Growth in Developer Communities

Here are some options for getting involved in app developer communities. If you can think of more, please leave them in comments so I can update the post.

Independently organized developer groups on Facebook – Searching through Facebook for developer groups is a great way to keep a pulse on the various conversations. It’s easy to join or leave a group based on your preferences. I’ve already noticed groups specific to mobile app development, special needs apps, SLP apps, educational apps, etc. I’m currently in a group called Developer Exchange, which stared from the old Moms With Apps forums and is now over 800 developers strong. If you are interested in this group, please send me an email so I can reply with an invitation to the group: lorraineakemann@gmail.com.

appyMall Developer Exchange – This is a new group using the Facebook Groups platform, and is managed by Siva of Technology in Education. Siva runs a vibrant community through his website, Facebook page, and mailing list. He is known for his group promotions and dedicated interactions with developers and educators. What first caught my eye about Siva was his ability to organize apps into IEP goal categories. There is so much potential here to match apps with educational areas, and am looking forward to witnessing his innovations here.

Developer Discussions with the iMums – The iMums (Amanda, Alison, Mary and Grace) are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to educating parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. Their Facebook discussion group is for app developers to let The iMums know about new or updated apps, press releases, upcoming price drops, promo code giveaways and any other information relating to apps they review or have already received. Additional developer resources are available at http://www.theimum.com/developers.

App Friday Facebook Page – App Friday is a weekly free and special price promotion, for kid app developers around the world. The Facebook page dedicated to hosting live gatherings of developers and app enthusiasts every week. I’d call this more of a marketing group rather than a developer forum, but anyone is welcome to post their app news here on a Friday.

Silicon Valley Apps for Kids Meetup – This group uses the meetup.com platform, and has an in person component based in San Carlos, California. Hosted by Creativity Inc., the founders of this group are an incredible resource for kid app developers in the Bay Area and around the world. Most recently they have hosted workshops on privacy, Nook Developer, and independent developer demos.

Silicon Valley iOS Developers Meetup – Started by Tim Burks, the Silicon Valley iOS Meetup is one of the largest around. I believe there are almost 5,000 members, who meet around the Bay Area and sometimes out of the AOL building in Palo Alto. Tim is an app developer and all around awesomely well-connected guy. Put him on your “get to know” list. Even if you are not based in Silicon Valley, their mail list could be beneficial to your knowledge base and inter-networking abilities.

Platform Specific Forums – Depending on which platform you are developing on, there should be a developer forum for each. The ones I know of are iOS, Corona, Microsoft, and Nook forums.

More suggestions, from Jon of Thinkamingo:

TouchArcade forums:
http://forums.toucharcade.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17

Ray Wenderlich’s forums:
http://www.raywenderlich.com/forums/

StackOverflow:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/ios

Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/
http://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/

YCombinator’s Hacker News (lots of topics but some good developer threads at times):
http://news.ycombinator.com/