According to report, there is 60 percentage of increase in downloads, compared to previous week of Christmas.
“Flurry estimated that a record-breaking 6.8 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day, along with an equally record-breaking 242 million application downloads. Studying the data from December 25 – December 31, additional records were set, now for the highest number of device activations and app downloads of any week in history. Over the holiday “power week,” Flurry estimates that over 20 million iOS and Android devices were activated, and 1.2 billion applications were downloaded. “

The United States contributes highest number of 509 million downloads, representing 42.3 percentage global application downloads. China takes second position with 99 million downloads, followed by U.K., Canada, France and many more. Below is the Holiday week downloads graph by Flurry, showing top 20 countries.

Bluetooth Smart Ready makes device compatible with whole range of low energy wire less devices, this means iPhone is now able to talk with special watches, thermometers and scales.

The Press Release explains:
“The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced two new brand extensions to its globally recognized logo today in an effort to create consumer awareness around compatibility for new devices implementing Bluetooth v4.0 – the Bluetooth Smart Ready trademark and the Bluetooth Smart trademark. Bluetooth Smart Ready devices are phones, tablets, PCs and TVs that sit at the center of a consumer’s connected world and implement a Bluetooth v4.0 dual mode radio. Bluetooth Smart devices are sensor-type devices like heart-rate monitors or pedometers that run on button-cell batteries and were built to collect a specific piece of information. Bluetooth Smart devices include only a single-mode low energy Bluetooth v4.0 radio.”

This also promises iPhone users all the new way of communicating with electronic devices. The opportunities are endless with Bluetooth Smart devices, they can get automatic updates from heart-rate monitors, blood-glucose meters, smart watches, window and door security sensors, key fobs for your car, and blood-pressure cuffs. This is truly a revolutionary update in the field of technology. Lets hope all iPhone users make use of Bluetooth 4.0 and benefit from it.

iCloud.com Beta and iWork Beta for iPad and iPhone developers is finally released. The beta version of the product will help  iOS app developers to test the iCloud functionality in their apps.

Developers registered with iOS developer program can now setup and prepare their applications for the service. The new cloud service will help iPhone and iPad owners to store their content like music, photos, documents, apps, calendars in cloud and sync them across various devices.

The plans and pricing for the iCloud service is listed as below -

• 10GB, $20/year

• 20GB, $40/year

• 50GB, $100/year

The service is expected to launch end of Q3 or beginning Q4. Cloud computing is the hottest thing right now and integration of such services in apps gives applications an extra edge.

IDC says that mobile developers are currently using in app purchases and advertising as one of their prime monetization strategy. The study also says their is an impending shift in app monetization from the present app download purchases to in-app purchasing to fund business models.

Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile and Connected Consumer Platforms said “The user sustainability trifecta of social networking, location, and the cloud are now increasingly being supported by the business model financial trifecta of application store purchases, in-app purchasing, and in-app advertising.”

The app numbers are huge and the monetization strategies are going to increase as the industry matures making iPhone app development an even more profitable business.

The app uses Force.com cloud platform to manage mobile applications in real-time. With Apprio iOS developers can now update their apps in real-time, without requiring to redeploy. This will save significant amount of time for iPhone developers as they wouldn’t have to do re-compile, re-test, and re-deploy code.

Mobile cloud apps helps companies centralize the control and the maintenance of apps while taking advantage of the cool features, performance and offline capabilities that only native apps offer.

Few of the key takeaways could be listed as below -

• Android Market is not as profitable for developers when it comes to paid apps.
• 6 paid iPhone applications generated same number of downloads generated in the App Store as compared to 2 in the Android Market.
• 10 iPhone games produced 2,50,000 downloads as compared to five games in Google Android Market.
• The app exposure and competition is higher in the App Store as compared to Android Market as 94 distinct apps hit the top 10 position in the Apple App Store in the month of April in the US while only 26 managed to gain traction in the Android market.

Once again this new report has proved that iPhone app development is profitable for developers. Read the full report here.

