Originally published on December 6, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter. Instead of reading BigLaw here after the fact, sign up now to receive future issues in realtime.
So, you read my last article discussing the challenges and virtues of creating a smartphone app to market your law firm. Now, you're ready to start developing your own app. In this issue of BigLaw, you'll learn about the process of developing the software and getting it approved for distribution to the public by Apple. The development and approval process for Google's Android OS is similar to, albeit less stringent than, Apple's so if Apple approves you app Google will likely approve it too.
App Development Considerations: In-House or Outsource?
Regardless of whether you plan to distribute your app to the general public or to your own employees, the process of developing an app for the iPhone starts out the same — you must find someone to design the app and write the code. One of the reasons development for the iPhone has been so prolific is that Apple has made it fairly easy to develop software with its Software Development Kit (SDK). Anyone regardless of experience can join Apple's iOS Developer Program for a mere $99 and start programing apps.
Of course, you can hire an experienced software development firm to design and program your app, but if you don't have a minimum of $20,000 to spend and you have some ambitious tech-savvy lawyers in your office, you can take a shot at developing your app in house. That's exactly what I did. Although I had no previous programming experience, after about four weeks reading books on Objective-C (Apple's coding language), asking a lot of questions in online forums, and another four weeks of playing around with the SDK, I had my first iPhone app submitted to Apple for review.
Navigating the App Review Process
Once development of the app is completed and all the bugs worked out, your firm cannot distribute it to the public through Apple's App Store absent Apple's approval. The elusive and highly critical process by which Apple reviews apps for approval has always been the subject of much contention among developers — especially because all developers must enter into a strict confidentiality agreement and are thus prohibited from discussing many aspects of the development and review process.
This protocol occasionally results in apps being rejected for vague reasons. Apple has recently relaxed (slightly) its approval requirements and has provided developers with some 150 criteria for surviving the review process. Nonetheless, the review and approval process typically takes two weeks. If your app is rejected by Apple, you will need to correct any problems with the app and start the review process all over again.
If you are fortunate enough to have your app approved, within hours of approval it will be made available for download to mobile users around the world though the App Store. If you're developing the app to promote your law firm you likely will make it available for free. But, should your firm want to sell the app for profit, Apple will take a cut of 30% of all sales. Because the App Store is the exclusive venue for distributing both free and for-sale apps, there is no way around this requirement.
You will need to maintain and update your app as necessary, particularly, when Apple releases new products and operating system updates, which may require some reprogramming and yet another journey though Apple's review and approval process.
What About Enterprise Apps?
Distributing apps to the public through an app store is just one aspect of mobile app development. In my next column, I'll explain how to develop and deploy "enterprise apps" — apps specially designed for use by your law firm's employees only.
Written by Dan Friedlander of LawOnMyPhone.com.
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