HOW TO PRODUCE YOUR OWN IPHONE APP
With this in mind, I set out to create the world’s first Legal Cartoon App.
For anyone with a PowerPoint presentation and about $500 here is my story.
I put a proposal up on www.elance.com. This is a free site which allows you to call for tenders, put money into escrow and only release it when you are satisfied with the App designer’s service. Within 24 hours I had 5 tenders mostly from India which enabled me to assess the going rate and select a tender from a provider who had excellent feedback from previous customers. I deposited the money into the escrow account and I was committed. I had looked at other cartoon Apps which helped but I found the process of designing the App was difficult and time consuming.
There were three stages:
TWO WEEKS: VIDEO PROTOTYPE
Within about two weeks, I had uploaded the pages and viewed two video clips of the App that they had designed. The designer skillfully and patiently gave me what I asked for which was maybe a mistake on his part as there were quite a few changes while I worked out what I wanted and what was technically possible.
FOUR WEEKS: THE APP IS BORN
Just as I was feeling that we would never get it right he sent me the App itself. Getting it working was difficult for me. It came in two files which had to be dragged and dropped into iTunes on my computer. There was talk of the application binary, source code, mobile provisioning certificate, provisioning profile. An iPhone configuration utility box came up on my screen.
I struggled and we met by video link on Skye, it was easy to operate this link. He was in Bangalore and I on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. He resent files, he talked me through the installation process and the Legal Cartoon App appeared on my iPhone. Lokesh had worked for IBM and joined with 15 others two years ago to create http://impressolservices.com/impressol/. I formed the impression of a professional, serious minded young man dedicated to getting the job done quickly. As a lawyer, especially in litigation, I don’t always get to work with people like this. I really enjoyed working with him.
There were more amendments and a second application binary which I found just as hard to install and I required another session with Lokesh on Skype.
TWO WEEKS: UPLOADING TO THE ITUNES STORE
Once the App was finished, I discovered that I would need a Mac Book computer to upload the App. Lokesh helpfully sent me the ITunes Developers Guide which in terms of coolness is not one of Steve Job’s greatest works. Fortunately for a small extra payment Lokesh would upload it for me.
I had to purchase an Apple developers certificate for $US99 which took a week to process. I am not only a Solicitor, Attorney and Proctor of the Supreme Court, but also a newly appointed Apple Developer. Regrettably there does not appear to be an Apple Developer’s tie or any enthusiasm on my part to get technical.
Eventually, the App was uploaded; the review process took one week and it appeared in the iTunes store easily accessible by iPhone in the usual way. Alternatively, you can see it by putting “Legal Cartoon App” into your internet browser.
You can buy it, tell a friend about it or send the link to your lawyer or legal colleague. Alternatively, you can get out one of your old Powerpoint presentations and get started.
© Paul Brennan. All rights reserved 2010.
Download the Legal Cartoon App to your iphone or click here to send it to a friend or to your lawyer. Enjoy amusing or at least mildly offending your legal friends or clients for FREE.
OTHER LINKS For the 101Reasons to Kill All the Lawyers blog go to http://101reasonstokillallthelawyers.com/ For legal books by Paul Brennan go to http://www.lawanddisorder.com.au/books.html
Disclaimer: The content of this site and the Law & Disorder eZine is to give you legal basics and in some instances included unashamedly to try and make you laugh. In law it is sometimes difficult to work out what is serious and what is just for fun. Therefore, if you plan to do anything legal, rely on your own lawyer’s advice or instruct me to look at the particular facts of your case. Not only will I deny responsibility for the legal content but also for some of the jokes. © Paul Brennan 2009. |
Potentially, even a legal presentation could be cool if turned into an App. It is enough to display the small logo on your iPhone, you do not even need to open it which in the case of a legal presentation can be a definite plus. People expect you to keep an App short or at least they do not feel pressured to flick through all of it, which again is a big bonus.
