The Apple iPhone is the world’s number one smart phone and more and more people are using it to access the Internet. Because of its popularity, many big websites have created their own iPhone app so their readers can receive a much better user experience. You can get the John Chow dot Com iPhone app here.
Normally, creating an iPhone app is an expensive affair that requires hiring an iPhone developer and paying fees to Apple. Now, thanks to a new free service call Bloapp, any blogger can convert their blogs into a native iPhone app in less than five minutes.
Advantages of Bloapp
Besides being 100% free, Bloapp removes the following issues when creating your own iPhone app:
- Signing up for Apple iOS developer program $99/year (review takes around 1 month)
- Hiring iOS developer for your app
- Hiring UI designer for your app
- Developing the app (2-3 months)
- Waiting for 1-2 weeks for apple to approve your app in iTunes
Creating an iPhone app for your blog takes less than five minutes. All you have to do is register for a free account, enter some information about your blog, upload a logo, decide on the color scheme and you’re done!
Once you’ve saved all your settings, your app is available instantly in the Apple Appstore via the bloapp app that serves as the reading platform for your app. Bloapp even generates a QR code for you to promote your application to your blog readers.
If you don’t have an iPhone app for your blog and don’t want to spend the money it takes to create an independent app, then Bloapp is a pretty awesome solution. An Android version is coming soon.
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Gonna have to try this
Definitely gonna try this! Although you have to tell your visitors that they will have to use this application with a funny name, it still provides you with a lot of great options.
Mobile blog viewing, here I come…
Can’t beat this deal. Free is always good.
Yes it seems to be. personally, the fact that having an iphone can be necessary to make an app somewhat drove me away from it. However, I have learned that they can be built in flash, so I don’t know if it is still necessary to join the apple club. In any case, thanks John for sharing this solution.
Too bad it’s not a real app that you actually own.
What’s the catch though? This company has to make money somehow. The catch might be perfectly acceptable, but I still want to know what it is
First and foremost we want to build a great product. It’s just one of our many products that we have developed so far and we are currently working on many other innovative products.
The catch is eventually make money, that’s why anyone is in business.
Of course, that’s what I said. As the one getting something for “free”, I wonder if I’m giving up some rights that I might not want to give up.
I guess I could read the agreements and find out though.
I won’t want to build a blog app for free if it means all my own ads get replaced with theirs, for example. That’s not likely, but we at least need to keep our eyes open.
Lol Good luck Penny for your free thoughts…
Nice app, saves time rather than me opening the web browser every two minutes and having to search for John Chow Dot Com agian. Nice job.
Too bad if you do not have an iPhone… and you have to bear opening the web browser. What I am trying to say is that the beauty of this application is you can access even when you are mobile.
I registered my Wealthy Bohemian blog with it, and seems to work well. Be advised that you’re not really creating an iPhone app per se with this service — your blog becomes accessible via the Bloapp app, which a reader must download, then search for your blog through it. (Your blog will not have its own app available via the App Store, and it won’t have its own icon on an iPhone.)
Overall, I like it, however it gets my vote for worst app name ever!
It would be nice to have your own specific app, but that will cost you a bit.
I would love to have mown stand alone app. Not specifically for my blog, but have another site where it would make a lot of sense. Anyone have recommendations on the best (and cheapest) way to get that done?
Best and cheapest may not go together.
I have a friend who is a software developer learning the iPhone SDK, who I’m going to use for a few app ideas I have – once he’s ready.
But for those without a developer friend, I’d say go to the freelance sites and find somebody who meets your needs.
Elance and other sites will help you outsource your coding work.
But it is a free service.So gonna try it.
Super cool! I will totally check this out.
reading blog on the mobile is many users now…
nice this post
I think more people surf the web on mobile devices than do through desktops or laptops.
I’m surf the web quite a bit from mobile devices. In fact I do most of my commentating from my iPhone and iPad.
too bad, I’m using Andriod. Any body knows for android phones?
It says they are working on an Android version soon to be out.
I am also waiting for it.Hope very soon we’ll get it.
Cool stuff, but what about Android users? I don’t use iPhone! (and never will) My Android is so fast, I don’t feel a need for an iPhone unless it can be overclocked to 1.9Ghz like my G2 Phone.
We are working on the Android version, please stay tuned.
Has It just wappage ?
Bloapp’s a native iPhone app so will be all the blogs who are running on it.
Great Tips, I’ll try for it.
I’ll have to get this, it’ll be great for “blogging on the go”.
Great post
I have to try this for my blog to have an application
It’s just a way for mobile readers to read your blog better.
