Given the current boom and income potential of iPhone application development, it's not surprising that so many people have ideas for iPhone apps. And many more people have the ideas than know how to actually turn those ideas into completed Apps for the iPhone or iPod Touch. It's much like the way most people have a great idea for a story or a novel that they just know everyone would want to read—if only they could write.



People are becoming iPhone developers who have other programming experience, and even no real experience at all. iPhone application development classes are cropping up and having to turn people away because they fill quickly, and have three times as many people wanting to take the class as the room can handle. People recognize that right now iPhone application development is simply the thing to be into.

But despite the iPhone developers who have created a nifty little app and become financially independent practically overnight, creating a great app isn't necessarily easy to do. It's not the inability to program that many people have to overcome, but also the costs involved. With iPhone application development the cost can be restrictive.

If you can write applications for the iPhone or you learn how to do it, most of the cost of development is taken care of. That's not to say it won't cost anything, because your biggest cost is time, but the biggest expense is typically hiring someone to do the programming for you. Though some people have seen that iPhone development is a hot ticket have decided to pay people to do everything from design to development to testing, most can't afford to do so. In these cases, iPhone application development can easily cost $5,000, $20,000 or more depending on the type of App. For example, games can run more on the high side to produce with 3D graphics and the like.

Entrepreneurs with money to invest in a new project are the ones who can shell out that kind of money on an application that may not even take off. After all, there are over 25,000 applications in the App Store right now—the only place developers can sell iPhone apps—and most of them aren't going to make their developers rich. Many barely sell at all. So the tales of the folks who have hit it big virtually overnight aren't the common ones.

Yet, it can happen. And even if your iPhone app doesn't become the next “it” thing, it could still sell steadily and make you a considerable amount of money over time. Remember though, even after the expense of the actual programming, it might be necessary to pay people to help them test the app. And then once Apple approves it and starts selling it, Apple takes 30% of the top, so slow sales can be very disappointing.

The cost of hiring a developer can vary widely. Because of the high demand, many are contracted out between $100 and $150 an hour. Others might be able to look at your idea and guess about how many hours it will take, and contract for a flat fee. An application that takes a full week to complete could easily cost $4,000 to $5,000. You can see why the idea of learning iPhone application development yourself has obvious appeal.