you want free hosting, I can hook you up at http://www.sgscompilebox.dreamhosters.com/ that I'm paying for anyway for z4mod. Unlimited bandwidth/space. Offer goes out to anybody who wants to host anything for the SGS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bit of topic.. you can host roms?
DocRambone said:
Bit of topic.. you can host roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Until someone stops me, sure.
RyanZA said:
EDIT: Oh, and to answer your question: No, I don't believe it's possible to make a living off making 3rd party open source tools that only a fraction(technical users) of a device's users will use. If you want to make a living off open source, the best bet is through a company such as Canonical, or by creating applications focused at casual users with as much potential marketshare as possible. Or do what most people do: get a regular 'closed' job, and do open source stuff as a hobby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with pretty much everything except the part about targeting casual users in order to make money. In my experience technically inclined users, who have an appreciation for a piece of software, are substantially more likely to donate that casual users who lack the knowledge of the work involved. Of course selling software is something that can be more easily achieved when targeting a casual user base, especially if they know nothing of piracy. However it is generally not possible to sell "open-source" software directly.
Benjamin Dobell said:
I agree with pretty much everything except the part about targeting casual users in order to make money. In my experience technically inclined users, who have an appreciation for a piece of software, are substantially more likely to donate that casual users who lack the knowledge of the work involved. Of course selling software is something that can be more easily achieved when targeting a casual user base, especially if they know nothing of piracy. However it is generally not possible to sell "open-source" software directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it is. Why do you think all of these app stores and market place etc is all catching on? You're never going to get rich off it, but putting up a popular open source application with an advert (and the option to turn it off even) should be able to bring in a pretty good revenue! Social networking seems to do the best for these types of apps.
Also, you'd probably want to diversify if relying on ad money - one banner ad in 25 open source apps, with 100K users each could easily reach a lot of money. And it should be possible to crank out a simple, well made open source app that serves a definite purpose in under 3 months. So with some time investment, in a couple years you'd be able to live off it. No different from closed sourced apps when you you use advertising.
Most important thing though is to make something that
1) the average user understands what it does
2) does the job as simply as possible
3) actually helps the user
4) has as wide a potential market as possible
You could look at firefox as the ultimate in this type of thing.
This is all a lot of work though, I'm sure, and if you're after money, a regular desk job is almost guaranteed to work out better.
RyanZA said:
Of course it is. Why do you think all of these app stores and market place etc is all catching on? You're never going to get rich off it, but putting up a popular open source application with an advert (and the option to turn it off even) should be able to bring in a pretty good revenue! Social networking seems to do the best for these types of apps.
Also, you'd probably want to diversify if relying on ad money - one banner ad in 25 open source apps, with 100K users each could easily reach a lot of money. And it should be possible to crank out a simple, well made open source app that serves a definite purpose in under 3 months. So with some time investment, in a couple years you'd be able to live off it. No different from closed sourced apps when you you use advertising.
Most important thing though is to make something that
1) the average user understands what it does
2) does the job as simply as possible
3) actually helps the user
4) has as wide a potential market as possible
You could look at firefox as the ultimate in this type of thing.
This is all a lot of work though, I'm sure, and if you're after money, a regular desk job is almost guaranteed to work out better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I mostly meant that it's difficult to "sell" open-source software. If your software is truly open-source then users are likely to download it, compile it and then redistribute it for free, which is sort of reasonable given that it's meant to be open source.
However advertising in a free application is slightly different than selling an application and it does have a lot more potential to succeed. However depending on what you mean by "putting up a popular open source application" I might have moral issues with that. Unless the popular application is your own or you've substantially modified (added a UI etc) to an existing piece of open-source software. Although a lot less likely to happen if your app is free, if it is open-source there is still the chance someone else will distribute it for free, unless of course the non-code assets aren't open.
I definitely do believe that at the moment it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to live off the type of open-source software I initially described. It's a bit saddening though to realise how massively one falls short, hopefully this will change in the future.
About those donations. If I would use it, I would probably donate.
