How to Start an Income as an iPhone APP Developer

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Many students and beginner developer followers asked me about keeping the iPhone app available for users to download on their iPhones. Just to clarify, iPhone apps are hosted and distributed through the App Store, not iTunes (iTunes is mainly for music, movies, etc.).1

Regarding fees to keep your app on the App Store:

• There is no separate fee per download or per month/year simply to keep your app listed once it’s published, in addition to the commission Apple takes on paid apps or in-app purchases.
• However, you absolutely must have an active Apple Developer Program membership to have your app available for download on the App Store.

The Apple Developer Program has an annual fee of $99 USD (the price might vary slightly by region in local currency).2

This annual membership is what allows you to:

1. Distribute your apps on the App Store.
2. Submit updates to your app.
3. Access the latest beta software, tools (like Xcode), and resources needed for development.3
4. Use services like TestFlight for beta testing, App Store Connect for managing your app, and various Apple frameworks and capabilities.

If your Apple Developer Program membership expires and you do not renew it, your app will eventually be removed from the App Store, and users will no longer be able to download it.4 You also won’t be able to submit any updates.

So, while there isn’t a fee specifically to keep a listing active separate from developer costs, the annual $99 Developer Program fee is mandatory to maintain your app’s presence and availability on the App Store.

Income as a developer

Okay, now let’s break down your earnings as a developer for your iPhone app priced at $5 per download on the Apple App Store.

Apple charges a commission fee on app sales and in-app purchases.1 There are two main commission rates that could apply to you, depending on your total annual earnings from the App Store:

1. Standard Commission Rate: 30%
2. Reduced Commission Rate (App Store Small Business Program): 15%2

The reduced 15% rate applies if your total proceeds (your earnings after Apple’s commission) across all your apps in the previous calendar year were less than $1 million USD.3 If your proceeds were $1 million USD or more, the standard 30% rate applies. For new developers, the 15% rate generally applies until their proceeds exceed $1 million in a calendar year.

Here’s how your earnings and Apple’s commission would be calculated for 1000 downloads, based on these two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Standard 30% Commission Rate

• App Price per download: $5
• Apple’s Commission per download: 30% of $5 = $1.50
• Your earning per download: $5 — $1.50 = $3.50
• Total Revenue from 1000 downloads: 1000 * $5 = $5000
• Total Commission paid to Apple for 1000 downloads: 1000 * $1.50 = $1500
• Your total earnings for 1000 downloads: 1000 * $3.50 = $3500

Scenario 2: Reduced 15% Commission Rate (App Store Small Business Program)

• App Price per download: $5
• Apple’s Commission per download: 15% of $5 = $0.75
• Your earning per download: $5 — $0.75 = $4.25
• Total Revenue from 1000 downloads: 1000 * $5 = $5000
• Total Commission paid to Apple for 1000 downloads: 1000 * $0.75 = $750
• Your total earnings for 1000 downloads: 1000 * $4.25 = $4250

In summary:

For 1000 downloads of your $5 app:

• If the standard 30% commission applies, you would earn $3500, and you would pay $1500 in commission to Apple.
• If the reduced 15% commission applies, you would earn $4250, and you would pay $750 in commission to Apple.

Keep in mind that there might also be taxes (like VAT or sales tax) depending on the user’s location, which are typically handled by Apple and deducted before the commission is calculated. The amounts above represent your earnings before any income tax you might owe.

How to become an iPhone app Developer

Okay, embarking on the journey to become an iPhone app developer using Swift is exciting! Here’s a detailed guide on how you can get started, covering what you need to learn, the necessary setup, resources, and the role of simulators.

1. The Very First Step: Get the Right Hardware

• You need a Mac: This is non-negotiable for native iOS development with Swift and Xcode. Xcode, the essential software for building iOS apps, only runs on macOS.
• Minimum Recommended Specs: While older Macs can technically run Xcode, a modern Mac (preferably with Apple Silicon like the M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip) will provide a much smoother development experience, faster build times, and better longevity. Aim for at least 8GB of RAM (16GB is highly recommended) and at least 256GB of SSD storage (512GB or more is better, as Xcode and simulators can take up significant space).
• Why a Mac? Apple controls the entire ecosystem. Their tools (Xcode) are exclusively for their operating system (macOS) to build apps for their devices (iPhone, iPad, etc.).

2. Your Essential Software: Xcode

• What it is: Xcode is Apple’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE). It’s a free application available on the Mac App Store.
• What it includes: Xcode is your all-in-one tool. It includes:
• Code Editor: Where you’ll write your Swift code.
• Compilers: To turn your Swift code into an app your iPhone can run.
• Interface Builder/Canvas: Tools to design your app’s user interface visually (Storyboards for UIKit, Canvas for SwiftUI).
• Simulator: Allows you to run and test your app on virtual iPhones and iPads on your Mac.
• Debugger: Helps you find and fix errors in your code.
• Documentation Browser: Access to Apple’s extensive documentation.
• App Store Connect Integration: Tools for managing and submitting your app to the App Store (requires a paid developer account later).

3. What You Need to Learn

This is the core part of becoming a developer. It’s a journey, so focus on learning step-by-step.

