I’m sure by now everyone who has an iPhone 3G or 3GS will be on iOS4 (I hope the 2G and 3G folks don’t feel left behind). OS4 is really cool for users in many ways. Multitasking, home screen customization, camera zoom, new mail handling capabilities etc etc. So that’s for the users. What about developers? How is iOS4 going to help developers? As Steve Jobs had announced back in April, iAd is going to “revolutionize” the way that application developers will be making money from Apple. I will be first introducing my readers to what iAd is all about and then will follow up with a post on how to integrate iAd into your applications.

Firstly, why iAd and what the hell is it all about? Do you realize the thousands of free apps in the app store have some form of advertising or marketing in built in them? It could either be in the form of some of those ads from admob or the app could be an extension of a business like ebay. Take the example of the ads served by admob. What happens when you click on the app? You get kicked out of the app and land on the advertiser’s website. So what if you want to get back to your app exactly at the same point that you left? Pretty much impossible if you ask me.

What iAd does is to exactly address this issue. The ad is served in such a way that when the user clicks on the ad, he does not have to leave the app at all. The ad appears right in the application and there is no need to leave the app. So after viewing the ad, the user is able to get back to the exact same point where he clicked the ad. Pretty cool if you ask me. Now users will not have any second thoughts to click an ad if they liked what is was serving.

iAd is supposed to bridge the gap between emotion and interactivity. In Steve Job’s keynote address he mentions that while internet ads have interactivity, they lack emotion. And while TV ads have emotion, they lack interactivity. iAd will have both interaction and emotion which is very apparent from the example ads that he has shown in his keynote. Let’s face it – this is going to revolutionize the ad industry in a big big way. The ads will not be intrusive and will be served to the user only once every 3 minutes. That’s almost like the frequency of a television ad according to Jobs.

As a developer I’m certainly excited to try this out. I have already thought of quite a few free applications which I will be launching over the next few weeks. Instead of just relying on the marketing returns, I can certainly hope for some immediate revenue through iAd IF it is successful. I have not seen any live iAd being served on my current apps. Still waiting to see how it will look like in real life although I do have a good feel of it after seeing Steve Jobs’ keynote address.

If you are interested to view this video then I would encourage you to take a look at this youtube video. Its pretty straightforward and gives you an overall idea of this cool concept. Trust me, its 9:38 minutes well spent

I had recently completed yet another app for the app store and happily submitted it on itunesconnect waiting for approval within a week. Well it took about 10 days for the iPhone Developer team to reply and they responded that the app was actually rejected due to incorrect rating. This was definitely quite unexpected for me since this was a fairly simple app and of all the reasons I didn’t expect it to be rejected due to an incorrect rating. So what is the rating of an app? When you submit an application on itunesconnect, Apple expects you to rate the application like below:

My application had no nudity, no obscenity, no pornography and certainly no offensive materials. So I chose the lowest rating (which is of course the best rating in this case) and sent it to Apple. But I received an email from them about 10 days later which literally made me fall off my chair. Here is what the email said:

My iPhone application actually has a couple of tabs which connects to the internet. But these webpages are hardcoded in the app and cannot be changed by the user. There is no way of entering any other webpage as I did not provide a full fledged browser to enter the URL as well. It was a custom made browser with a couple of harmless webpages. I wonder how smart the people at the iPhone Developer team are to come to the conclusion that this application allows unrestricted access to the internet and hence should be rated 17+? Weird!

But then again, I’m just a small drop in the ocean for the immensely popular app store and I decided to not swim against the current. I updated my app on the “Mature/Suggestive Themes” column and chose the option “frequent/intense“. The next thing I know, my app is a 17+ app instead of a 4+ app. Well I guess I can’t do much other than to send the app for approval and sit tight! Alright Mr. Smarty Pants at the iPhone Developer Program, you got your way. Now let my app get into the app store!

How many times have you come across promotions on the App Store when a paid app actually becomes free? Its kind of cool for the developer because he uses it as a marketing tool to get more downloads later on. But how do you actually know when the app becomes free on the app store? There is this cool website called Freeappalert which actually notifies you when a paid app becomes free. Its pretty cool and you can take a look at all the apps which just became free on the homepage of the website itself. You could also subscribe to its RSS feed so that you will be notified about any new apps that just became free as well.

It definitely seems to be a growing tactic among iPhone developers (I have tried it myself) to make your app free for a limited time. It ensures that there is enough exposure considering the number of apps that are currently on the app store. It also helps to get reviews on the app as more eyes translate to more reviews as well. If you are lucky enough, it could also make it up to the top downloads list which could mean that it would definitely be a candidate for more sales in the future! Go ahead and try it yourself!

Finally my latest iPhone App Dino Cards has been launched in the App Store. It took me quite a while to develop the app as I had engaged a designer to make hand drawn custom pictures as well as some cute graphics as well. So what is Dino Cards? Well basically Dino Cards is a flashcard application for kids, youngsters or anyone who is interested in Dinosaur facts. So what’s so great about Dino Cards? Well basically this is an interactive iPhone application with over 48 hand drawn dinosaur images and fun facts associated with them. Not satisfied with the fun facts? Well then you can just click on “More Facts” and that takes you to a built in browser within the app displaying scientific facts about the particular dinosaur from the internet.

Features:

- 48 different hand drawn dinosaurs have been featured
- Each dinosaur has its associated fun fact behind the flashcard
- You can even look up more facts about the dinosaur from the internet without leaving the app with its unique built in web browser
- Built in dinosaur sounds when you browse through the flash cards in the app

The app sells for just $0.99 $1.99 on the app store currently and is definitely much cheaper than any flashcard that you might find in a toy store. I mean, can you get an interactive flashcard with information and even sounds for less than RM 5 RM 10 in Malaysia? This iPhone app is actually a joint development between my wife and myself. My wife is an expert in coming up with kids’ activities and runs a popular website called Amazing Preschool Activities. She also has launched an accompanying dinosaur coloring ebook to compliment Dino Cards.

I hope you will find Dino Cards interesting. Take a look at it by visiting the link below. You will need iTunes to open the link. Hope you will have loads of fun with this app.

Dino Cards is now available on the App Store!

Update: I’ve also released a FREE version of the app for you to try it out. Dino Cards Lite is now available on the App Store.

Have you looked at those ridiculous headlines which go like “If you want to …., there’s an app for that”. I really enjoy reading them and some of them are really hilarious. Now that we have thousands of apps for almost everything (I said almost) there’s this website called App For That which lets you read these “app for that” jokes and even lets you submit your own. Pretty fun actually.

Here are some of my favorites:

“If you can’t help but give Apple a few dollars every day of your miserable existence, there’s an app for that.”

“if you want an app to complain about not having an app to browse for apps with any sort of usability, there’s an app for that.”

“If you want to max out your credit card with the last 3 dollars of your limit, there’s an app for that. ”

“If your doin’ it wrong, there’s an app for that.”

And here’s my own creation:

“If you wanted your iPhone 3G battery to last longer, there’s an app for that.”

So go ahead, have fun reading some of these “app for that” jokes – go ahead and rate them even. You might even want to create your own joke. Want to share in the comments section? Lets have some fun people!