App Inventor – Visual Authoring Tool for Native Google Android Apps
So this is interesting –
http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/
No, this will not reduce the need for Android Developers. Yes, this will allow for students, hobbyists and hackers to have fun and learn by creating real working apps for their own Android phone and share it with others too. They may even want or need to go further and delve into writing code too.
I think the time is ripe for a new WYSIWYG Visual Authoring Tool focused on the plethora of Android Devices that are on the market and will become even more pervasive in the coming months. We’ll even see normal computers running Android and expect to hear about Android running on just about everything you can think of. It’s great to see AppInventor being made available to more people now (it’s been developed for ~a year and used at select Universities).
I’ve been involved in discussions about Digital/Transmedia Storytelling and often we talk about HTML5 or the latest (touch screen) mobile devices and how to author more immersive and interactive works that go beyond “flat media” like the simplified default media playback experience that seems forced upon users. AppInventor is probably going to be leveraged as a powerful tool for content creators who have been discouraged by discovering the rigidness of actual application development for Android and Apple. Content creators want smoth authoring tools that are visual and logical without all the hassle. This is exciting news for many who have been eager to create for these new devices. The barrier to entry just dropped significantly. So it seems.
Developing for the mobile web is something I encourage. But that comes with its own set of problems too and it’s not a walk in the park. Ideally, AppInventor would handle both web(html5) and native app export with the proper compromises handled during and after development of the app. This would allow for cross-platform aware deployment. I’d also like to see a WebView Component so the app can wrap in a web page or full site.
I read much of the documentation tonight and though their are some missing pieces that will be missed initally and cause frustrating limitations or at least additional effort to accomplish some goals… I do think that it is fairly comprehensive and most of the bases are covered. As far as I can tell, you can build a sort of FourSquare or Loopt GeoLocation service (with geofencing func), A twitter client, media player, basic “video games” or apps with SMS and other communication utilities integrated (i.e. phone calls, email) and realtime notifications. In fact, when you look at all the built-in functionality and the forthcoming enahncements, it becomes easy to imagine the realization of many many ideas that can come to fruition quite quickly.
Then again, what to do about the spam and more innocent but still crap apps? Let them bloom! Who cares. Most of them will never invade our lives and not be submitted to app markets. For those that do end up in the Android market or other 3rd party app stores… let the reviews do the talking (or lack thereof) and expect Google to fix things up so that what bubbles up wont be the spam and crap apps that have been somewhat of a problem. Their is always going to be a fine line and I do prefer Google’s more hand-off approach to Apple’s elite authoritarian approach. Their needs to be a smart middle ground. But that my friends sounds like another blog post for another day.
So what do others think? I admittedly have not read too many articles (too bust reading the actual documentation). But from scanning, it seems like the consensus is positive but somewhat cautious too. It depends on what angle they approached this at. Since I love and respect Dave Winer, I did catch his post. Totally see his point in referencing the past. And maybe somewhere out there he there were some hyped up articles about AppInventor that made bullshit claims about the end of Android developers and 5 year olds building the next great app etc… Whatever. For those that matter, we know the deal. Dave threw some cold water on any sensationalists. I’m sure he will write again about AppInventor too. For what it’s worth, here is a more positive toned comment I had added over on his blog post:
http://scripting.com/stories/2010/07/12/anEnduserAppDevelopmentToo.html
I think with this type of stuff, you need to think about apps with some hierarchy of complexity. Sure, some apps can never be properly built with drag&drop. But many apps can be built with a predefined subset of functionality, especially when it is for a specific OS for smaller screened devices (Android Phones).
Also, it is 2010. We should expect to have simple tools to do some cool shit on todays popular mobile devices in a native way (not just the mobile web). Their comes a time when what was once laughable (your examples) needs to become a reality. Advancements in tech result in these types of mini-revolutions. Consumers usually are the ones that benefit but when creators can benefit too… it gets interesting and potentially changes everything. Spam notwithstanding, empowering creators (not just app creators but content creators) to efficiently get out their ideas without the clunky workflows, tools and processes associated with native languages and confusing SDKs and IDEs…. it can be remarkable. Think of the content creators too
So why is is more plausible today to have a so-called App Inventor app?
One is the fact that the Internet has evolved and a plethora of simple APIs exist so data in/out is fundamental to how the masses consume and create “data”. Hooking the new breed of mobile computers to this vast machine is essential, obvious and non-complicated. To the point that Drag&Drop GUI can be used to do CRUD and beyond.
Another reason is the small screen and standard set of device hooks that are most commonly used for most types of apps (Not related to 3D Video Games etc). In other words, their is only so much that a Drag&Drop GUI needs to provide to the author in order to empower them to create variations of applications and rich storytelling experiences (not just a video, audio, image but a more immersive navigation for example).
Another thought is something you have talked a lot about Dave. The loosely connected concept…. with focus on RSS + Social Status Clients. Imagine their being several if not hundreds of variations of these types of clients for your Android device that can connect to each other (p2p), suck in RSS feeds, twitter, facebook etc and imagine that if you dont like the apps avilable, you can make your own version of it and connect it to the network. Maybe eventually, that will be possible with ease
Sull
For me, I look forward to playing with AppInventor. I’ve taken the time to learn the process involved for developing on Android and though it is not rocket science by a long shot, it is clunky and not optimal for most people who are not used to the intricacies and annoyances of platform development and the associated IDEs, SDKs and WTFs. I welcome a more visually fun way to do stuff, as long as it works well enough. Hope to try it out soon.
Sull
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