Apart from the collaboration, the company is ready to provide engineering support including application porting, UI development and cross-platform development services to iPhone app developers with Adobe’s product license.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology allows users to read content on various mobile devices. In the age of digital content mobile devices like iPhone, iPad and Kindle are being used a lot. The new Collaboration will help device manufacturers and app developers turn to the Reader Mobile SDK to render PDF and EPUB documents across different platforms.

For iPhone App Developers willing to get product license head over to official site to get one.

List down all your app ideas

Listing all your ideas as soon as it flashes in your mind will make sure you don’t miss on any of them. With applications it is always a hit and a miss. You never know which app idea will go viral.

Brainstorm

Having brainstorming sessions with your team mates will help you understand each idea better. Brainstorming sessions should have a conclusion on which app idea to stick with.

Few of the criteria below will help you decide with which app idea to stick with.

1. Uniqueness – Is the idea new to the iPhone user community?
2. Entertainment -Does the app entertainment at least a small set of audience?
3. Utility – Does your piece of software solve a burning problem in any niche?

Tools to kick start the development process

• Be a registered developer at the official Apple developer center.
• get iPhone or iPod Touch with latest iOS installed.
• Intel-based Mac computer with Mac OS X 10.5.5
• download and install the latest version of the iPhone SDK.
• Uncluttered workstation with a white board to communicate ideas with team members.

Assign roles or hire a few

iPhone app development is a team job which needs expertise of different professionals. Building a team and knowing each person know his role in the team is crucial. Hire or be the person who has good skills or knowledge in

• Good knowledge on AppStore
• GUI expert good in sketching
• Coding geek with thorough understanding on concepts
• A smart marketing and sales person

Put your idea out on paper

Sketching out design ideas and listing out functionality which you want to be seen in the application is important for smooth workflow of the team. it is important that both designer and developer know what needs to be done and how each functionality can fit in with much of a compromise.

Writing code

For development help one may look in to the following resources for help

Apple App Developer Forums

iPhone Dev SDK forum

Stack Overflow

Project Management Tools

there are many project management tools in the market. Using one for the entire app development process is important to streamline the process. Basecamp and UnFuddle are few good ones.

Testing

An app once completed has to go through various kinds of testing before it is confirmed stable. Various bugs have to found out and reported to development team

Submit Application to App Store

Once the app is bug freeit has to submitted to the app store. The software has to be compiled and the binary has to be submitted to the app store. A developer with basic knowledge of xcode should be able to do it. Be aware of these 15 common app rejection reasons on app store.

App Marketing

App marketing can be done through multiple channels Few of the common channels used are

• YouTube video reviews
• Facebook and twitter
• iAds or other mobile ad networks
• in app purchases
• Blog and forum participation

We will soon be coming back with a technical version for building iPhone apps on the blog.

iPhone Dev Center

A place where registered Apple developers get access to iPhone development library filled with videos, pdfs, articles, latest SDK kits and latest announcements.

iPhone SDK / iOS SDK

iOS SDK is a Software Development Kit developed by Apple Inc. and released to help app developers develop native applications for iOS.

iOS

iOS is Apple’s mobile operating system formerly known as iPhone OS. iOS 4.3 is the latest version of the software.

Objective-C

The Objective-C language is a simple computer language designed to enable sophisticated object-oriented programming.

App Store

App Store is a place where developers showcase their applications and iPhone users download applications every day.

Cocoa

Cocoa is one of Apple Inc.’s native object-oriented API for the Mac OS X operating system and iOS devices like iPhone and iPad.

App Store

App Store is a place where developers showcase their applications and iPhone user download applications every day.

WWDC Conference

Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is a Apple’s platform where in the latest innovations in iOS and Mac OS X technologies are showcased. The conference is often used to launch the latest products.

Protocols

A protocol is a set of instructions used to declare a functionality which is used by many objects or classes.

Debugging

Debugging is a method of reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, to make an application functional.

Public Key Cryptography

Public-key cryptography refers to a set of methods for transforming a written message into a form that can be read only by the intended iPhone user.

iPhone Simulator

iPhone Simulator is application which entails all the characteristics or behaviors of an actual iPhone.

Non Disclosure Agreement

A NDA is a legal and binding document which ensures your app development client that his or her idea and intellectual property is protected.

