I'm trying to figure out what would be the best way to earn some extra cash in this field. My wife is leaving me and my 2 daughters, and making only 1200/month in southern California is really leaving me in a financial bind. I wanted to do app development as a pass time, but now I feel like I really need to make an extra 250/month at least doing side projects. I still plan on getting my mac, so that I can take some online classes to start working onba degree, plus hopefully can break back into freelance webdesign. But I feel I need to explore all potential avenues of extra income. Making my own apps would be extreamly risky, and even if I did free apps with ads in them I doubt it would bring in much extra money. So how much is the freelance app development? Obviously it would depend on the size of the project, but have you found it's possible to find people/companies looking for this work and will it net a decent payout?
If all you need is to make an extra $250/mo, might as well put out your own apps. Both apps I've developed (neither took a month of development time) have netted over $500 (Ski Champ brought in over $2000). I don't know much about building apps for other people, sorry. I doubt you will get clients without some sort of portfolio though.
Good point, guess I should start on my own initially. I see a lot of people on here saying don't quit until you have like 5x your yearly salary. I would be fine then at 75k being built up lol. I don't expect to ever become an AppStore millionair, however it would always be nice I would however like to make an extra couple hundred a month. I already got a project in web design today that is gonna bring in my $250 goal so I might be okay just relying on that type of extra work for a while. I am very ambitious and a go getter when I really want something, that's why even in my financial situation I am still dead set on getting into app dev. Hopefully by years end it will be bringing in enough extra money to keep my rental and busfare paid for
First of all, sorry for your bad situation, MexicanJesus. Not only do you have to deal with a difficult financial situation, but you have social and family difficulties added on top of it. I think you are looking at appropriate options though. I made it through huge parts of my life while working on freelance projects, and they did add up to a decent chunk of income. The trick is to keep working so that money keeps flowing continuously. I know for a fact that I can get by on $1200 a month with 2 kids, but my region doesn't have the high cost of living that is prevalent throughout California. If moving is an option, you might consider that. However it is likely that you have friends, family and a job in SoCal which would prevent you from moving. I don't see any indication that you are a programmer, so that will hinder your abilities to create apps on your own. It is possible to get onboard with a team that needs an artist, but you need to start distributing your portfolio and make that your fulltime job (looking for freelance). Good luck.
Maybe contact dominic reeves, if you haven't already. — He seems to be actively seeking out developers for paid projects at the moment. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=46808
Yes, my programing skills are quite rusty to be honest. It's been a few years since I have done much. I started in sophmore year with basic, after a year of that I did java for a year, and then in my seniorbyear I completed 1 semester of C++. aside from those classes my main programing experiences are with the web programing spectrum (PHP, ASP, and the like). I'm sure it will be rough getting started but I usually pickup on stuff like this quickly. May even look at getting something like unity or gamesalad to start if comes to me neededing something easier to start on.
Consider Flash too. In CS4, you can export Flash games into iPhone app format. Flash is considerably easier than Obj-C.
I bet you meant CS5, which is'nt available yet, and because of that, nobody really knows how that may work out performancewise....
My experience with Flash on ARM hasn't produced favorable results. My experience with Adobe as a whole has not been a favorable experience. I am not holding out that the two combined could produce anything more than a buggified pile of shit. This is unfortunate, because ActionScript is a beautiful language, extremely versatile and easy to learn. Too bad it is wrapped in a crap-based interpreter. Don't expect Flash on iPhone to be able to do full-screen scrolling or even realtime animation or movement. This means any type of action game is out. It is perfectly viable for board games (checkers, chess), word games or text-based adventures.
On the subject of Flash, it's Apples and Oranges, but I've had some success with emulated MMF2. The ipod/iphone is a pretty powerful device. I think it's totally conceivable that Adobe will do a great job and allow many Flash games to run as-is or with a bit of optimization.
