I’m floored to announce that my article, How to Succeed with your Mobile App, has been published in Smashing Magazine’s latest eBook, Designing Mobile Apps — Tips and Techniques. The book is packed full of good stuff so be sure to check it out.

Along those lines, I’ve been working on a pretty massive Languages case study over the past few months. It will probably manifest itself as a two part series on Smashing Magazine pretty soon.

Finally, two super awesome articles came out this week:

• My app design workflow by one of the top app designers in the world and all around great guy, Marc Edwards of Bjango.
• Starters Guide to iOS Design, a great primer to iOS design by Ben Taylor.

I was recently asked that question by a cool guy named Tope. He recently asked the same question to 13 top app makers and compiled their responses in one super awesome post: 13 Things You Must Know When Starting Out in iOS/Mac Development

Here’s my part:

Don’t neglect the idea. We’ve all heard that the idea for an app doesn’t matter; it’s all about execution. I used to firmly believe that but then something happened. My second app, Languages, made more money in one day then my first app made in two years. What on earth? They both were well executed. Grades even won an Apple Design Award. They both were well marketed, being featured by Apple and the press. What was the difference?

The idea.

Grades was always limited by the small niche it served – college students who really care about their grades (a smaller niche than we would hope). Languages was much more universal. Almost anyone might be interested in a translation app that works without an internet connection. Don’t get me wrong, as this chart illustrates, niche apps can definitely make a lot of money but they have to be in niches that care so much about the app that they will pay a premium for it. Most apps, unfortunately, make the mistake of targeting a niche that would only pay 99 cents for their app, resulting in a disappointing business equation.

Of course, I would have told my former self quite a lot more than that but that lesson was a biggie. A few other highlights:

Give back. The fastest way to learn is by openly sharing and discussing

-Marc Edwards

For this to be an enjoyable living you need the enjoy the process and people involved.

-David Smith

Be sure to check out the full article. It’s chocked full of goodness.

Summly recently sold to Yahoo for 30 million dollars. It was started by a 15 year old. Clearly, you don’t have to wait until you’re 30… or even 20, to start doing awesome stuff.

Today I’m excited to introduce you to Ryan Orbuch, the 16 year old designer behind a neat app called Finish. His app (which, by the way, is his first) has been featured by Apple, Fox & Friends, TechCrunch, The Verge, … you name it. How? Well, that’s exactly what we talk about in the interview below so pay attention!

(Please excuse the quality – it was a coffee shop internet connection.)

Ryan Orbuch from Tapity on Vimeo.

Everyone wants to know how to get on TUAW or The Verge. If you’re really serious, Pitch Perfect by Erica Sadun and Steve Sande is the book on the topic. But this infographic provides some good tips aggregated in an easy to reference visual.

If you are interested in learning a little bit more about how I got to where I am now, starting from age 8, Lori Collins just wrote a nice article all about that on her new blog, Startup Cafe.