Get Into Dev Action Quickly & (Almost) Painlessly

[scorelessmusic]

Hi all!

I just thought to put in a good word for a development kit that will help people with ideas but no coding background to still be able to flesh out their concepts with their own two hands.

GameSalad! App creation for the rest of us! (http://www.gamesalad.com)

My personal experience with it has been very positive and the latest version allows me to also compile for Mac Desktops/Laptops. This and future improvements will really help me bring all the things in my head to everyone in the world. :)

[NineSwords]

Still mac only. Can you imagine how the AppStore would explode if they released a Windows DevKit?

[scorelessmusic]

A designer friend of mine who has a critical eye for such things did highlight to me once that the apps on the iPhone tend to have a certain flair, a polish that is just not really found in same measure on other mobile device apps. Even before the mobile scene, she would say the same thing about Mac desktop apps compared to Windows apps.

I won't be surprised that one of the reasons why we still see a considerable number of iPhone apps with that special 'polish' is because the developers who did such spectacular work with Mac desktop apps brought over their design philosophy to iPhone apps. She's not quite as confident with windows developers bringing more to the App Store beyond just volume (as opposed to the critical design quality most consider to be polish).

[NineSwords]

Interesting thought, though I see some flaws in it. For example are there many developers who habe basically a Windows background but can simply afford to get mac for the sole purpose of coding for the iDevice.

Where the missing of a Win dev kit is most apparent is the indy scene. And here the Win community really shines. And indy devs are normally really into their projects and love the polish of a iDevice as much as anybody else.

Then there is something I lerned in my limited programming experiences. You automatically adjust to the platform standarts. When creating a software you want the user to be able to use it right away. A graphically bling and polished UI would be totally worthless on a windows platform when everyone is used to menus and rows after rows of icons. Just take a look at the user responses for the new Office UI. Everyone and their mother HATES it. On the iDevice the UI is in most cases more userfreindly and streamlined then on a windows PC, so windows devs would be orienting themselfs on that.

[scorelessmusic]

It's definitely a sweeping statement, truth be told. And there's no accounting for inspiration :) In fact there's an interesting take on the Human Interface Guidelines that Apple posted to all that would develop on their devices... let me see if I can find it...

Ah, on Gizmodo.

"Consider a more real-world vision of your application. For example, on iPhone, Contacts is a streamlined list, but on iPad, Contacts is an address book with a beautifully tangible look and feel."

"It shouldn't feel like a computer, even if the iPad lets you do computer-y things with files now"

Read it up on What iPad Apps Are Going To Feel Like (http://gizmodo.com/5464371/what-ipad-apps-are-going-to-feel-like).

[NineSwords]

Interesting read. Especially the longer list on the UXmag site linked in the article. Thanks for the heads up.

[Northstreamer]

Thank you! I will try that now!