Any app developers on here?

[Jamie101]

Just wondering if there are any app developers on Acorn?

I'm thinking about trying to make a few apps over the summer but I'm not too sure where to start really. I'm thinking about using "App inventer by MIT" or something like that.

If anyone has any tips or whatever I'd really appreciate it

 

[accelerator]

Have you looked to see if Google offers dev kits for Android? I bet they do.

 

[monaghan]

There's a complete Android SDK available from Google, this bolts into Eclipse and includes emulators, quite easy to set-up - you can start writing code in 10-15 mins after downloading.

 

[Jamie101]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm thinking about starting out by using App Inventer (which was originally made by google for android phones I think - someone else bought it according to what I've heard).

It seems easy enough, watched a few tutorials and it seemed okay. The only problem is making an app that actually has a use!

 

[retired_member27]

I use "App inventer by MIT", very easy to use although it's a bit slow to load at times. I'm currently working on a stocks & shares app utilizing Google Finance.

 

[Jamie101]

I use "App inventer by MIT", very easy to use although it's a bit slow to load at times. I'm currently working on a stocks & shares app utilizing Google Finance.

Very nice.

Are you using "app inventer by MIT" for that too?

I've one or two ideas for an app (not amazing ideas either!) but I'm not too sure whether I'd be able to give it a go.

 

[theonemanyuri]

Am I right to say you can't make/upload Apple apps on a Windows PC?

 

[monaghan]

The Apple developer program needs a Mac (and an annual subscription!), I guess technically you could develop on another platform as a Mac is essentially Unix but I suspect the Apple "bits" that make an Apple app an Apple app are locked down.

 

[stevebrowne]

Yes for IOS you need a Mac and a developer account (£59 per annum).

You can download the XCode stuff and iPhone/iPad emulator for free (I think) but you can't push your code to a device or the App Store without a developer account. (even if you are using other dev tools such as MonoTouch or Corona)

You could also do an HTML5 web app that uses native controls.

 

[mreeves]

If you have any degree of familiarity with javascript take a look at http://www.appcelerator.com/

 

[theonemanyuri]

Ah that sucks, no wonder Apple are so rich

 

[Jamie101]

Update:

I've made my first app (well, I followed a tutorial and changed one or two little things). I'm not sure whether it actually works or not, but I suppose I'll have to borrow an Android phone from someone and see if it does.

For anyone that has used App Inventer before:

1) How do you center buttons and so on? My button seems to want to stay on the left hand side of the screen for some reason.

2) A label that I have is quite long (around 20+ words), and it goes off the screen rather than going onto a new line. Is there any way to fix this?

I bet I'm missing something silly here, but I just can't seem to find it.

Thanks!

Edit - Worked out a way to fix it, although it's not great looking but it's definitely a lot better than before.