Google releases App Inventor framework

Today, Google released App Inventor, an interesting software development framework for the Android smartphone OS. They are pushing it as a means of building an application without needed any knowledge of a programming language. This is a great idea that will hopefully open up the phone to more applications. Granted, most of these applications will be simple ones, but an app doesn't have to be professional to be useful.

App Inventor is builds on the same foundations as the similar Scratch visual programming language which uses drag and drop of visual blocks to replace the need to code in a textual programming language. I recently had good success using Scratch to introduce a Metis youth to programming during a job shadowing exercise. I'm excited to see this accessible form of programming on a key computing platform, the smartphone.

Unfortunately, I won't be participating with my own Android phone anytime soon. After years of waiting for cheaper data plans in Canada, the battery on my 5 year old LG flip-phone finally died. Since I refuse to get a smartphone (either iPhone or Android unit) until phone plans become less expensive in Canada, I opted instead to get a pay-as-you-go phone from 7-11. For probably $5-$10 a month, I get voice calling, voicemail, and free incoming texts. Maybe one day, I'll actually get an Android phone and try out some of the cool applications being built. I'm not holding my breath that Canadians will get a break on our mobile phone plans any time soon though.

Posted by Guy | Posted on 2010-07-12 at 12:51 PM | Public Post