I got a great idea for a iPhone app. How do I get it produced for 'sweat equity'?
Without getting too detailed, it would have to technically:
-use the camera feature of the phone as an alternative to the passcode security that locks the phone
-allow the user to take a picture and compare it to the stored picture in the phone
-grant access if the two pictures are similar enough (fault tolerance setting would be nice for adjusting the sensitivity)
Im basically giving the idea out with this quote in mind:
"Dont worry about someone stealing your 'original' idea. If it is truly 'original' you'll have to shove it down their throat"
I know you probably know where I am going with this, but I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction.
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M$3 Answers
Not because you can't get someone to do it for you, but because it can't be done.
The iPhone SDK forces each app to essentially stand on its own - your app would go a bit too low-level. For it to work, it would have to activate automatically each time your phone locks (which not only is impossible - apps can only activate through home screen icons - but would also conflict with any app you'd be running at the time - apps can't run in the background, with the exception of Voice Memos and possibly Nike+) and not only that, it would have to override even the most low-level system functions (otherwise, anyone would be able to circumvent it by tapping the home button or, barring that, rebooting, resetting, or forcequitting).
TL;DR: The app won't work.
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M$The bigger problem will be convincing someone though. I don't think originality vs nonoriginality matters here; it's whether or not it's executed properly and how it's marketed (a post on TechCrunch definitely helps). So, in that case, you may actually have to worry a little about someone stealing your idea. It might just be a risk you have to take, and one you can stomach by working as quickly as possible to have your finished product released before the person copying you.
Some programmers will work for free or almost free in their spare time if you give them a large chunk of the project (eg. go 50/50 with them on it) and convince them that it'll be fun no matter what happens (people don't do boring work for free).
As for what you contribute, do you have any marketing experience? You can be the ideas guy, the promotions guy, media guy and more. There are lots of other hats to wear as long as you can find the time and energy.
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M$
Sorry, I had to remove the "www" and capitalize DemoCamp for the link to work; it's fine now.
Do you live near a larger city? If there's a DemoCamp location near you then that would be the place to start. How many web design shops are there in your area? I actually met a lot of great people at a local get-together-for-a-drink night hosted by a small web development company in my area.
Come to think of it, you might even make some progress by simply cold calling some local developers/companies and trying to strike up a conversation. While some of the entrepreneurs in The Valley aren't always so polite, most people in the web community are friendlier than you'd think.
that democamp link is dead.
contributing wont be a problem ( I can wear many hats as the admin, promotions, marketing, etc) but just feel like programmers dont care about that when they are putting most of the upfront time and energy to develop it. 50/50 is fine with me (I would even be willing to give them a majority).
The problem is that I am the geek in my family/friends. Everyone comes to me, so finding someone there is not an option. Which leaves me with the freelancing community (elance, guru, etc) or craigslist/kijijii for local freelancers. The problem is that a lot of times they arent local or they pretend to be local.
It just sucks to find a tech co-founder.
Thanks for the tip schindyguy. Glad I could help! :-)
I live near Los Angeles (which you think would be good as a city), but its not the valley where its easy to find tech...And I always monitor socaltech news and other meetup events in LA. Ive just heard from too many people that its a waste of time. I need the hard coder type...
I can definitely understand where you're coming from. What about a local college? What if you called a professor and said you're looking for a really great coding student who'd like to work on a project right away? The job market is brutal right now - you might even get someone who wants to pad their resume.
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M$
Thanks for the technical answer to if its feasible.
How about on jailbroken iPhone?
Well yes, there wouldnt be a very profitable market for just jailbroken phones. So it would have to fit within the framework. I wanted the photo security mechanism to be an alternative to the passcode entry, not a replacement.
Basically my idea was to make a fingerprint or photo entry alternative to unlock the phone. Users could store multiple pictures and or thumbprints as pictures (although it would be a little awkward to take the fingerprint picture with a camera on the back of phone) Anyway, when a phone is locked they would have to snap a similar picture to gain entry.
But if you are saying its technically impossible, we shouldnt be having this discussion anymore; we will have to wait until apple comes out with a feasible way to do it (legitimately, not with a jailbroken phone)
Maybe, though it'll be really hard to find someone to code - not only is photo comparison really tough to implement (you'll always get a whole lot of false positives and negatives) but I don't know that there's a really big market for security software on jailbreak iPhones.
Even if you do get a good algorithm, it'll have to be implemented in a way that it can fit inside the general framework of the iPhone. There likely will be memory issues.
Plus, how many different places do people use their iPhones each day? Do they sometimes use them in the dark? Will they be locked out of the phone if they can't recreate the lighting, angle, environment and composition of the original photo? What happens if they forget the photo?