Android development

[austn]

Yesterday I placed 2 ads on odesk.com looking for a programmer and a designer for a turn based strategy game I was to create for (primarily) Android. I've been getting lots of replies and will likely find some good candidates. Has anyone here ventured into mobile development? Have you had success?

If you are a programmer or a designer or could refer me to someone please do. Especially people who can do leeto pixel style isometric animations

[rocksteady]

I had been looking into a while ago, to have a kind of "Oregon Trail" remake game made, for Facebook platform though.
I got quoted around $5,000 for complete development from start to finish, though it would be paid in parts @ each "milestone" throughout development

I usually did my research just from Googling "Android Development Company".
As far as Freelancers, especially for professional quality products, I usually stick to Freelancer.com instead of oDesk, since they require payment to post - and usually find the quality of workers on there higher on average.

Some company's I have found:
http://www.intersog.com/
http://www.ndot.in/
http://www.icrglabs.com/
http://fugenx.com/
http://www.xcubelabs.com/
http://www.avenuesocial.com/ (the one I had actually spoke to in-depth and received the quote from)

But yeah, I would say mobile/social apps are a great place to take that dirty short-game money and turn it into a long-term investment.

[rocksteady]

Another point I can't stress enough for mobile applications is that you don't necessarily need an original idea to become profitable with your app.
For example, on the Android Market, I have seen several ridiculous apps like "Smoke a Bowl", "Snort a Line", "Smoke a Cigarette" type apps, each which cost $1.99 to get and have 50,000+ installs
Apps like this would not cost nearly as much as a full game development (around $5000 as stated before), and all you really have to do is market it better than the competition.
Like, making another "Smoke a Bowl" app, with a couple extra features, and then buy ad space on marijuana related websites with a banner that contains the smartphone bar code for install directly on the banner.

Also, if you are outsourcing the development it's probably better if the idea isn't 100% original since if it's a decent idea the development company may just choose not to respond and take the idea for themselves.

[austn]

^This is very true too, and tbqh I should probably start with those types of apps. Good way to gauge the skills of the developers and get a few releases under my belt.

...'how to tie a tie' comes to mind as one that was recently trending up

[rocksteady]

I recently had been thinking of something like a Lipstick app.
Basically they'd get an option of a couple different Lipstick cases, different colors and stuff, and they would be able to drag off the top of it, pinch screen to have it twirl the lipstick in and out.
Something super cheesy like that, marketed the right way, could easily net a good profit. I'm sure there are plenty of elementary school, middle school, even high school girls that have smart phones and don't pay their own bills and wouldn't think twice about dropping a dollar or two on something so retarded.

[austn]

Ya ....even a simple paper-doll style game with quality graphics could do really well with in app purchases for different outfits etc

[Moony]

I like where this thread is going. Great information shared.

[austn]

and I do think one important quality of anything I have made is to make sure they are easily reskinnable... even if one game fails I could release it countless other times with different styles

[defk0n]

All it comes down to is marketing ,just ripp a flash game,port it to android
and spend that 5k on marketing

if all turns out shitty, atleast you got some mailz

Profit?

[rocksteady]

I like where this thread is going. Great information shared.

Lol, thanks.
I usually just lurk around and hit people up if I need their service but I'm just waiting around to get paid ATM and figured I'd try to raise my post count & rep since these things seem to matter so much around here

[shemer77]

for the ppl that say you can make a crappy app then just market it properly and it can still be profitable, where would you guys exactly recommend marketing it?

[UP5]

I've coded a few apps on the market. None of them have made any money, but I really wasn't expecting them to, more for portfolio. Got a mustache camera overlay, weightlifting app, a few others not worth mentioning, and I'm currently working on a sms monitering app. Message me if you got any questions or need help.

[samward000]

Openwave specializes in providing various services like Website Design and Development, Mobile Web Application Development, Desktop Application Development, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Advertising and Product Development with an innovative approach to technology and designing methods.
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[jerk]

Great ideas itt. I'd always try to add some social factor to your app. Give some sort of reward (special content) for sharing the app on FB and twitter.

[fr0st]

If any resident DG's are good at coding I have the source to an 80% finished android app I need finished. I had a friend developing it but he ran out of enthusiasm after losing his job and having to move home from college. PM me if you're interested in finishing it up, I can pay you to finish the android version or we can partner up if you have the ability to port it over to iOS.