Developing apps, minus the skill requirement

We've strayed a bit in our previous posts where we spent a lot of time talking about various aspects of technology (you can glance at our tech-related posts here). But now it's time to return to the original purpose of this blog, namely getting you excited about things you never thought you would or could do. And what better way than to get you into creating your own Android apps.


When Apple launched their app store back in 2008, they effectively created a market place for buying and selling software made by and for iPhone users. Seeing the opportunity to make a buck, scores of developers churned out app after app in the hopes of making it rich, or at least make a little money on the side. The promise was that anyone could build an app and offer it either at a price, or for free (in which case the developer had the option of incorporating ads as a source of income). But the entire concept had one inherent flaw: Participation in the app development scene was effectively limited to those with the necessary programming skills. There go your hopes of striking it rich Angry Birds-style.

Then came Google and did pretty much the same with its Android Market, an app store-alternative for the Android user. Naturally, in the heat of competition both parties try to out-shine the other. But Google went and did something that didn't seem to occur to Apple: They took out the developer-only limitation, allowing anyone with a computer to develop apps -- without the use of programming knowledge.

The Google App Inventor, the company's solution to your lack of Java coding skills, allows anyone to build apps using a system that's eerily reminiscent of Lego. By piecing together so-called blocks, with each block representing a particular function, users can put together fully working software in minutes. Check out this video for a quick demonstration and let yourself be inspired.


Just how advanced the App Inventor allows your apps to become is unclear, but the system allows people who never thought they would ever end up on the Android Market to create software, similarly to how Game Maker allows enthusiastic amateurs to develop their first, fully functional game -- no matter how unsophisticated. Don't worry about Game Maker yet, though; we'll talk about that in our next post.