endloop blog

The “How to start, build, launch and market your first iPhone App in 28 days” series so far:

• Part 1: The Enrollment
• Part 2: The Prep
• Part 3: The Design
• Part 4: The Build
• Part 5: Coming soon…

Part 1: The Enrollment

So you want to build an iPhone App and make millions, eh? Well, so do we and while we’re not quite making millions yet, we thought we’d chronicle the steps we’ve taken and the hurdles we’ve passed to get our first app, iHeartRate, built and launched on the App Store.  Now, we’re not saying that this is the BEST way to do this, but rather we’ve found it to be a pretty effective path to get your first App out.

If you know nothing about what it will take to sign up for the iPhone Developer Program, don’t know Objective-C, or don’t even own a Mac yet but you’ve heard all the success stories and want to join the iPhone App Gold Rush, then have no fear, this is written for you.  Even if you know it all, you might still find some useful tips here.

Why 28 days? Well, to be quite honest, that’s how long it took us, from start to finish, to apply for the iPhone Developer program, buy our first Mac, learn Objective-C, design & build iHeartRate and finally submit it for review.  And trust us, if we can do it, so can you.

This guide will be split up across several blog posts.  There’s just too much we want to say to have it all in one post, so we’ll take you step-by-step through our process, decision making and tips to get your first app out.  So, without further ado, let’s get started!

The Enrollment

Which Program?

Ok, so first things first, apply for the iPhone Developer Program! If you’re like 99% of us, then what you’ll want is the Standard Developer program. It’s $99 and will allow you to sell your app on the App Store. The Enterprise Program is for just that - Enterprises that want to make in-house apps to be distributed, well, in-house. We’re pretty sure that this is NOT what you want.

Individual or Corporation?

The second thing you will have to decide is if you’re going to enroll as an individual or a corporation. Basically, are you just going to sell the apps as yourself or do you have a company that will be receiving the revenue?  We’re not going to get into the advantages or disadvantages of being a corporation but what we CAN say is that for Endloop Systems Inc., the approval process took almost a month.  We’ve heard that developers who enroll as individuals can sometimes get reviewed and approved within a day!

For us, we waited almost 3 weeks before they contacted us.  Once contacted, they asked us to fax our Articles of Incorporation (as proof of our existence as a company). Once they received them, it took another few days for them to call the Legal Representative of Endloop Systems (just someone who has the authority to speak on behalf of the company) and then after that, we were finally approved. Phew.

Once approved, whether individual or corporation, you can then pay the $99 enrollment fee.

Contracts & Tax Forms

But you’re not done the paper work yet! We’re not going to get into all the details because the documentation Apple provides is pretty detailed anyway, but basically, you have to accept some contracts to sell your apps on the App Store.  You also have to fill out your banking information (so you can get paid) and your tax information (so you can give it back to the government).  For tax, you need to give Apple either your Social Security Number (SSN, if you’re a US citizen), US Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN) or an Employer ID Number (EIN).

Being a Canadian corporation, we had to apply for an EIN with the IRS. Luckily, it’s actually fairly painless and we had our EIN within 30 minutes.  Just fill out the form provided to you by Apple on the tax information page and call the IRS to request your EIN and they will give it to you right away over the phone.

If you’re Canadian, then you’ll also have to fill out a GST form and mail it via snailmail to Cupertino. Also, make sure you fill out the Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits properly otherwise your sales may be subject to a withholding tax. I know this all sounds fairly complicated and it sort of is actually.  Feel free to shoot me an email or comment on here and I’ll try to help you out as much as I can (only if you’re Canadian, otherwise I won’t be able to help much!).

One last bit, if you’re not based in the US (whether as an individual or corporation), consider talking to your accountant first before applying altogether.  They can you offer some unique insight on how to structure your business going forward and definitely know more about US Tax Laws than we do. Actually, even if you’re based in the US, talk to your accountant anyway! Trust us - you’ll be glad you did.

And you’re done!

Sort of. Well, you’re done the paperwork at least. With all that complete, you should now be legal and able to sell your apps on the App Store. So basically, the timeline for this elapsed over the entire 28 days and went like this for us:

1. Apply for the iPhone Developer Program as a Corporation
2. Wait 3 weeks
3. Apple calls and wants documents; documents faxed
4. Wait 3 days
5. Apple calls and confirms identity of Legal Rep of Corporation
6. Next day, accepted! Pay $99
7. Start doing more paperwork (get EIN number, fill out banking information, send GST form)
8. Done!

Of course, during this entire process, we learned Obj-C and designed and built iHeartRate so that it would be ready the minute all the paperwork was finished. We’ll go over all that in future posts but hopefully this first one kind of gives you an idea of the administrative work that’s required to get up and running.  While it can be a little daunting, we hope this was helpful in some way.

The next post, The Prep,  will go over how we actually learned Obj-C and what resources we used to get there.