I worked my a** of for the community, providing ROMs and kitchens for 3 years for the HTC S710 and S740 and I got about 4 or 5 donations over that period of time. Sometimes it get's very frustrating, but hang in there, it's worth it after all (there would be no WM 6.5 on the Vox or the Rose without me (dare I say that ), but I wanted it anyway, so I made it and just released it for others as well)!
PS: SAP r3 is open source and it sells veeeeeery good
I think the community can recognize such invaluable work & devote a part of their donations to them, if they are using his software & really think its worth.
I think however small percentage it could be, it would make the developer feel wanted & make him continue devoting his valuable time.
I just read an article either today or yesterday regarding a conference of software developers for android community, & when one developer went to the podium & said he is earning a steady $1-$2 per day, people actually laughed. He retorted, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. Android hasn't penetrated the markets YET like iPhone. So awareness & earnings are still low.
BTW, a nice GUI would change everything.
Just my 2 cents worth.
PS : In continuation to RyanZA's talk, I would like to mention that if you think you have something worth using, MAKE A LOT of noise about it. THAT's how people notice, use & donate. No one can understand a software's worth until you tell them. Like some WWii prime minister said, if you want the world to understand what you are telling, tell it like you are telling a donkey.
Ben, I think you need to differentiate between recognition, fame & money. Ideas are many have you tried http://www.ideaken.com/ ?
Benjamin Dobell said:
Agreed, I mostly meant that it's difficult to "sell" open-source software. If your software is truly open-source then users are likely to download it, compile it and then redistribute it for free, which is sort of reasonable given that it's meant to be open source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most companies "built on open-source" provide binaries, and real support for those binaries, and earn a living from that. In an enterprise environment giving support can earn a lot of money (mainly because a lot of companies have policies to only use software/hardware that has decent support). On my last job we had to use a really crappy software, just because the (really) good alternative didn't had a support center in our country.
For the casual users: the marketplaces + ads are a good place to start. If you manage to create something that casual users will use, then it might pay of. Those users don't actaully care about the software being FOSS or not. Actually there aren't many people who care how free an application really is (except for most people working in IT or similar)
If bandwidth is an issue then host it over megaupload and such, problem solved.
ragin said:
BTW, a nice GUI would change everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And give users the ability to think they are actually a power user. Most people here at xda can't write even simple scripts, but they do want to try out new and experimental stuff. (on the other hand there are a lot of users who want things that just work, for them give a simple gui saying: "DO DA STUFF")
EarlZ said:
If bandwidth is an issue then host it over megaupload and such, problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate when people upload source code to megaupload. There's github, code.google.com and sf.net. sf.net is although quite old now, the other too are still great when it comes to hosting FOSS stuff.
Github is even nicer since they've added a big "Download" button for the end users.

DEV IDEA POOL [Sift through for ideas] USERS must post REQUESTS/IDEAS here -MANDATORY

Not with all the live stuff (would be nice though) but when I flip something up it goes into trash or closes it (think it is nice interaction) also with only pages/programs open shows up in screen slides with this interaction. Could possibly make winmo perform a little better. Sorry for bad wording and such but pressed for time at work Hope someone takes interest in this .
A really good simple app idea for Windows Phone 7
Its funny how one always has a great app idea after the event (read; http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedt...2526pmodex253D1x2526gridviewx253D0#pbbh21054p),
An app I thought that would be really cool is a supermarket price comparison. The 'story' is that you visit you local store with your shopping list on your phone; the phone checks off the items on the list when you scan their respective barcodes, also as you scan the barcode it brings up the price for the product and the price from the competitor supermarket chains. I think this app would really sell well, and people will buy it because they know they will make their money back in their first shop
What do you guys think?
i would definitely use it
+1 !
but the problem is: who will update the price and the product list?
