Create an iPhone app

Plus: customise your BlackBerry or Google Android handset

Those who have given into the marketing hype of the iPhone may well have found that, despite having thousands of apps available in the App Store, the one you really want doesn't exist. Creating your own app will provide the functionality you need, and companies who do so stand to gain real kudos. We'll also show BlackBerry and Google Android users how to customise their handsets.

We've been dabbling in social media for some time, with our Facebook profile, and regular Twitter updates offering additional means of keeping in touch with our readers. An iPhone app is the next logical step.

Five iPhone apps for managing your money

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Those who have given into the marketing hype of the iPhone may well have found that, despite having thousands of apps available in the App Store, the one you really want doesn't exist. Creating your own app will provide the functionality you need, and companies who do so stand to gain real kudos. We'll also show BlackBerry and Google Android users how to customise their handsets.

We've been dabbling in social media for some time, with our Facebook profile, and regular Twitter updates offering additional means of keeping in touch with our readers. An iPhone app is the next logical step.

Five iPhone apps for managing your money

We already have a mobile site, but we couldn't resist the lure of app creation. And the free AppMakr development kit we've used in our walkthrough does much of the hard work for you. If you want to offer your finished app for download, you can pay AppMakr to facilitate this or go another route to market. We'll discuss the options later.

If you want to offer your homemade app on platforms other than Apple's, you'll need to investigate options such as iSites or the software developer kits (SDKs) for Android, BlackBerry and Windows devices.

Here, we look at how to get started with making your own smartphone app and customising an existing one.

Getting your iPhone app on to the App Store is a fine art, however. Apple has some strict regulations to which all developers must adhere, and makes designers jump through several hoops to get anywhere near the approval-pending stage. We suggest two companies that can help, and outline what's involved in doing it yourself via the Apple Developer Network.

It's not quite so tricky to create a custom Android app, known as a 'widget'. The open-source nature of the Google mobile platform lends itself to tweaking. Similarly, you can easily make your BlackBerry handset your own, or create and market custom BlackBerry themes, using a BlackBerry SDK.

Create your own iPhone app with AppMakr

Step 1. Download and install AppMakr. Sign up for an account and follow the prompts to point to the site you intend to create an app for. RSS feeds are recognised from most well-known sources, and a green tick indicates the feed is acceptable and meets W3C web standards.

Step 2. Grab some graphics with which to populate your app. One of these will be the square icon that appears on the App Store and illustrates what the app is. Ensure you have the right to use the logo or other graphic you insert here. The graphic should be a 512x512-pixel PNG file.

Also see: Mobile Advisor Mobile phone deals Apple iPhone 3GS review Apple iPhone application reviewsStep 3. Next, you need to create a splash screen. This image needs to be 312x480 pixels (WxH) and saved in PNG format. AppMakr can track down recognisable logos for you if you don't have one to hand, displaying them on the emulator screen. Click an image to preview it, then press Save when you're happy.

Step 4. Once you've given your app a name, description and images, you're ready to add some content. Click on the Feeds/Tabs button at the top of the page, then click '+ Add RSS/Atom Feed' under Your Feeds. PC Advisor has several RSS feeds set up. We found them by Googling our site name and pasting the relevant code into AppMakr.