For those of you who have aspirations of creating your own Android app yet are not fluent in the language of the geek, Google has announced a new program called App Inventor that allows the masses to create their own Android apps without having to learn a single line of code.
App Inventor is a new tool in Google Labs that makes it easy for anyone—programmers and non-programmers, professionals and students—to create mobile applications for Android-powered devices. And today, we’re extending invitations to the general public.
For many people, their mobile phone—and access to the Internet—is always within reach. App Inventor for Android gives everyone, regardless of programming experience, the opportunity to control and reshape their communication experience. We’ve observed people take pride in becoming creators of mobile technology and not just consumers of it. (Official Google Blog)
By lowering the barrier of entry, it looks like Google is hoping to increase the number of apps within Android Market in order to catch up with its rival, Apple whose walled garden of apps dwarfs the ever so popular Android Market.
Currently Android has roughly 70,000 apps compared to Apple’s 225,000 apps, although that may change once users discover how easy it is to launch an Android app.
The only downside to the “keep it simple” approach is that App Inventor for Android could dilute the quality of the Android Market by filling it up with a lot of crappy apps.
Whether you agree with Apple’s app approval tribunal process or not, the fact is that Steve Jobs walled garden is known for its elegant and powerful apps (unlike Android), which could be the reason Cupertino’s iPhone is outselling Android 3 to 1.
Hopefully users creating new Android apps will acquire a thirst to delve deeper in the world of Android, as the last thing Google needs is a half million apps that are (for the most part) an eye sore to the average person.
Originally posted on July 12, 2010 @ 11:53 am
nice summary.
Not what I was looking for.