• a) Swift Programming Language:
• Fundamentals: Start with the basics: variables, constants, data types (Strings, Integers, Booleans, Arrays, Dictionaries), control flow (if/else, loops), functions, optionals (a key Swift concept).
• Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) / Protocol-Oriented Programming (POP): Understand classes, structs, enums, protocols, inheritance, and how to organize your code. Swift heavily utilizes POP.
• Intermediate Concepts: Error handling, closures, extensions, generics, concurrency (how to perform tasks without freezing your app).
• b) UI Framework (Choose one to start, but be aware of the other):
• SwiftUI: (Recommended for beginners starting now) Apple’s newer, declarative framework. You describe what your UI should look like, and the system figures out how to render it. It’s designed to be easier to learn and faster to build interfaces, and it works across all Apple platforms.
• UIKit: The older, imperative framework. You tell the system how to build the UI step-by-step. It’s mature, powerful, and still widely used in existing apps. Learning UIKit provides a deep understanding of how iOS interfaces work.
• Start with SwiftUI if you’re brand new, as it represents the future of Apple development and is often considered more intuitive for modern UI patterns.
• c) Core iOS Development Concepts:
• App Life Cycle: How an app launches, runs in the background, becomes active, and terminates.
• View Hierarchy: How UI elements are organized on the screen.
• Handling User Input: Responding to taps, swipes, gestures, and text input.
• Navigation: How users move between different screens in your app (e.g., using NavigationView in SwiftUI or UINavigationController in UIKit).
• Data Persistence: How to save data on the device (e.g., UserDefaults for small amounts, Core Data or Realm for structured data, saving to files).
• Networking: How to connect your app to the internet to fetch or send data (e.g., using URLSession).
• d) Design Principles (Optional but helpful):
• Familiarize yourself with Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG). This document outlines best practices for designing intuitive and consistent iOS apps.

4. Learning Resources

There are tons of resources available, both free and paid.

• Official Apple Resources (Highly Recommended — Free):
• Apple Developer Website (developer.apple.com): This is your primary source for documentation, tutorials, sample code, and videos from Apple’s annual WWDC conferences.
• “The Swift Programming Language” Book: Available for free on Apple Books and the web, this is the definitive guide to Swift.
• SwiftUI Tutorials: Apple provides excellent hands-on tutorials on building apps with SwiftUI.
• “Develop in Swift” Tutorials: Apple offers structured learning paths, often used in educational settings.
• Popular Third-Party Resources (Many offer free content, some are paid):
• Hacking with Swift (hackingwithswift.com): Offers a huge amount of free text and video tutorials, including the popular “100 Days of SwiftUI” challenge.
• Ray Wenderlich (now Kodeco) (kodeco.com): Provides high-quality tutorials (text and video) on a wide range of iOS development topics. Has both free and subscription content.
• Udemy, Coursera, edX: Offer structured video courses, often covering fundamentals to advanced topics. Look for highly-rated courses on Swift, SwiftUI, or iOS Development.
• YouTube: Many developers create free video tutorials on specific topics or project builds (e.g., CodeWithChris).
• Books: Many introductory and in-depth books on Swift and iOS development are available.
• Online Communities: Stack Overflow and the iOS programming subreddits (like r/iOSProgramming, r/SwiftUI) are great for getting help and seeing common issues.

5. Using Simulators

• Can you use them? Absolutely! Simulators are an integral part of iOS development.
• What they do: They allow you to run and test your app on various simulated iPhone and iPad devices directly on your Mac. You can test different screen sizes, orientations (portrait/landscape), and iOS versions.
• Pros: Fast to launch, convenient for testing UI layout on multiple devices without needing physical hardware.
• Cons:
• Performance: App performance in the simulator may not perfectly reflect real-world performance on a physical device.
• Hardware Features: Many hardware features are not available or fully simulated (e.g., camera, gyroscope/accelerometer, Bluetooth, push notifications in their entirety, battery life impact).
• Real-World Interaction: Testing touch sensitivity, scrolling feel, and how the app handles interruptions (like phone calls) requires a physical device.
• Do you need a physical device? While you can learn a lot using only the simulator, you will eventually need a physical iPhone or iPad for:
• Testing features that don’t work in the simulator.
• Assessing real-world performance and user experience.
• Deploying your app for beta testing (TestFlight) or to the App Store (requires provisioning the app on a physical device through your developer account). You can test on your own physical devices with a free Apple ID during development, but distribution requires the paid program.

6. Starting Your Journey and Other Details

1. Get Your Mac and Install Xcode: This is the absolute technical starting point.
2. Start with Swift Fundamentals: Use a resource like Apple’s Swift book or a beginner course. Focus on understanding the core language concepts.
3. Move to UI Development: Choose SwiftUI or UIKit and start building simple screens and user interactions.
4. Build Small Projects: Create basic apps (like a to-do list, a simple calculator, a weather display app fetching data) to apply what you learn and build confidence.
5. Don’t Aim for Perfection Initially: Focus on learning and completing small features. Your first apps won’t be App Store ready, and that’s perfectly fine.
6. Persistence is Key: Learning to develop apps takes time and effort. You will encounter errors and challenges. Learn how to debug and search for solutions (Stack Overflow is your friend!).
7. The Apple Developer Program ($99/year) is NOT required for learning and testing on your own devices. You only need it when you are ready to distribute your app to others via the App Store or TestFlight.

Starting out can feel overwhelming, but by breaking it down into smaller, manageable steps and focusing on understanding the core concepts and tools, you can definitely become an iPhone app developer. Good luck!