Creating Android Apps, using Inventor?

[kraxyk]

Hello, I'm sure by now you probably know of the Android App Inventor. I was wondering what your thoughts on this were. Do you like it? Does it perform well? Also I was curious if anyone could tell me how long it should take to get accepted. The website says two weeks but for me its been longer. Thanks

 

[CoolBreeze]

I have been playing with it doing the tutorials for a little over a week now. I think it's pretty cool, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm sure in time Google will improve on it and add to the current functionality. A few limitations it currently has at the moment, is there is no way of publishing to the market or posting the resulting .apk to your or another website for others to try out your app and there's currently no games module or ability to do graphics that I've found. These are just a couple things.

It took somewhere around 2 months before I received my acceptance. I plan on using it as a prototyping or proof of concept tool, for a few app ideas.

Performance wise, I haven't experienced any issues, I'm currently using the Android Emulator for testing instead of my phone, because I'm using it under Linux and couldn't get it to connect to my phone. I haven't tried it under Windows.

 

[kraxyk]

I have been playing with it doing the tutorials for a little over a week now. I think it's pretty cool, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I'm sure in time Google will improve on it and add to the current functionality. A few limitations it currently has at the moment, is there is no way of publishing to the market or posting the resulting .apk to your or another website for others to try out your app and there's currently no games module or ability to do graphics that I've found. These are just a couple things.

It took somewhere around 2 months before I received my acceptance. I plan on using it as a prototyping or proof of concept tool, for a few app ideas.

Performance wise, I haven't experienced any issues, I'm currently using the Android Emulator for testing instead of my phone, because I'm using it under Linux and couldn't get it to connect to my phone. I haven't tried it under Windows.

Awesome thank you for that information. I look forward to using it. I just hope I get accepted soon.

 

[DroidBlazer00]

i think the app inventor is a good starting point, but i agree with coolbreeze, it has room for improvement! I tried all of the tutorials, and they all were easy to follow. but if you want to really get into app development, you'll need to do it the old school way w/ Java and eclipse. It is alot more to learn, but i think it's worth it in the long run. Currently i'm trying to figure out how to make live wallpapers (it's not going so well! lol)

 

[kraxyk]

i think the app inventor is a good starting point, but i agree with coolbreeze, it has room for improvement! I tried all of the tutorials, and they all were easy to follow. but if you want to really get into app development, you'll need to do it the old school way w/ Java and eclipse. It is alot more to learn, but i think it's worth it in the long run. Currently i'm trying to figure out how to make live wallpapers (it's not going so well! lol)

I have been trying eclipse for a long time but I can't get certain functions to work ever. By the way how long did it take for you to get accepted?

 

[DroidBlazer00]

Well I put in for it the day it was announced, so it took almost a month until I was accepted. I can't wait to see more updates tho.

 

[Malvado]

haha i tried it out but im still a little confused after the paintpot or watever tutorial...i dnt get the x and y things lol

 

[jntdroid]

So far I've only done the purring cat... but about to dive into the others. Though my kids (2 and 3) loved that cat.

My question - is there a way to view the actual code? I can't seem to find a way to do that, and that would be really helpful.

 

[jaycemiskel]

I don't think you can view or edit the actual code.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Malvado]

So far I've only done the purring cat... but about to dive into the others. Though my kids (2 and 3) loved that cat.

My question - is there a way to view the actual code? I can't seem to find a way to do that, and that would be really helpful.

was gonna ask the same thing...there has to be a way...wat if u wanna edit the code alittle

 

[jaycemiskel]

I'm pretty sure that they said that you can't actually edit the code. You either have to use the app inventor or just do one from code without app inventor. That's not to say they won't put it in a future update. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[DroidBlazer00]

yea jay, you're correct. the blocks builder doesn't show any code at all. Which is a total bummer.

 

[CoolBreeze]

This is correct you cannot view or edit the source code from the apps you create. They may in the feature allow this.

• User FAQ - App Inventor for Android

 

[radroni]

ya from what i see it is a beta type product and is just the start...as with any programming lang...it starts with the code and then come the gui's visual basic is a good example...it will get more people interested and get more programmers out their .... i no im new

 

[Freelancer]

I think it's pretty cool. I got my invite a little while ago and worked through a couple tutorials, and made an app for my little nieces of my dog doing different things (the image of him just changes) when you push the command buttons.

It's fun to play around with, and hopefully it will get to the point where you can make "real" apps and get them in the market and stuff, or at least be able to share them easier.

It is cool though how when you edit it on the computer it shows up on your phone screen.