I believe there already is an API available (for the web -UK supermarkets) which does this for you...all a coder/dev needs to do is build the app.
an API for worldwide would be perfect... i think google provide such api for US/europe?
otherwise, maybe somebody can find an agreement with online stores to provide prices and models ...
really the idea is interesting and someone should start coding it (personnaly i don't currently have enough time )
I remember hearing of the Iphone porting of apps a while back
I was just wandering is anyone actually doing this? I know there is an windows equivalent every now and then but sometimes the apple app works better. I know I am a 6'4 guy that 270, and I love the Lose it App (my fiance has) and I know about vita one (no were near the build in database). And other things that help communicate with others and such. I am not going to apple been there 2x and always perferred windows mobile for the last 6+ years just wanted to ask this. If someone took it up to port apps I am pretty sure there would be hundreds or thousands of people willing to donate/pay for your hard work. Just a thought.
Problem with porting certain apps, is it requires you to actually have a iPhone
If you got some links to apps you would like ported, with screenshots and so on, I'd love to check it out, as porting apps is a good challenge to get familiar with the development environment.
Thanks I meant to put this in the development and hacking section in general not just windows 7 , here is a link to one of them I thought about creating a bounty or reward system for people to request apps and pay developers here to port them? Here is the link for one http://www.loseit.com/
really nice app because the database is constantly updated with nutrition facts from most of places we eat. I will have more later when I repo my girls phone for a while.
I would totally use this. I have the Shopaid app and it is okay, but doesn't update the price and such
The thing is with applications like that, is it depends more on the data that's available. Duplicating the interface into a Metro styled hub for weight-loss and exercise could be done in a day or two, but getting the actual data setup is a completely other story.
Beyond that, you can be totally sure people will duplicate that type of app.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A4TdEV3Sk
Looks like someones already getting the ball rolling.
Someone is already developing that app actually, just go to Youtube and type "windows phone price check app" and you'll see. I can't post the link because I'm new here! The app looks amazing so far.
My company, with decades of experience with Windows development, is looking to break into mobile development in a big way with the launch of WP7. We have a couple of original ideas we are working on, but we would also like to officially port a successful iPhone app or game for some additional credibility.
I've approached a couple of different iPhone app developers with this proposal:
>>Let us port your app at our expense and we split the proceeds 50/50.
>>You retain all ownership and have quality assurance approval before launch.
I have tried every phrasing I can think of to convince them I am legitimate and that I want to create an arrangement where I take on 100% of the risk, but we share equally in the reward.
So far, not even a reply.
Any ideas?
Regards,
Jason
ebook readers
I curently have an HD2 and will probable end up with a WP7 device at some point when they come out. However I'm a big ebook fan and at the moment i'm tempted to get an android phone so that I can use he Kindle app. I'm waiting to see what developers come up with for WP7.
Do you think there's a good chance of a kinde app or something like it being made for WP7?
Cheers
Steve
I think so. I think the amount of sales will be suprising, and that there will be more hardware with WP7 on it than critics give it credit for. There are alot of peopl ethat HAVE an iPhone that want out. My father just got the AT&T Galaxy S (Captivate) and loves it, diching his iPhone 3G.
I think they would be silly not to. I'd prefer a Nook app on WP7 myself, but something to start would be nice!
Brandon Watson said they were worknig with developers who already had WM apps - that means B&N for sure. MS also has an eboo reader but it's unclear if they are going to bundle it with the phone (not likely). Based on the ease of writing WP7 apps I'd suspect all of the large developers to write a WP7 app and they are permitted to have their ebook stores.
Let's hope that you guys are right and there is a strong enough uptake to make all the big players developer readers for WP7. competition is a good thing after all!
Cheers
Steve
I relay like your idea…
After all because I had nearly the same
But I would give it more features…
X Online Service for the markets where they can register the products with barcode and price
-„POI“ Database with geodata of the markets
-Markets can enter special offers
X Online „Community“ section
-Users can Post reviews and vote for products
-Users can vote for markets / stores
-Users can enter alternate products
X Private section for Users
-You can make your grocery list an search for alternate products
-You can enter an amount of saving and a distance you would go for
So the system could give you a shopping tour
Now to the Phone App
X The App can download your grocery
X You can make a Live price comparison with the barcode
-The app could give you a market / store, it would consider your amount of saving and a distance you would go for
X You can do a live vote for Products and Stores
X You can enter a grocery list
X You can search for alternate products
X The app would use the geodata and GPS
SHOP NAV!
