Tag: app development

What’s up with Jamie’s state of app development?

So just a quick update… yes I am still developing apps! My first app has already been released, https://KaliTrue.app is the page to check it out and there’s a link there to get the app.

Since releasing the app a few weeks back I have taken some quick staycation time with my spouse… we got to spend a long weekend at the inaugural https://guitarsandgasoline.com music festival and that was a lot of fun. I got to celebrate a friends 60th birthday, and I am jealous he only looks 45. I got to spend some quality time with my camera… lots of flower pics mostly! And I have also been doing some administrative tasks for both my business and my spouses.

But in the back of my mind is/was always “what’s next?” Do I start work on the paid version of KaliTrue? Do I start another app? I have kind of been thinking of doing both at the same time, which would be interesting.

I’m honestly doing a lot of thinking about what my next app should be. In terms of making money as an indie dev, games are the gold standard… they make the most money, but I have never been a gamer myself and I think that puts me at somewhat of a disadvantage. Also, games would probably benefit from UIKit and I have been focusing on SwiftUI (in English? My focus has been on a framework that is less suited to games.)

The next best way to make more money is to charge a lot for a niche app… but nothing comes to mind, and it’s not a guarantee.

So I find myself constantly thinking…. what should my next app be. I have a small list that I add to when I have an idea, and occasionally I triage the list and throw out ideas that–for one reason or another–are not worth pursuing even if the idea itself is solid. For example, ideas that have a very narrow appeal, or ideas that require huge development effort… think 12-18 month projects.

And so, I keep thinking…. day-and-night… what to build! And this is where you come in I guess… I have asked before of my friends and fans… what app idea do you have that you would like to see built? I’ve had several friends and family come up with ideas, but more than half have already been done, and done well enough that it’s not worth the time risk to try an improved implementation. And besides, I would prefer more unique ideas.

But hey, if you have an idea, shoot me an email at my business quick-contact email: labs_clothes_5l@icloud.com and we can talk. If you wanna just throw me an idea and I take it on wholly, then you get credit and maybe even an honorarium. If you want to get more involved in the process… helping me design it… taking on the marketing of the product… then we can make a partnership arrangement. I have already been talking to two parties about ideas, one where I am little more than that coder and if it works out they stand to make the bulk of the money.

So… get your brain in gear and think… what iPad, iPhone, or Mac app do you wish existed?

Rename my app or not? (The “fallout” phase)

Well, I have taken some time to think about how to handle the issue with the naming of my app (see my May 13 blog entry if you want more detail) and I can basically proceed in one of two ways:

  1. Register the .app domain for my app with the existing name, i.e., keep the name I have been using since I started writing the app
  2. Find a new name and begin the work of re-branding, including acquiring domains

So, I could register the .app domain for my app with the existing name. This approach would be incredibly simple, but it would not be straightforward. As I mentioned, the .com domain is already registered, and by a startup that is branding themselves with the name. Even though they beat me to the name by just a few months, they did beat me fair-and-square. They have not, however, registered the .app domain, leaving anyone free to do so for now. So I could register it for myself, for my business, but using that name comes with a risk.

If their business succeeds, then as they grow there might come a point where they will notice I have their name registered as a .app domain and would have a good chance of forcing me to stop using the domain, especially if they decide to trademark the name (they haven’t yet). It’s too late for me to trademark it as they have “prior art” and would easily be granted the rights in court… and besides, I honestly feel grating the .app domain would be a crappy thing for me to do.

And even if I did grab the .app domain, I would always be in a risk position where they could come after it at some unknown point in the future, and then I would be forced to re-brand anyway.

And then there’s the professionalism consideration. I too am starting a new business, and willfully deciding to use another business’e’s name as the name for my app should be a warning sign to my future clients that I either lack competencies, or worse—I might be unscrupulous.

Even if I do re-brand, I could still register the current name as a .app and sit on it, hoping to someday sell it back to the business to cover my costs for my domains, but that just doesn’t feel right either, and I feel it sends the wrong message about what kind of businessperson I am.

So this means that I am going ahead with the second scenario, finding a new name and then begin the painful process of re-branding the app, only this time I will know to grab the .app domain! 

This situation is just one in the adventure that is starting your own business. This lesson I learned from the school of hard knocks… I’m creating this business on my own, using skills I have acquired on my own over time. Had I professional training in starting a business, such as an MBA, or a mentor, sure I might have avoided this minor setback, but I don’t have formal business training nor any mentors, but this is how I have done plenty of things in my life, and it’s a process I actually enjoy, and am confident I will succeed in this endeavour, as I have in the past doing things “my way”. The more than three decades of success I have had as a self-taught software developer, having even held engineering roles in several Fortune 100 companies, helps me justify that confidence.

I’ve already begun the search for the new name, but now I am faced with another decision… do I register the .ca and the .com domains as well, or just the .app domain? These domain names cost money, incurring an ongoing annual cost, a cost I am not expecting to recover from sales of my first app… so I need to do a cost-benefit analysis to determine if the .com and .ca are worth it… I guess I will begin that process after I decide on the new name! 

UPDATE! I have a new name – KaliTrue, and a new domain as well, KaliTrue.app