iOS App Development

[Valo]

With the start of the New Year, I've decided that I'd really like to learn a new skill this year. I'm really keen to learn iOS App Development, I realise this is no simple task and will take a lot of time and commitment.
The last time I did any sort of programming was back in High School (Pascal), and I don't remember anything really, so I've probably got an uphill task on my hands.

I volunteer with a charity, my eventual goal would be to develop an iOS App for the them, highlighting the charity's services for members to download and use.

I guess what I'm asking is for advice on how to start learning, from searching on the forums I've found a some great resources from book recommendations, free YouTube channels to paid online courses at Lynda.com

What would you recommend?

 

[Valo]

First question would be do you have access to a Mac as full IOS (Xcode) app development can only be done on an Apple desktop/laptop device?

Sorry! Should've mentioned that....yes, I'm already using a late 2013 iMac (i7 CPU) and have downloaded and installed Xcode.

 

[Valo]

Fantastic guys! Thanks for the information, I've subscribed to the Stanford Course for iOS 7 Development on iTunesU and have downloaded a few PDF's for reference.

Think I could be jumping in at the deep end but we'll see how things go.

 

[Valo]

Just submitted my third app today, it becomes addicting, especially when you have all these new ideas for future updates.

My advice is to develop apps that you would use, not apps that you think will make you loads of money. Stick to it, even if you don't publish apps, its a great skill just to create simple apps for yourself.

I learnt from buying a book, got about half way through it and then just used sources like stack overflow.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Do you mind if I ask what book you used?
I've just started this afternoon with one of Apple's own guides and I'm already building a very basic app in Xcode with it's instruction.