book

App Inventor 2 Essentials

by Felicia Kamriani, Krishnendu Roy

April 2016

Beginner

248 pages

5h 56m

English

Packt Publishing

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What this book covers

ErrataPiracyQuestions
What is MIT App Inventor 2?Understanding your role as a mobile app developerBrainstorming app ideasThe Design Thinking processEmpathizeDefineIdeatePrototypeTestComputational thinkingBest practices to design apps
Discovering the possibilities of MIT App InventorMIT App Inventor examplesStopwatch and TimerYahtzeeBYJ3SLoopsQuartetBrain Reaction AcceleratorConstHelp – Contractor ToolsUMATIEz School Bus LocatorYouth RadioRover 800 Remote
The initial setupSystem requirementsSigning up a Google accountLogging in to MIT App Inventor
Downloading the AI2 Companion appConnecting your computer and Android device with WiFiConnecting the emulator or connecting using a USB cableStep 1 – installing the App Inventor setup softwareInstalling the App Inventor setup software for Mac OS XInstalling the App Inventor setup software for WindowsSoftware installation – part ADriver installation – part BInstalling the App Inventor setup software for GNU/LinuxInstructions for systems that can install Debian packages (for example Debian or Ubuntu)Instructions for other GNU/Linux systemsStep 2 – launch aiStarterStarting aiStarterStep 3 – opening a project and connecting to the emulatorStep 4 – setting up your device with a USB cableStep 5 – connecting your computer and device (authenticating if necessary)Step 6 – testing the connection
The projects viewCreating a new project
PaletteViewerComponentsPropertiesMedia
Creating the UI in designerIDE
The Blocks drawerTypes of BlocksUsing Blocks to program FlingThe Play buttonMoving the ballFlinging the ballEnding the game or bouncing the ballThe Reset button
Adding a scoring featureCoding scoring blocksUpdating the score label
User Interface for an event app
Navigating between screens and launching mapsScreen1Sharing blocks between screens using the BackpackAdding text to screens
Creating a databaseCreating a Google Fusion Table
Creating the GUI in the designer window
Our goal
Creating the project and building the GUICreating a new projectCreating the User Interface (UI)Programming the behavior of the Digital Raffle appCreating and initializing the variable and listReceiving text messages from participantsAdding the phone numbers of all the participants to the listSelecting a winnerNotifying the winnerNotifying everyone elseUsing loopsClearing out the list and variable
Design principlesUser-centered designVisual hierarchyResponsive designResearch app marketsDesign tools
ShortcutsHelpTitlesImagesVirtual screensBackups
The App Inventor GalleryViewing the Gallery appsSharing your app in the GalleryCreating an AIA fileDownloading and sharingCreating an APKQR codeDirect download (or side-loading)The Google Play Store

Content preview from App Inventor 2 Essentials

Distributing your app

We are sure you've noticed, either in an app store or on your device, that all the apps have icons. This small image enables users to easily recognize one app from another. Before sharing your app, you will want to upload an icon. This could be some artwork that you used in your app or a logo if you have created one. You can easily upload this image in the Properties panel for Screen1 under the option Icon. You will find it midway down the panel of options.

The App Inventor Gallery

Whether you've made an app with the help of a tutorial or from scratch, you have the privilege of sharing your app with others. There are many ways to do this. The easiest way is from within App Inventor itself with the Gallery.