Hmm, I expected something ... well ... something really bad. But it looks like the guy has just a very thin skin.
I'm an iPhone developer who signed up with the program as soon as it became available and I can tell you: Becoming an iPhone developer was a major PITA. It started with the registration (Apple let you wait for weeks after you purchased the membership), then with taxes formalities (as a non us-citizen I had to call the I.R.S. and get a w8-ben number ... mix a polish name with a german address and an overseas phone call and you get a really fun time). Oh, and I had to print out all my contracts, sign them and send them via snail mail to some Apple subsidiary in Texas.
And then the fun just started - I spent days getting all the provisioning profile stuff working (only to get my app to run on my device). Uploading the finished app to the store was another story (there was no build & archive & submit 3 click way - you had to build the distribution package yourself).
Considering RIM has just started their developer program for their playbook I'd say that the blog post is exaggerated. The only thing that I think he's right on is the 10 app/$200 limit ...
I've definitely heard the horror stories of the early days of iPhone development. I don't think I exaggerated though. I pretty much stuck to the facts of what happened, with some sarcasm sprinkled on of course :)
It's important to remember though that RIM isn't competing for developers with the Apple of 3 years ago. They're competing with the Apple (and Google) of today. As a developer who's time and sanity is valuable, I'm going to have a hard time justifying the added frustration, when there are other options that are much simpler, and have much more profitable markets to sell apps to.
Sure, but those were the early days of the whole mobile platform craze. Today Apple and Google have a huge lead and RIM is trying to play catch-up. RIM's offerings have to be competitive with what the other players have now, not what they had three years ago.
I've also been an iPhone Dev right from the start and I didn't find it that difficult. Sure, the provisioning stuff took some hours, and uploading an app to an actual device was as simply as clicking 'build & run'.
Publishing an app was a tad more difficult, what with the distribution profile and whatnot, but the developer in question didn't even get that far with RIM.
Dude. The documentation for configuring your provisioning profiles and other faffing around was 60 pages long. If you messed up any single step in the 60 page long process you had to go back to the start.
Also, yes, everything was love and kittens for North American devs, but the process was (and still is) a major PITA for devs outside of NA.
Yeah, I mean the process is a little complicated, but it works perfectly if you just follow the instructions step by step (and you don't need to do any of that to run your app in the simulator).
I think it took me about an hour the first time, and it takes maybe 10 minutes to generate the certificates and profile after you do it a few times.
The great thing about open platforms is that there is no one to get in your way. So if you are going to stand between us and our development, you best make it a good experience.
I know it's unfair, but as an overseas developer you should probably expect a bit more pain when working with such a US-centric company (correct or not).
Comments
Hmm, I expected something ... well ... something really bad. But it looks like the guy has just a very thin skin.
I'm an iPhone developer who signed up with the program as soon as it became available and I can tell you: Becoming an iPhone developer was a major PITA. It started with the registration (Apple let you wait for weeks after you purchased the membership), then with taxes formalities (as a non us-citizen I had to call the I.R.S. and get a w8-ben number ... mix a polish name with a german address and an overseas phone call and you get a really fun time). Oh, and I had to print out all my contracts, sign them and send them via snail mail to some Apple subsidiary in Texas.
And then the fun just started - I spent days getting all the provisioning profile stuff working (only to get my app to run on my device). Uploading the finished app to the store was another story (there was no build & archive & submit 3 click way - you had to build the distribution package yourself).
Considering RIM has just started their developer program for their playbook I'd say that the blog post is exaggerated. The only thing that I think he's right on is the 10 app/$200 limit ...
I've definitely heard the horror stories of the early days of iPhone development. I don't think I exaggerated though. I pretty much stuck to the facts of what happened, with some sarcasm sprinkled on of course :)
It's important to remember though that RIM isn't competing for developers with the Apple of 3 years ago. They're competing with the Apple (and Google) of today. As a developer who's time and sanity is valuable, I'm going to have a hard time justifying the added frustration, when there are other options that are much simpler, and have much more profitable markets to sell apps to.
Sure, but those were the early days of the whole mobile platform craze. Today Apple and Google have a huge lead and RIM is trying to play catch-up. RIM's offerings have to be competitive with what the other players have now, not what they had three years ago.
I've also been an iPhone Dev right from the start and I didn't find it that difficult. Sure, the provisioning stuff took some hours, and uploading an app to an actual device was as simply as clicking 'build & run'. Publishing an app was a tad more difficult, what with the distribution profile and whatnot, but the developer in question didn't even get that far with RIM.
Dude. The documentation for configuring your provisioning profiles and other faffing around was 60 pages long. If you messed up any single step in the 60 page long process you had to go back to the start.
Also, yes, everything was love and kittens for North American devs, but the process was (and still is) a major PITA for devs outside of NA.
C'mon. Did it really take you _days_ to get the provisioning profile stuff working?
Yeah, I mean the process is a little complicated, but it works perfectly if you just follow the instructions step by step (and you don't need to do any of that to run your app in the simulator).
I think it took me about an hour the first time, and it takes maybe 10 minutes to generate the certificates and profile after you do it a few times.
> instructions
yeah, if those were available/not just plain wrong when the program started.
They were there. Trust me, I wouldn't have been able to figure out the process on my own.
The great thing about open platforms is that there is no one to get in your way. So if you are going to stand between us and our development, you best make it a good experience.
I know it's unfair, but as an overseas developer you should probably expect a bit more pain when working with such a US-centric company (correct or not).