I thought of an app years ago called shop nav.
You type in your shopping list and your phone guides you around the store in the correct route.If your in your local then you know where everything is.but how many times have you shopped in a different store one only to find everything is in a different place.You spend most of your time doubling back on your self and walking up the same flaming isle 3 times!.Supermakets are getting bigger and if an app like this was possible it would save everyone time and ease shop congestion.

Apps - A Coordinated Effort?

We all know one of the biggest gripes about Windows Phone is the lack of a few key apps. I know that I frequently contact a few companies to let them know that I am looking forward to a Windows Phone version of their existing apps and I’m sure others do as well. So companies get a smattering of requests from some users here and there.
Just wondering if perhaps we focus on one or a few particular apps at a time with many people emailing, tweeting, comments on Facebook etc in a sustained way to let them see that there is actual interest from a large number of users in the Windows Phone community. Who knows, maybe if there is enough noise, some of them will rethink their stand.
Not sure if this is the right place for this, but seemed like good place to see what people think.
Thoughts?
Bad idea. Software business works by different way. No one cares about your tweets or fb posts or forum noise - it's just a children game.
I agree that it may not make a difference, however companies often do actually listen to what people are saying. If it sounds like there is a demand, some companies who have been on the fence, may well pull the trigger and make something happen.
I've had luck getting companies to do things when I ask publicly that they wouldn't do when I asked privately. So it seems like getting more people asking publicly may well help in some instances.
willp2 said:
I agree that it may not make a difference, however companies often do actually listen to what people are saying. If it sounds like there is a demand, some companies who have been on the fence, may well pull the trigger and make something happen.
I've had luck getting companies to do things when I ask publicly that they wouldn't do when I asked privately. So it seems like getting more people asking publicly may well help in some instances.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than XDA, if you also post this on WPCentral forum, you will get much much much better and enthusiastic response for such requests. There is a list of app-requests somwhere in this forum too, if you wanted a place to pick apps-in-demand from.
I'm afraid you are mistaken. Companies are "listening" their marketing stuff, investors and personal CEO/chairman opinions. Neither facebook posts nor tweets can change company budget, marketing strategy or development roadmap. In fact, the most companies are controlled by the intelligent and informed people, so you may be sure they already knew about WP7 platform
P.S. Let me guess: you've never worked in software industry, don't you?
Thanks for the comments on WPCentral forum, good point. More regular users over there.
sensboston - You made my point exactly. Companies are listening to marketing staff, investors and personal CEO/chairman opinions. Those people, especially the marketing types pay attention to what the outside world is saying. If they see noise about a particular topic, it gets their attention.
For instance, if that company releases a new version of an app that has big problems, they'll hear about it first from all those social sources and they will generally try to react quickly to quite down the noise.
Not that it matters or even relevant to what I'm talking about here, but I've been in the software industry for over 20 years.
willp2 said:
For instance, if that company releases a new version of an app that has big problems, they'll hear about it first from all those social sources and they will generally try to react quickly to quite down the noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a completely different case. Yes, I agree - huge noise/rumors about critical bug in popular app/software can push (some) companies to force fix or workaround immediately (good example is a Nokia representatives, who's - I believe - are monitoring XDA forums daily)
But porting app to the different platform (especially to WP7!) is very complicated. Most primary titles are written on C++ and uses native code/API calls. "Porting" C++ code to C#/Silverlight isn't just "porting"; it's much more close to complete rewrite. Also WP7 platform support means an additional tier of Q&A and etc. and so on (if you are really worked more than 20 years in industry you can easily extend these requirements).
100 or even 1000 facebook posts and forum requests can't show you a real app demand but statistics can. Unfortunately WP7 market share currently is too small (at the end of 2011 it was about 2%).
I thought there was a similar thread already, but if not then perhaps we can do that. I heard a company saying, they'll port it to windows phone if they enough demands.
I do get that it's not a trivial task.
Again I was really just getting at the many companies who are already considering moving to Windows Phone but are on the fence.