Interesting. I just thought of checking out whether I can create an application for my blog a few days ago. The walk through you’ve posted here sumps up all the tips one needs to create one. Thank you so much, I will certainly try it soon!
That has to be the best post ever!!
I was completely unaware about this app.Surely I’ll give a try.Thanks for sharing.
Awesome stuff, I definitely will try it out.
How long till Apple junks the host app? I don’t think it’s going to take too many splogs to see this removed.
It’s basically a reading and interacting interface between bloggers and their followers. We like to think of it as “blogger’s own iPhone app”. It’s a fast and convenient way to reach to your iPhone users (soon Android too).
Also, no splogs are being added to Apple’s iTune, all blogs are hosted on Bloapp’s platform and Bloapp just delivers it. Apple wouldn’t remove RSS reader apps just because users are reading and adding spamy RSS feeds to their app. Similarly, we think that splogs might be added to our platform but they don’t have a future. Because no one follows them, and thus they will naturally die off.
Bloapp is just an extension of your blog into smartphones.
Great tip for us who know we should be more mobile friendly but just cannot seem to keep up with the fast pace of changing technology. I have linked to this post on my blog. Great info. Thanks. Matt.
I want to get an iPhone in the near future, this is usefull stuff.
Looks like a nice app but does it offer push notification every time you publish a new app? I know that a lot of Iphone users like myself have a lot of apps so adding some thing else into the mix might get lost so if a person does not notice you have a new post it might not be that worth it. I mean its great that its free but free means nothing some times.
Working on that feature now
stay tuned
Okay then sounds good. That is the best part then.
Interesting. I have apps that I created myself though because I like to enforce my brand. I don’t just create mobile versions of blogs though because then people would start complaining that they could’ve just signed up for your feed or newsletter, so I like to add different features to them.
With bloapp you can share blog posts on Twitter and FB, follow your fellow bloggers, monetize your blog… and will be adding more features in the upcoming versions.
I’m trying John’s app right now, and it’s not working.
It loads up, but never loads the content. I just have empty categories. Refresh does nothing.
Hi Kevin, did you search for “John”? When you download the app for the first time it will be empty after that you need to add blogs, either; by QR code or by searching for blog name. Please feel free to contact us at support[at]bloapp.com if you need any assistance.
Search where? I downloaded the app which is the one John linked to above, I found by searching for John Chow. It’s the one not working, and appears to have nothing to do with bloapp.
I’ve now found that I can’t use bloapp, because I don’t use iOS 4. I have a perfectly useful iPhone 3G, which becomes unusably slow when I install iOS 4 on it.
Surely, if I can play X-Plane flight simulator and Angry Birds in iOS 3, then there should be no problem making a blog app work in iOS 3.
Yep.Same thing happened to me.Johnchow App is not working,but it is not created by Bloapp,it’s self hosted.Anyway,I tried this already,not too bad,working great.
Thanks, I been wondering how to make an app for my website for awhile now.
I really enjoy reading most part of the article.all steps are really cool for everyone here..
There are thousands of apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Categories of apps include Business, Games, Entertainment, Sports, Education, Medical, Fitness, News, Travel, Photography and more! There are both paid and free app categories.
Iphone application are really useful to have in our blog
Awesome!!
Now everyone can get their own iPhone app.
BTW, is this truly free or ad supported?
It’s truly free, no ads unless you want to display ads yourself.
OMG.. No ads. Thanks dude.
I also notice more sites are converting their theme into mobile compatible.
Wow, this is amazing. This will really come in handy for a lot of people, especially those who are trying to brand themselves. I would totally do this…thanks for the post!
That’s great. I’ll definitely check this out. With so many people using Iphones today, it makes sense to use this type of app creating product. Thanks for sharing.
As much as I like the iPhone, I feel that a lot of people completely discount the android platform and how its gaining in market share quite rapidly, quite often I see only iPhone apps that would be just as valuable on the android platform.
It’s great. Going to create one. Thanks for share.
too bad, I’m using Andriod. Any body knows for android phones?
Great idea! I’ll give it a try today. Right now, I’m in the first steps of creating mobile apps, but this will give me an idea how to convert some of the WordPress sites I own into an iPhone/iPad app.
Thanks John:)
Thank you so much!!!!! now I can really make my users come to my blog with ease because these days everyone owns a smart phone.
Different web services can offer a great number of various apps which can be used in the field one needs. For my apps I used Snappii web service and truthly speaking I got pleasure. Did anybody have the similar experience? Unfortunately I’m not a programmer and find such services a real and probably single low cost possibility how to make an iPhone app.
Agree with Vlad! Snappii dot com is my favorite service