This is the second part of a three part series of how to become an iPhone app developer. If you have not read the first part, you can read it here: How to become an iPhone app developer – Part One.

In part one, we saw how to setup an iphone developer account in the Apple website. Pretty easy stuff and you should have breezed through it if you know what you are doing. Now that you have your account setup, you should be able to login to the iPhone Dev Center. Once you have logged in, the first thing that you need to do is to download the SDK and install it on your Mac.

Look for the below section:

At the time of writing this post, the latest version of the SDK is version 2.2.1. It is recommended that you install the latest version of the SDK available as each new version will have better features and bug fixes as well. Downloading the file should take 2 – 4 hours depending on your internet connection. So you might want to let it download overnight and plan accordingly.

Once you have downloaded the .dmg file, it should take you less than 30 minutes to install in on your Mac.

Once you have setup the SDK on your Mac, you can be on your way to start writing your iPhone apps. But while you are at it, you should also setup your account at iTunes Connect. You will use your apple ID to login to this account also. Once you login to iTunes Connect, you will be able to see the following screen:

You will first need to setup your banking information (yeah, if you ever want to get paid). Click on “Contracts, Tax, & Banking Information“. Here you will come to a screen where you will need to enter the following information:

Contact Info (Your name and address)
Banking Info (Your bank name, branch address and SWIFT code. You do not need to enter the routing number)
Tax Info (You will need to fill out the W8-BEN form online. Do not worry about the TIN or EIN number. You do not need to call the IRS to get a tax number. For foreigners such as us Malaysians, just enter “000000000“. This will be sufficient.

Once you have setup the form, you will have to submit it online. It will probably take about 3-4 days for your contract to be in effect. Only after that you will be able to put “paid apps” on the app store. You will also be emailed a copy of the W8-BEN form which you will need to print out, fill up the same details and send it via snail mail to Apple. You can do this at your own pace but make sure that you send it to Apple before your first scheduled cheque from Apple.

Watch out for the last of the series on how to become an iPhone app developer where I will discuss the steps for setting up your XCode and installing various certificates on your Mac so that your application can be distributed through the app store.

Related posts:

1. How to become an iPhone app developer – Part One