• Developer name: Scott Kehrberg
• Company Name: Scott Kehrberg Software
• Location: Fort Dodge, Iowa
• Apps in the App Store: 6
• Company Website

About Dev:

Tell us a little about you, and your current company.

I am a high school mathematics teacher who writes iPhone applications in my spare time. In college I learned Applied Computer Science, so I always had interest in technology and programming.

About your background: what did you do before taking up iPhone development?

During my high school days I took a couple of programming classes on the old Apple IIc and IIe using the BASIC language. Pretty simple programs back then, but it gave me the foundation I needed to keep going.

As a college student, I learned additional programming in BASIC, Machine, and Pascal. I also wrote small applications in my spare time to take care of small tasks. One example was a football score simulator that would allow me to enter the team’s rank, number of wins and who was the home team. The program used a random number generator, but allowed me to take care of a need for sports simulation.

As a teacher, I have been teaching computer programming for the past 8 years. My students learned BASIC and Pascal to begin. I taught myself C++ and Visual Basic and eventually added those courses to the curriculum.

I stopped programming for about 5 years, but my interest was sparked when the SDK and the sale of apps on the iTunes store were announced.

About your Work:

What apps have you developed so far? Tell us about your apps in brief.

I have been developing apps mainly to take care of tasks that normally take steps on a calculator.

Sales Tax - This simple application allows a user to enter their total sale and the sales tax rate. After pressing calculate, the app shows the sales tax amount and total amount due. If a user does not know what the sales tax rate is, they can press a button and will be taken to a website that allows the user to find the sales tax rate.

On Sale - I was inspired to write this app when several stores were doing after Christmas sales. I was in the store and saw how some customers were trying to figure out what the final price was when 2 discounts were applied. With this app, the user just enters the original price and each of the discounts. The press of a button results in the final price and the amount saved.

Tithe - The inspiration for this one came in church. The minister was doing a sermon on tithing and I realized that some people might be struggling with figuring out the tithe amount. This app allows the user to enter the amount earned and number of weeks it took to earn it. The user then receives the amount to tithe each week.

Wind Chill - Living in the cold of north central Iowa, I wrote this on a cold, windy winter day. As the wind chill kept appearing on the weather, I wondered what that would have corresponded to when I was a child. I wrote the app so that the user could enter the air temperature and wind speed. The app calculates the current formula for wind chill and also the old formula.

House Pay - I am planning to start looking for a house sometime this spring. I wanted an application where when I was house shopping, I could quickly add the information necessary to figure a house payment. I believe that many house buyers think of the amount of money they have to put down as opposed to a percentage to put down. My app gives the user an idea of what the house payment would be based on the information entered.

Vent - This application was inspired one day when I was talking to my sister-in-law. She was upset with someone and told me I needed to write an app where she could vent at a person without getting in trouble. Vent allows the user to pull up a picture of the person he/she is upset with. Next, the user can start venting away and with the press of a button under the male or female voice, receive some positive feedback. The goal of this application is to give fun and hopefully to allow the user to express their frustration without getting fired or hurting anyone’s feelings.

Romance (Coming Soon) - Romance is still in review process and would hopefully be published by the time this interview is published. Romance is another fun app along the lines of Vent.

How do you go from idea to app? What’s the process?

The process usually starts with me seeing a need either for myself or for someone I know. Once the idea is there, then I start working out in my mind what the best user interface would be for the application. My goal is to try to make it easy for the user to get the task done.

Once I have the user interface in mind, I start sketching it out on paper and then think of the obstacles to overcome when writing the application. I try to keep a paper with me wherever I go so that when inspiration hits, I can write it down.

I usually work on application writing on the weekends when I have more time. Of course, application writing includes plenty of testing.

Any exciting stuff you are working on? Give our readers a hint of what to expect from you next.

As I have mentioned earlier, the Romance app should be out of development before this interview is published. I am working on an idea to help geocachers keep a log of their finds. We lost our geocaching log notebook for a while and it was a bit of a crisis. So, I am now in the process of developing an app that allows the user to store their geocaching log electronically.

My next goal is to write a game, I just have to find the time (maybe this summer).

Do you develop for other platforms? How do you compare the iPhone development platform with other platforms?

I do not develop for other platforms at this time. However, that is always a possibility. I will say that developing for the iPhone is easier than developing using Visual Basic.

Tell us something about how users are responding to your apps. What’s the most flattering comment you have received? Or the weirdest?

I haven’t received a lot of feedback yet, so I really can’t come up with the most flattering or weirdest.

About the App Store:

Name two iPhone apps you consider are cool, excluding the apps you’ve developed. What makes these apps stand out?

State Plate Hunt - As a child, my mother would do the state plate hunt with us and would use several pieces of paper to get the job done. I guess it lets me re-live my childhood when I travel on trips with my children and we don’t have to search for a piece of paper.

ShopShop - Another app that helps me get things done. I hate getting to the store and forgetting the shopping list. ShopShop allows me to store it electronically and I don’t go anywhere without my iPhone.

Any message to your fellow developers?

Always be alert for a new idea to pop up wherever you are. As you can see from my apps, some of these ideas came as a result of being out and about. Never give up on an idea and always know that you can go to the developer forums to get some help.

Thanks Scott for your time.