As we know more and more apps are being ported every week so many companies already have been thinking about, planning or are already doing it. In some cases a little public pressure may at least confirm to them that people are interested and perhaps move things along.
lamborg - sorry if someone else already brought this up in another thread, I did search around first.
willp2 said:
I do get that it's not a trivial task.
Again I was really just getting at the many companies who are already considering moving to Windows Phone but are on the fence.
As we know more and more apps are being ported every week so many companies already have been thinking about, planning or are already doing it. In some cases a little public pressure may at least confirm to them that people are interested and perhaps move things along.
lamborg - sorry if someone else already brought this up in another thread, I did search around first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure either but I think I have seen a similar thread, Anyway, if that cannot be found.
BTW it was I think Draw Something which said about the enough demand.
Maybe try crowd funding
Maybe this is an area where crowd funding could help.
I mean, people can make noise about want for a particular WP7 app as much as they like, but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for development, in some way, either directly or indirectly.
A successful crowd funding campaign for an app would probably prove much more that there really is demand than just so many Facebook postings.
Of course there is also the danger that such a campaign fails miserably and shows that there isn't real demand, just a very vocal but small minority wanting the app...
rbrunner7 said:
Maybe this is an area where crowd funding could help.
I mean, people can make noise about want for a particular WP7 app as much as they like, but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for development, in some way, either directly or indirectly.
A successful crowd funding campaign for an app would probably prove much more that there really is demand than just so many Facebook postings.
Of course there is also the danger that such a campaign fails miserably and shows that there isn't real demand, just a very vocal but small minority wanting the app...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guarantee this would not get noticed. Most users on the site don't even donate to the devs that post apps here that they use, let alone donate to some fund for the possibility of an app being ported.
Standard contractor rates for a software engineer are about $100 to $150 per hour. Salaried devs make less, but the cost is close to the same for companies because of benefits packages. So, 1 day of dev time for 1 developer is going to cost around $1000. My guess is a crowd fund would not even reach $100. But even if $10000 were collected, that would only cover a team of 5 for 2 days. And, 5 days for 20 business days would cost $100000. And this is is exactly why companies have been slow to bring apps over. It's expensive.
The other aspect is that although the syntax is similar in C#, Java, and C++; there are enough differences to make it less than a simple task to just switch over. Most devs with experience have been doing either C# or Java or C++. Most have not been doing all 3. This means paying money and taking time to get the existing devs trained or hire additional devs and transfering domain knowledge to them. Both have costs. (Note: iPhone is Objective C, which is different, but also has similarities. Same issues though)
Many companies just don't have the resources to spend when the return on investment is not short term. Long term as more consumers buy Windows Phones, it will be more economically viable for companies to invest in porting the applications.
JVH3 said:
Guarantee this would not get noticed. Most users on the site don't even donate to the devs that post apps here that they use
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He-he... Most users on the site are too lazy, greedy and irresponsible not even for donation but just for vote and review published here on XDA apps And some are so ungrateful that they forget just to say "Thanks"... Don't tell me about donations: I've collected money for Cotulla, for the Samsung's first freedom ROM for WP7... From hundreds of Focus owners here only 13 or 14 people are donated.
As for your arguments: it's 100% true for an adult professionals but of course not for 12-14 years old teens who "has over 20 years of software industry experience"
Yeah, I am myself a professional developer at day time, and I know how much it costs my company to employ me
But still, I think not all hope is lost. Some people may read this thread and just maybe change their attitude against devs that offer "free" things a little to the better - good that we talked about it, then!
And as I program in my free time anyway, just for fun, even a crowdsourced 1000 dollars could nudge me in a direction that I would not take otherwise, and people get the app they like. Of course only if the right APIs and server permissions are there to build it in the first place which of course is not always the case - many apps can only be built by the companies who own the corresponding server infrastructure.
rbrunner7 said:
Yeah, I am myself a professional developer at day time, and I know how much it costs my company to employ me
But still, I think not all hope is lost. Some people may read this thread and just maybe change their attitude against devs that offer "free" things a little to the better - good that we talked about it, then!
