App Inventor for Android: Build Your Own Apps — No Experience Required!

Appendix A: Setting Up Your Phone and Computer

Both your phone and your computer require some prep work before you can get started using App Inventor. None of the requirements are unusual or exotic, but you do have to make sure that everything is set up before you jump into making your first application. You need to install Java and the App Inventor Extras and verify both are working before you can get started.

These steps are all easy, and you don’t have to have any special knowledge or extra nerd cred to be able to get started. I show you how to set up your computer with the correct version of the Java software that App Inventor requires. I also show you how to set up the App Inventor specifics you need to connect your phone to your computer and run App Inventor.

I show you how to set each item up and test it to make sure it is where it needs to be and is working.

Setting Up Your Phone

Your phone needs to have three main settings enabled to work with App Inventor. It needs to be in Debug mode to allow the Android Debug Bridge (ADB, more on it later) to detect and communicate with the phone. Your phone won’t communicate with App Inventor without the Debug mode turned on.

Your phone also needs to be told to trust external application sources. By default, Android only allows applications to be installed that come from the Android App Market. You need to tell your phone, “It’s okay, you can trust me. Really.” This is a setting that you can turn on while working with App Inventor ...