DIY iPhone / iPad App Creation Platforms

There are a bunch of start-ups specialized in low-cost creation of iPhone (and now iPad) apps.

That can be an alternative for businesses with neither the software engineering expertise nor the financial resources to hire a professional development firm.

Small business apps might cost $15-$30k. A developer can charge $125 to $175 per hour, or $5,000 a week. A complex program can go upwards of $100,000. Most of professionally managed apps cost between $25,000 and $50,000. That covers the user-interface design, functional architecture, quality assurance testing, adherence to Apple's Human Interface Guidelines (which can be critical for getting approval from Apple), submission to the store, and warranted bug fixing post-deployment.

The base level price for a from-scratch project is now about $20,000 due to the level of competition. Anything below that probably raises red flags. 

In terms of timeline, the process can range from six weeks to six months. Add to that a two to three week approval process for Apple to review the app. 

The new low-cost offerings enable anyone to go online and have an app ready in an hour by personalizing, customizing and adapting sophisticated templates.

We have examined the most important ones:
 

• SwebApps. Its service costs $200 to $400, plus $25 per moth for hosting. All apps are installed on the iPhone operating system and run natively (meaning that it is approved by Apple and it is available on iTunes).
  
  They have prefab templates, but users can personalize each app with customized buttons and background images as well as tools including Client Sign Up (to capture customer contact information).
  
  Within 3 business days of submitting the app, SwebApps complete the development and contact the client with any concerns. Once all concerns are addressed, they submit to Apple. Apple then takes anywhere from 3-4 weeks to approve the app and upload to iTunes.
  
  All non-profits organization may build their app for free, but they are charged the monthly hosting fee.
   
• MyAppBuilder.com. Users submit their content to a control panel, and then the completed app is sent back to the client for review. After that, MyAppBuilder uploads the software to the App Store for Apple's approval. In addition to a $29 monthly subscription price, the firm charges a $20 processing fee to compile data, put it in the appropriate format, and submit to the App Store for review.
  
  A sample of it is Founding Farmers, a restaurant in Washington, D.C. that has app buttons for food and wine menus, reservations, directions and feedback.
   
• AppBreeder. Pricing fluctuates to whether the app is ad-supported (for $99 publishing it to the App Store), it's web-based ($9.95 to $14.95 per month) or whether it's native ($29.95 to $49.95 per month). Apps also can be extend to Android and BlackBerry smartphones. 
   
• AppMark. It costs $199 to publish your app. $499 if you publish it under your own brand. Phone based support is also available during the creation phase, at $120 an hour. 
   
• iSites. They promise to "take care of the app store submission in less than 24 hours." It works on both the iPhone and Android platforms. Cost: $25 per app; $99 per year if you choose to monetize by integrating with AdMob. Here you can see how the control panel works.
   
• TapLynx. It offers more versatility than other aggregators, and it comes with the ability to embed video. It has been used by online news sources as All Things D and Variety. Cost: $599 for the enterprise package.
   
• GameSalad.com. Its basic service costs $99 a year, while one with features such as customer support cost $2,000 a year. They say that "game makers of all levels can bring their ideas to life without programming a single line of code." It supports publishing and development for the new Apple iPad.
   
• MEDL Mobile's AppIncubator.com is a mobile app that solicits ideas and then does the legwork designing and coding apps in exchange for a portion of the sales generated by the software.
   
• Book-app maker eBookApp.com charges nothing to create apps that help authors and publishers promote books through the App Store but receives 50 % of sales of books sold through the apps.
   
• Mobile Roadie. It allows to build and manage iPhone and Android apps (see video below). Cost: $499 set up and $29 per month. 
   

Some experts believe that in a few years mobile apps will be to businesses what sites are today. They will serve as a product catalog, a shopping tool, a social-media resource, a way to gather client information, a media gallery -all on the go, at your customer's fingertips. 

The number of apps downloaded through these kinds of stores may surge to 18.7 billion in 2014, according to consultant Ovum.