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

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 

          http://dl.google.com/dl/appinventor/installers/windows/appinventor_setup_installer_v_1_1.exe

          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 .

       3.  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 .

            

           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.
    
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    by a vote of thanks .


Thanks for reading ,
Vaishakh Thayyil