And as I program in my free time anyway, just for fun, even a crowdsourced 1000 dollars could nudge me in a direction that I would not take otherwise, and people get the app they like. Of course only if the right APIs and server permissions are there to build it in the first place which of course is not always the case - many apps can only be built by the companies who own the corresponding server infrastructure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to be discouraging, but it is pretty unlikely to get $1000 in donation from users here. It you look at the weather city editor that I wrote (link to thread in signature) for Windows Mobile, I got maybe close to $500 in donations from the time I created it through the entire time I worked on it, supported it, and enhanced it. I created it because I needed it and turned it into more than I needed so others could easily use it. The donations came from maybe 20 to 30 users. It was downloaded by well over 10000 users.
If looking for money as the reward, you are much better off paying Microsoft the $100 and putting the app on the marketplace and charging a dollar or making it be ad supported.
You'll still get respect for making cool things and posting them here, but it's not going to make you rich. It's a great place to learn and get some experience making apps though. Lots of people are willing to help if you get stuck on something.
It's a nice thought but, in reality it wont work
I thought about doing this too...
If you got everyone to attempt to do it, it might but, if you only get 50 people to do it(and that would be a lot in a fourm to request something they might not be interested in) that is a little bit compared to their marketplace with iOS or Android.
I personally really want Cut the Rope but, after posting a handfull of times on their facebook page and even emailing customer service, no luck

Anyone here have developed apps on the Windows Store?

I am a user of W10M and I was very impressed with the development potential that exists in this forum and also intrigued to think there has not arisen some great big hit app for Windows Phone from some kind of collaborative development from here.
Anyone here have no interest making an app to meet a demand like a really good youtube app or something else?
Windows Phone lack of good apps and if there someplace in the world that can change this reality is here, probably. There is so much to do and here are met very skilled people... I don't know... seems like everything is laying arround here, like tools, knowledge, experience, time, computing resources, even the good will, and etc... Let's face it, today Windows users depends, almost tottaly, on the development of people like you guys, just like the Linux community do... it's the only way, I think...
raphaelsolis said:
I am a user of W10M and I was very impressed with the development potential that exists in this forum and also intrigued to think there has not arisen some great big hit app for Windows Phone from some kind of collaborative development from here.
Anyone here have no interest making an app to meet a demand like a really good youtube app or something else?
Windows Phone lack of good apps and if there someplace in the world that can change this reality is here, probably. There is so much to do and here are met very skilled people... I don't know... seems like everything is laying arround here, like tools, knowledge, experience, time, computing resources, even the good will, and etc... Let's face it, today Windows users depends, almost tottaly, on the development of people like you guys, just like the Linux community do... it's the only way, I think...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really, the main apps missing don't come from independent developers, but from banks, stores, public transportation/airports/airlines, schools, etc.
Until market share picks up, or we make enough fuss, they won't see it as worth the time and effort to deploy apps for windows phone.
here in Croatia, for example, we have bunch of banking apps (almost all banks here have windows apps) because we were annoying
for my bank PBZ, we gathered and every week sent requirements for banks apps six months. Today we have:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/mpbz/9nblggh093bh
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/pbzmtoken/9nblggh0f4rr
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/mpbzcom/9nblgggzkjmg
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/american-express-myaccount/9nblggh52jmn
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/pbz-wave-2-pay-sticker/9wzdncrdjzv4
so, dont be lazy. find people who want some apps also, and every week send request for apps to banks, developers... and maybe you got apps...
P:S
here is apps from other banks here:
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/addiko-mobile-hrvatska/9nblggh0k1m0
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/apps/m-zaba/9nblggh0fv21
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/apps/m-zabaps/9wzdncrdt4n0
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/poba-m-token/9nblggh0jxxl
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/rba-na-dlanu/9wzdncrdl8v0
user107 said:
Really, the main apps missing don't come from independent developers, but from banks, stores, public transportation/airports/airlines, schools, etc.
Until market share picks up, or we make enough fuss, they won't see it as worth the time and effort to deploy apps for windows phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, sorry I have no idea about this fact.
