Thanks for posting this. I do have a few app ideas, and no money :). Did they give you an estimate of how long before it’s approved?

They started working on the app today and estimate 60 -90 days. I figure 2 weeks for the app designers to complete the initial draft of the app and other 2 weeks of us going back and forth in beta to test it out and tweak, then 30 days to get approval into app store. With the holidays in the way maybe add another 2 weeks.
Just my guess from things they have mentioned. Each project is different. Some apps they approved were so simple that it was literally just and idea (check out Note To God and Problemed Halved to see what I mean). My app got approved by them for production in Sept. (I submitted idea last June) but it took me this long to get all the info to them. I had to write all the content and provide all images etc…. I could have done it alot quicker but life kept getting in the way (business, 4 kids, school, etc…). But I found that the extra time I took let me revisit the idea a few times and I think it is a better app than had I rushed it to them. I can’t tell you what it exactly is but it is in the health category.

Thanks for sharing Matt.

Congratulations Matt on two fronts. The first being that you made it and are heading towards the goal line. The second for sharing your experience and contact with others here. Most Inventors hoard their contacts and are afraid to share.
Keep us informed of your progress and when it will be released. I wish you nothing but success! : )

http://www.rogerbrown.net

LIsa/Roger:

I am happy to share it with all.

I spoke with the team at Medl Mobile today and they are going to start producing the app right after the holidays.

They’ve reviewed all my content and looked at their schedule and decided it was best to start on it fresh after the holidays. All their app programs are rushing to finish the current apps in production before Christmas then they will take some time off and start on it fresh Jan. 4th.

So the waiting begins……

Matt

Hi Matt:
Thanks for sharing and congratulations. How long did it take after submitting your idea for it to get chosen? Best of luck! Be sure to let us know when it comes out.

Carrie:
I submitted in June of this year and they told me in late August that it had been chosen. Had I been ready I could have submitted the entire app content the next day and it would have went into production then. However, I had the idea for the app and I knew the information to make it functional was available but I had to gather all the information and format it to the best of my abilities for them. Lucky I have some some background with photoshop and such. I also needed to do a photo shoot and luckily my nephew is an aspiring photographer so that all worked out. Some apps are just software tools but mine is more like a informational guide/book. When you see the app all this will make sense.

Thanks,
Matt

Very cool. I submitted an idea of mine. So we shall see.

after reading your forum i visited and put in 11 ideas myself hopefully at least one gets picked —-matt did you have software yourself to make the app and did not finish, if so what software was it?

Jason,

I did not have any software to create app. There is software out there but it is very basic. It can basically pull info and pages from an existing website to make an app for a business to promote their site etc…

From what I can tell you need to be a skilled programmer in object oriented programming and such to create a functional app that works. There is a great online class for free from Standford University but they lost pretty quickly since I have never learned programming.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/april1/free-...

Go to itunes and search Standford University iphone application programming. This is taught by Apple programmers. Way over my head.

Thanks
Matt

if you have an idea and they like it how much is it worth to them?
do they give you more money if you find or do all the information or reseach for them?

i remember reading you said that you was giving them alot of material and info

Jason:

You would not get anymore money than the 25% of revenue (once production costs are paid off). If you were not to supply them with the “content” for the app and they had to hire someone to produce it, it would increase the cost of production and you would not start seeing revenue until it was paid off.

Here are two examples that will put this into perspective for you. Medl Mobile created two apps last year, one called TreeID and the other Note to God.

TreeID has a ton of content in it. Photos and descriptions of Trees. It was suggested by a Phd Botanist as an app. Good thing for him he researches trees for a living so he had all the materials he needed at his fingertips or he could easily find the data. Not sure how much more content he had to produce to make the app complete but I would guess he had most of it ready to go. If he or Medl Mobile had to hire someone to do all that research it would have cost alot of money and unless it was a slam dunk money maker (and nothing is – especailly in the app store) I believe MedlMobile would have turned it down.

On the other hand look at Note To God app. There is no content to speak of. The content is user generated. You type your note or prayer to God and send it off to the internet to be read by other Note To God users (or you can keep it private). Cool idea from a 15 year old kid. Plus cheap to produce.

My app is more along the lines of TreeID with content/information generate by me.

Hope this helps.

Matt

Matt,

Thanks for clarifying that. I was a little nervous thinking I would have to submit artwork and content along with my idea. But my ideas are of the user generated content variety. Now I feel better :).

Margaret:

I does help to draw out a storyboard for them so that they can see what you envision and how the app flows from one page/function to another.

It does not have to be anything fancy. You can hand draw it on their storyboard pdf.

I created mine with photoshop and indesign only because I have the programs and know how to use them.

There is a cool website called http://aviary.com/ where you can create great graphics if you do not have any graphics programs. I think it is $29/year. The only thing you have to be sure of is that your account is turned on private because you do not want ideas on a public website. I used aviary for a bit when my mac was down but after I finished each creation that I wanted to be private I downloaded it to my computer and then deleted it from their site.

Matt

bump ;)

Just submitted my first app idea!

Just submitted my second app idea!

Margaret:

That is great! I have about 7 entered and two I am holding off on because they are upgrades to my current app in production. Let’s see how the initial launch goes in the early Spring and then I’ll suggest some addons.

I even entered two for my 13 year old son that had two cool ideas.

Happy Holiday!

Matt

Thanks Matt. I submitted 3 ideas, but only 2 are showing up on their site. I received email comfirmation that they received the 3rd one. So I don’t know what happened with that. Maybe they decided not to consider it? Either way, I can’t wait to see what happens with them. Happy holidays to you too!

From my experience they do not work that fast to review ideas and reject them before they get posted to your account. Sounds like a computer glitch to me especially since you got the confirming email.

