Create your first Android App , You donot need to be a programmer for that !!!!!!

Vaishakh Thayyil

Android

Thursday, May 5, 2011

1 Comment

Google Labs comes up with another invention & this one
I bet you is gonna be a super hit !!!
Google App Inventor (Beta) is an Android app maker which
lets you create your own Android apps & that too on a browser ,
and best thing about it is that you donot need to be
a programmer for that !!!!!

So lets get started  

Computer Requirements

1 . You need to have java 6 installed on your computer .

You can download the  latest jdk  from www.java.com .

2.Install the App Inventor Setup 

   

    a) For Windows users you can download it from AppInventor.

    b) After the installation of app inventor it may ask for the location 

          of the software , if it does so  then specify it as 

           C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor  

           because this is where the adb.exe file is located .

    c)    Once you are done with this please login using your 

             google account to appinventor.googlelabs.com.         

            Click on My Projects and now you are ready to create 

            your first app .

3) Building my first App  

  Click on New , Give a name to your project . Oki Lets 

  name it MyHome .

          

   MyHome:- Its a simple app in which you have pics of 

   your family member ,when you click on the pic a call is 

   established  to the family member .

             

    Step1:

           

       So first you decide what your screen should look like .

       For that we will be using Labels & Buttons .

       On the left hand side of your browser you have Basic List

       From that select the Components Button and drag & drop it

       on to the screen .Next add a Label to the screen .

    Step2:

       In my MyHome App I have included four buttons for 4 family

       members & a label for each of them .       

           

    Step3 :

          

        Set the Label text properties to the text of 

        of your choice  .

       

   








          Label1:     Mother 

          Label2:     Father

          Label3:     Brother

          Label4:     Sister 

           

     










           Step 4: 

          

           Your screen should look like this now .

           Once done with this,the next step is to set the 

           properties of the Button .Clear the text properties

           of the button .To set the Image Properties : Click 

           on Image on the Properties box and upload the 

           image of your choice .Your screen should look 

           like this now .

           

         Step 5 :

            You need to establish a call when you click on the pic for that 

            you need to add the phone component .The Phone component 

            is available in the  Social  Tab of the Pallete .Choose the Phone

            Call Component and drop down it to the Screen .

            We have four members & so we will be using four phone call 

            components .

            

        Step6 :

             Set the Phone Call Properties .

             Enter the phone nos in each of the phone call component with the

             nos of the corresponding members .

            

             So this ends up the Design of your App . 

             Now the next step is to build the Application Logic .  

             On your browser click on the Open Block Editor Button . 

             A file will be downloaded(AppInventorForAndroidCodeblocks.jnlp)

             Double Click on the file and wait till the Block Editor opens , it may 

             take sometime though around 30-50 secs .

             Once the block editor is open the next step is to connect it with

             a device .If you are using a emulator click on New Emulator&
             select a emulator .Now click on Connect to the Device button &
             wait till the device is connected .

            

         Step 7 .

              Select Button1 on My Blocks Editor .

              From the list of options select the Onclick block .

          

           

            

          Step 8

             Select Phone Call on My Blocks Editor

             Form the list of options select the   MakePhoneCall Block

            

           Repeat this step for each of the buttons .

               

             So finally you are done with the application logic  & you can

             download it to your Android Phone or computer to use .

             If you want to emulate it in an emulator then you will have

             to install it on your computer .

             Download the app you have created :- For that next to the

             Open Block Editor Button you have one more button that

             gives to the option of downloading it to the computer .

             

              For trying your app on a emulator :

             1. Download the app and place the app in the folder         

               C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor    

              2. Open the cmd prompt on your computer .

                Make the root directory of cmd prompt as

                cd  C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor    

               3. Install the apk file my running the command 

                adb install MyHome.apk 

          

            So you have finally installed  the apk file & now you can 

            view your working MyHome app on your emulator !!!!!!

                            

    If you still have any problems creating  your first app , please do 

    write.