In my experience I see the big majority are shytty unofficial apps and unofficial clients for the big apps we don't have a official version yet, this big majority apps comes from individual developers or small software houses, and the official versions are kind of shytty too, because all lacks of important features, this is what actually we have at our disposal: a bone to the dogs, the leftovers, this is what they have to offer to W10M users. My point is: if we want to have something really good, this will have to come from us, because we are the only people who actually cares with this O.S.
dxdy said:
here in Croatia, for example, we have bunch of banking apps (almost all banks here have windows apps) because we were annoying
for my bank PBZ, we gathered and every week sent requirements for banks apps six months. Today we have:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/mpbz/9nblggh093bh
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/pbzmtoken/9nblggh0f4rr
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/mpbzcom/9nblgggzkjmg
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/american-express-myaccount/9nblggh52jmn
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/pbz-wave-2-pay-sticker/9wzdncrdjzv4
so, dont be lazy. find people who want some apps also, and every week send request for apps to banks, developers... and maybe you got apps...
P:S
here is apps from other banks here:
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/addiko-mobile-hrvatska/9nblggh0k1m0
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/apps/m-zaba/9nblggh0fv21
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/apps/m-zabaps/9wzdncrdt4n0
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/poba-m-token/9nblggh0jxxl
https://www.microsoft.com/hr-hr/store/p/rba-na-dlanu/9wzdncrdl8v0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude... I'm not lazy... at all my friend... Maybe you don't get what is my point here, I don't want make a fuss like a children begging for something, I want more, we deserve dignity and respect too... The fuss was made already along the years, and we have not been heard, they just shut up us with a pacifier, some diversion to take our attention... until today we don't have even a good FB app, we have a official app but it don't have live streaming and video calls on FB messeger, we always have less then the others plataforms. Linux is the example for us here, they are by himself and they are going well. We have to send a message with a really good big hit app like Youtube or something else...
raphaelsolis said:
I don't want make a fuss like a children begging for something, I want more, we deserve dignity and respect too... The fuss was made already, along the years and we have not been heard, they just shut up us with a pacifier, some diversion to take our attention...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you familiar with the idiom "The squeaky wheel gets the oil"?
user107 said:
Are you familiar with the idiom "The squeaky wheel gets the oil"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's new to me. I'm not familiar with english idioms, but I get it...
Like I said, we squeak for a long time and no one seems to care about... They doesn't oil this squeaky wheel, they just make a palliative repair to temporarily stop our noise. They seems not interested in take action to solve the problem once and for all.
My point is: if we could make this great free app (wich we will not do, I know), it will make their irresponsibility with us something embarrassing to then (Google and Microsoft), worldwide. That would be a big squeak.
I wanted a awesome Windows 10 Mobile experience. That is what we paid for, and that we deserve, like the others plataforms are getting.
Big companies (Facebook, Google) are just rich, stupid and cocky... today they are only interested in profit. They are faceless money-sucking parasites who don't care nothing about the users needs from a minor low-profit plataform. We are just a problem to cover up.
But we in other hand (me, at last), have pride. We are enthusiasts and care about this. and we should take care of this situation, that's what I think...
raphaelsolis said:
My point is: if we could make this great free app (wich we will not do, I know), it will make their irresponsibility with us something embarrassing to then (Google and Microsoft), worldwide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's wishful thinking, but we (independent developers) simply do not have access to necessary APIs to develop third-party apps.
Many things can be taken care of through the browser, but still that is not enough in some instances (like my city's public transport system).
Again, you won't do much just ranting here.
You must harass them (facebook, google, etc) daily if necessary.
raphaelsolis said:
Big companies (Facebook, Google) are just rich, stupid and cocky... today they are only interested in profit. They are faceless money-sucking parasites who don't care nothing about the users needs from a minor low-profit plataform. We are just a problem to cover up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Businesses must care about profit first, for the owners and shareholders. That's a whole idea about business; otherwise please refer to the "communism" or other "-isemes"...
raphaelsolis said:
But we in other hand (me, at last), have pride. We are enthusiasts and care about this. and we should take care of this situation, that's what I think...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Pride" will not cover your time/money/other expenses. You should say "thanks" (in the opposite meaning of this word ) to the M$ who just screwed up a good platform.
