App Development

[timlongs]

Hey all, have done a quick search on this topic and found a few threads but they're all a couple of years out of date now so I imagine things may have moved on in this area now. As we all know PH is a wealth of experience so asking here is worth a try!

Me and a friend have came up with an idea for an app, we've conducted market research to our target market and on the whole found the feedback very positive and we believe we've found something that could potentially be viable.

Our next problem is neither of us are coders/computer experts. I've had experience in the past designing websites but only basic HTML and CSS. The other problem is that I'm fresh from uni and am not mega wealthy obviously, and my friend is in a similar boat.

Wondering what the best way to go about moving the idea forward is really, was thinking of getting in touch with universities with courses on app development to speak to them - but any professional advice would be great.

Obviously don't want to talk about what the app is we don't want the idea getting nicked!

Thanks for any help in advance.

[timlongs]

Bump

[timlongs]

Purity14 said:

Without knowing what the app is about, its hard to advise.
But there was one website that I was on ages ago, and it allowed you to create an app on iPhone and Android platforms.
It was their own specific programming language, and had a forum dedicated to learning and help that had quite a large community.

You can create the app and develop it for free. But to release it for your own use then costs you money.
I cant remember the name of it, but that method certainly stops someone stealing your stuff.

You had people that couldn't even code making really sweet games..!

If i can remember what its called ill update this thread.

Good luck..!

Thanks that sounds interesting. If you could remember what it was called definitely let me know.

We're very much in the early stages of the idea and are both aware of it - we're happy not to rush as its to do with ski/snowboarding so we'd never get it ready in time for this season anyway.

[timlongs]

GrumpyTwig said:

Maybe look at using a framework that means the work involved in creating the app is more within your skill set?
Something like http://www.sencha.com/products/touch/ .

I've never used it myself as all my experience is in .net and windows or bash/python etc. not mobile.

You're unlikely to find someone to make something for free, there are websites where you could contract out the work to individuals, though that costs money.

We're happy to pay but I've seen the cost of app development go into 100s of thousands!

Another idea is to find someone of a similar age to ourselves and (21/22) who is starting out in the developing market and get them involved in the company. At the minute this is still very much just an idea but one we believe in.