Mobile App Development Using App Inventor
Mahsa Mohaghegh and Mobile Development Team @ Unitec
The Post-PC Era
• 2007: Apple releases iOS on the iPhone • 2008: Google releases Android on the • 2008: Google releases Android on the HTC Dream
• Both platforms featured an accessible and intuitive graphical user interface
Mobile Apps
Productivity
iOS vs Android – Which is the better platform?
• Features a simplified user interface that is accessible for all users
• Tight integration with a limited range of
iOS Advantages Android Advantages
• Features a fully customisable home Screen with support for widgets
• Can be found on a wide selection of • Tight integration with a limited range of
hardware ensures speed and responsiveness • Regularly updated with new features • Largest app ecosystem of all platforms • Most profitable platform for developers
• Can be found on a wide selection of devices in various form factors.
• Fastest growing mobile platform
• Apps can be distributed openly without being published onto an App Store
Mobile App Development Tools
• Traditional tools available for developers:
• Xcode for iOS
• Eclipse, AIDE and others for Android
• Online App Builders:
• Online App Builders:
• App La Carte
• Apps Geyser
• YapperApp
What is App Inventor?
• A tool that makes it possible to write Android apps without being a software developer.
• The quickest and easiest way to build a • The quickest and easiest way to build a mobile app for Android.
• App Inventor is unique in that there are no other tools like it for mobile app
development
What is Scratch and Why do we care?
• Simple visual development environment used to make cartoons, stories and games. • Scratch is FREE!
• Large library of functions.
• Great way to teach basic concepts of programming to students.
Scratch vs App Inventor - Similarities
• Similarly structured user interface using panels – interface
design, block editor, presenter or stage
• The use of a drag and drop block interface for defining
actions and setting parameters for objects.
actions and setting parameters for objects.
Scratch vs App Inventor - Differences
• Scratch is a programming language and online community where
you can create your own interactive stories, games and 2D animations.
• Variables and object attributes are referred to as actors, which the • Variables and object attributes are referred to as actors, which the
user directs by placing the blocks under scripts.
• Scratch has a vibrant online community – Simply hit the share button and you can upload Scratch games and play them with other
people
Scratch vs App Inventor - Differences
• Programming blocks and scripts are assigned to each object or sprite individually.
• Scratch utilises Loops and Repetition the same way as games and animations use them when working with frames. This is different to animations use them when working with frames. This is different to conventional programming where the use of infinite loops is strongly discouraged.
• Instead of using methods or functions, Scratch allows users to send broadcasts which can activate other scripts who are listening for a particular broadcast.
Scratch vs App Inventor - Differences
• App Inventor allows you to develop applications for Android
phones on a web browser using a visual drag-and-drop interface. • It features a large library of functions which allows the creation of
a wide range of smartphone apps such as communication, finance, a wide range of smartphone apps such as communication, finance, media, tools and simple games.
• It allows users the ability to integrate various smartphone hardware features, such as speech recognition, camera, accelerometer, and GPS.
• You can save your App Inventor projects as APK files, allowing you to run them on any android smartphone or distribute it on the
Scratch vs App Inventor - Differences
• The programming blocks structure closely resembles that of common programming languages, so it is a great educational tool for
introducing programming to students.
• Teachers can use App Inventor to write educational apps tailored • Teachers can use App Inventor to write educational apps tailored
specifically to their school’s curriculum.
• Features full support and integration of Google Fusion Tables. Fusion Tables let you store, share, query and visualise database tables which can be accessed by multiple apps.
Scratch vs App Inventor - Differences
• Media oriented – Games, Animated stories Interactive art
• Ability to create your own art and customise
Scratch App Inventor
• Can develop a wide range of apps – Communication, Finance, Media, Tools etc • Ability to integrate various smartphone • Ability to create your own art and customise
Sound from within Scratch
• User interface has been iterated over the Past 6 years – Very polished and easy to use • Can distribute creation online in the Scratch community
• 100,000+ active weekly users
• Ability to integrate various smartphone features (Speech, Gyroscope, Google Maps) • Block structure more closely resembles that of programming languages.
• Can export the project as an android App that can be used on a smartphone
Summary
• App Inventor is a powerful tool that allows users to quickly learn how to develop their own apps.
• It helps you learn the basic concepts of Programming without you having to
learn or use a programming language • Plenty of resources available on the
