<p>Is your school part of iOS developer program? If yes, you may be able to get in for free if you take a class. If not, you can spend $99 to get in or you can take the Android route. Most apps don’t just work by itself. The app usually interacts with the cloud and that is where AWS and GAE come in. You can develop using the emulator without a phone initially. It will be a good exercise.</p>