OpenGL ES

OpenGL ES is a royalty-free, cross-platform API for full-function 2D and 3D graphics on any embedded system like phones, appliances and desktops.

EULA

A software license agreement is a contract between the “licensor” and purchaser of the right to use software.

Interface Builder

Interface Builder is one of the many tools in Xcode which allows Cocoa and Carbon developers to create interfaces for applications using a graphical user interface.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication systems global system for mobile communications.

DFU

Device Firmware Update mode bypasses the current OS installed and allows you to upgrade or downgrade your OS.

Standard developer account

It is a account which every developer must have if she has to be certified as a app developer according to Apple. The developer account will give you access to a SDK kit, resources and announcements.

Enterprise developer account

Enterprise developer account is owned by companies which has in house developers who take up applicatiod development for various clients.

User Interface (UI)

User Interface is a space where in a iPhone user and the iPhone as a device interact.

Unique Device Identifier

UDID is expanded as “Unique Device Identifier”. It is a serial number specific for any iDevice. UDID is used to document the existence of your device and to track it.

UI widgets

User Interface widget is an element of a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays an information arrangement changeable by the user.

UI Kit framework

The UIKit framework provides the classes needed to construct and manage an application’s user interface for iOS. It provides an application object, event handling, drawing model, windows, views, and controls specifically designed for a touch screen interface.

XIB files

XIB is a file extension. Files with such extensions are Interface Builder User Interface Resource file.

Entitlements

Entitlements is a Code signing file (Entitlements.plist) where the code is signed by the creator/owner of the code.

Debugger

A debugger or debugging tool is a computer program that is used to test and debug other programs.

cocos2d framework

cocos2d for iPhone is a framework for building 2D games, demos, and other graphical/interactive applications.

Cocoa Touch

Cocoa Touch is an API for building apps which run on iDevices.

Tethering

Tethering is a method to share the Internet connection of an mobile hotspot(Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) and can typically service several devices.

Application Programming Interface

An API is a set of functions, procedures, methods or classes used by computer programs to request services from the operating system, software libraries or any other service providers running on the computer.

Jailbreak

Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to run any code on their devices, as opposed to only that code authorized by Apple.

Bootloader

The bootloader performs an integrity check on data and prevent unsigned, non-apple code from being loaded when the iDevice is first powered on.

Accelerometer

An 3-axis element used in making creative and highly engaging games.

Bricking

To seize  all functionality of an iPhone or iPod Touch to the point which is nothing but a piece of brick.

Baseband

The Operating system for the modem part of an iPhone is called the Baseband.

Enhanced Data for Global Evolution

EDGE is a data system which provides nearly 135 kbps of speed which is three times faster speeds than normal GPRS system.

3G / 4G

It is the mobile phone generaiton standards fulfilling specifications given by the by the International Telecommunication Union.

Cydia

Cydia  is an app for iOS that allows a user to find and download software packages for a jailbroken iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Unlock

Unlocking is a process in which one can gain root access to the device so that you can install third-party software or to modify firmware in a way to make the iPhone run on other cellular networks.

Springboard

SpringBoard is iOS home screen manager where the app takes up multiple tasks like launching and bootstrapping applications and setting up the default settings for a device.

iAd

iAd is a mobile advertising network started by Apple to open up a revenue channel for iPhone and iPad app developers.

GameCenter

A social gaming community where in multiple players can play a game at a time.

Mobile Web App

A mobile web app is the mobile version of a web application.

Push Notifications

Apple push notification service uses push technology through a constantly-open IP connection to forward notifications from the servers of third party applications to iDevices in the form of badges, sounds or custom text alerts.

Drop down a note in the comments below if you believe we have missed out on any. We will update the app development glossary there after.

According to Evernote most people access their application on a iOS device or from the web directly. The iOS is the most popular with 32% of users followed by Web (25%), Windows (18%), Android (12%), BlackBerry (2%) and the old Windows Mobile platform (1%). The CEO also mentioned that in order to have long term benefits it makes sense to native application rather than a mobile web application.

All in all iPhone application developers should me happy about the recent findings of company which owns a popular application on the web.