April 30th, 2009 | 
Author: With the massive success of the iPhone app store, app development is on the upswing. I’m seeing report after report about people who’ve never written a line of code in their lives, suddenly trying to learn how to create apps for the iPhone.
Its sensible, as the relative ease with which you can sell your app combined with the potential profits make this a very appealing proposition to many.
Personally, I haven’t written any software in nearly 30 years, when I used to have a very rudimentary understanding of BASIC. Here’s a sample of what I mean:
10 Print “Fuck You”
20 Goto 10
Yes, that’s about how sophisticated I got. And wow, did that little programme make people laugh. Things have changed a lot since then.
The problem with developing apps for the iPhone is the amount you need to learn to do it. It’s the steep learning curve that is probably putting some people off trying.
What if you didn’t have to learn anything?
What if you could piece an app together the same way you’d design a website or automator action?
Enter iApp, the latest software to join the other programs in iLife.
Well, technically it hasn’t yet, but I am taking a wild guess that it will in the future.
iPhone apps are just chunks of code and APIs strung together, so why can’t Apple build an iLife style application that would allow dummies like me to design applications for the iPhone with a simple, clean and easy to use interface.
Just imagine assembling a list of simple instructions, the same way you would put together an automator script, which are then compiled and transferred to your iPhone via iTunes.
Apple have already done this for music, video, DVD authoring, ring-tone creating and website design, so why can’t they do it for iPhone applications?
The short answer is that they can and if I was to venture a guess, they are probably working on just such a product right now.
Think about it: they could completely democratise programming apps for the iPhone, allowing anyone with a good idea and some free time the chance to design their very own application with a very gentle learning curve. And if you think your app is good enough and would be of interest to others, you can register to sell it on iTunes and watch the dosh roll in.
Do I think this is coming soon? Who knows?
I do think some form of simple iPhone app creation will come. And its going to be a major game-changer when it does.