The one thing I will say though is that MM has gotten 10,000 of thousands (guessing 40,000) app ideas submitted in the last year so it takes a while for them to review and give status. All my other ideas are still in review stage and it has been months.
Happy Holidays!

bump, don’t want to leave first page yet! :)

HI all,

I just got this email this morning from the guys at MEDL Mobile who are programming my app.

David who runs MEDL with Andrew is the guy in the youtube promo who says, “We look at every app as a brand and a business.”

Friends of MEDL,

Be sure to check out CNBC tonight at 7PM for their new special, Planet of the Apps. This story will explore the iPhone app phenomenon and features several developers from across the country – including a spotlight on MEDL Mobile and a few of our incubator apps. Should be very cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yw0g5Ea7QY

Check your local listings for details. And here’s to great ideas!

Best,

MEDL Mobile

Hi Matt,

Congrats on your success, and looking forward to your app. Have you checked out www.appswell.com either? I had seen them in New York Times. Along the same lines of bringing users app ideas to reality, but they use crowdsourcing, letting all users vote and comment to pick a winner, so a much more open process. They also give $1000 upfront cash prize, and a share of the profits.

does anybody know of a company looking for iphone or itouch protecting+ inventions —-i have one in my head and going to build a prototype soon

Daniel:

I checked out Appswell.com but from just a glance the one thing that concerned me was that with crowd sourcing the idea was being looked at by many people. How do you protect your idea from strangers knocking it off even before you have had a chance to produce it and get accepted into the app store? I will read further into when I have some time.

Thanks,
Matt

Hi, Just wanted to keep you updated on my progress with the iphone app. Medl Mobile called me yesterday to get some ideas from me of what look and feel I had in mind for the app, scroll bars, fonts, buttons, etc…

Thanks,
Matt

How exciting,congrats on having a G7 and a selected App! Are your other app ideas still in review? Did your status on the app they selected ever change from in review to something else or did they just contact you one day?

Very exciting Matt! I emailed them about my app that wasn’t showing on my submissions list. I must have entered it around midnight when they do maintenance, so it didn’t go through even though I received a confirmation email. He very wisely suggested that people keep a print out of what they submitted in case of those type of things. Of course, I didn’t do that. :/

Carrie:

I don’t look at their site as much as EN! But I just went the other day and all most of my other app ideas changes to “Not at this Time”. I still have one at " in review" but it is kind of new. I did notice a while back that my first app went to "In Pre-Development " so I emailed them. They said they were about to get in touch with me about it.

The could definitely use a system like ENs.

Matt

Oh bummer! I just checked and got a “not at this time” on both of mine too. :(

Sorry, Margaret.

Thanks, Matt. Any idea when your app will be released?

Bummer, Margaret. At least “not at this time” is a bit nicer than a big red X.

I just checked mine and they now say “considering.” I think that is the same as “in review.”

Carrie,

That sounds better than “in review.” Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I like the way you think, Margaret!

Matt thanks for sharing about Medlmobile and Congrats on getting an app selected! So far I have entered 4, 3 have said “Not at this Time” and one is left to review. I do have some other ideas and have not submitted any storyboards yet so I will in the future. Thanks and Good luck to Carrie & Margaret and keep us posted.

Jene:

I am glad you are sending in ideas. I still have one idea left at “in Review”. I emailed the staff working on my app today to get a progress report. I will let you know when I hear something. I had about 6 or 7 ideas go “Not at this time” so keep trying!

I am sure the staff there is no excited that the new apple iPad will also open up a new market of app users!

Matt

Matt, Best of luck to you when your app does arrive we are very excited to check it out . We also had Medl do our app that is coming out soon for our yard sale website: http://www.GarageSalesTracker.com and I can tell you first hand that MEDL Mobile and all of their workers are a pleasure to deal with.

Carrie, have you heard anything? :) I submitted a few ideas myself…we will see…Good luck everyone!

I submitted two ideas back in December. Of those two, one idea still says “considering” and the other one says “not at this time.” Good luck to you too.

I finally came up with an idea for them after finding out all the other ideas i had were already out there and submitted so fingers crossed. Just a heads up for anyone who is going to submit to this website I had a few problems with it uploading it was really frustrating, it may have been my computer but then again maybe not so save yourself the frustration that I had and save all of your work somewhere before submitting it again so you don’t have to retype it over and over, (you think i would have learned the first time but no i am a moron ) good luck everyone! :)

So far 2 ideas submitted, 1 not at this time the other still in review. It’s a fast turn around for an answer there.

All 3 of mine got " not at this time"

Hi all,

I have been away for a while (back in school) so I have not checked in lately. Great to see all the ideas you guys are submitting to medlmobile. I just checked and another idea I submitted one month ago has gone to “considering”. So they definitely are getting better at looking at the ideas and changing status. No real word on what stage my app is in at this point, they just emailed me about 2 weeks ago to say they assigned it to a programmer/designer!

Sorry Margaret on the “not at this time”, is that more polite than an R8? : )

Matt

Yes, just a bit more polite than a glaring red x :). Congrats on another one in consideration!

Just an update to say that I received an email from MedlMobile on Friday afternoon with different graphic elements for the app for my approval. Things seem to be moving ahead.

That’s great, Matt. I’m still hanging in with one of my ideas from December. I’m starting to wonder if they forgot about it. I hope your app is a smash hit!

Congrats Matt! As soon as you are allowed make sure you tell us what your app is all about!

2 not at this times, 2 ideas left to submit and then I think I am tapped for this market they are harder to come up with than inventions! :)

Nothing came through there, Kirk. At least nothing I can open or see

I just see a little white square with another colored square inside.