Nobody wants to spend money to W10M anymore; there are no W10M jobs on the US market (at all!), many big companies are stopped WP/W10M support at all like Amazon etc. Indie devs are not happy too: if you have good idea, you may earn much more by developing to the other platforms (but you should spend same resources).
P.S. BTW, for your OP: I do have a good apps and games in the store (a lot of) and I always provided my development skills to the community (when I have the time of course)
OK. I gave the shot because here seemed to be the birth place of amazing Android mods like the cyanogenmods and some Windows Hacks... I thought app development for this guys was a child's play.
And, just to make clear about the APIs, I insisted in Youtube App because I know the paid app Metro Tube and seemed possible to do.
But you are totally right, it's wishful thinking...
Thanks for attention.
sensboston said:
Businesses must care about profit first, for the owners and shareholders. That's a whole idea about business; otherwise please refer to the "communism" or other "-isemes"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but not related. Big companies (Google and Facebook) started operations totally focused in offer something cool to users and make money in consequense. Have the users was to whole point. Now they have all the users of the whole world and it changed his attitude and can (stupidly) ignore who are not interesting for them, even if the reason for that is low-profit (but still profit, not a loss), for that I think they are cocky now. That is why I wrote "today" in that sentence. Today is another reality.
sensboston said:
"Pride" will not cover your time/money/other expenses. You should say "thanks" (in the opposite meaning of this word ) to the M$ who just screwed up a good platform.
Nobody wants to spend money to W10M anymore; there are no W10M jobs on the US market (at all!), many big companies are stopped WP/W10M support at all like Amazon etc. Indie devs are not happy too: if you have good idea, you may earn much more by developing to the other platforms (but you should spend same resources).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pride certainly will not cover. That is why I brought Linux like an example to follow. They work for themselves to serve all the community. Who have the knowledge helps and I believe you will did the same if a project like "W10M Free Youtube App" existed. This seemed our reality from now on...
Nice Apps by the way...
Thats why I want to emphasize: if we want start to reverse this scenario we have to start make something big by ourselves. W10M need apps to raise his market share? let's make the apps... by ourselves.
I believe if W10M show signs of growth it can grow exponentially when companies start to notice this.
raphaelsolis said:
Yes, but not related. Big companies (Google and Facebook) started operations totally focused in offer something cool to users and make money in consequense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He-he, I wish to live in your world but "I'm too old for this sh&t" (c)
raphaelsolis said:
That is why I brought Linux like an example to follow. They work for themselves to serve all the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Linux is a different kind of story; by the way, if you'll try to get help from a linux gurus or other kind of open source nerds like ffmpeg guys by the similar way (I mean your opening post), don't get too upset, usual "RTFM" will be a most decent word
Also, apps are created not by "we" or "let's make". The correct question should sounds like: "I created an ultimate youtube app, the sources are located at the https://github.com/blah-blah-blah. Anybody wanna get a try or join development?"...
People usually do what they are like to do; looks like everybody are happy with the youtube mobile site via Edge, as I am.
sensboston said:
He-he, I wish to live in your world but "I'm too old for this sh&t" (c)
Linux is a different kind of story; by the way, if you'll try to get help from a linux gurus or other kind of open source nerds like ffmpeg guys by the similar way (I mean your opening post), don't get too upset, usual "RTFM" will be a most decent word
Also, apps are created not by "we" or "let's make". The correct question should sounds like: "I created an ultimate youtube app, the sources are located at the https://github.com/blah-blah-blah. Anybody wanna get a try or join development?"...
People usually do what they are like to do; looks like everybody are happy with the youtube mobile site via Edge, as I am.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok... apps can be created by others ways too. Thanks for your interest. There are always a million reasons not to do something...
Let's do nothing and watch this ship sink... it's the best thing do to.
Can you or anyone else tell me how to delete this pointless thread?

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