Google Released DIY Code Tools For Android Phones

Programs can be built by clicking and dragging blocks

Nautilus Science & Technology News
By: Marco A. Ayllon
July 13, 2010


Google has deployed tools that "make it easy for anyone to create programs for Android phones".


Much like Lego, App Inventor lets people drag "blocks" of code around to create applications. Google said it had been working on the system for a year and were pitched at those with little knowledge of programming.

The tools have been tested over the last 12 months by school children and college students, it said. The graphical blocks represent the different functions and capabilities of a smartphone.

For instance, one tester of the App Inventor used the GPS locator, timer, and database querying blocks to produce an app that told his friends where he was every 15 minutes.


MIT inside

The programming system was developed with the help of computer scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who created a similar coding system known as Open Blocks.

MIT scientist Mitch Resnick used it to create the Scratch programming language that lets children put together programs by clicking and dragging on-screen blocks.

A Gmail account is required for anyone wanting to use the tools and users must apply via a web form. Tutorials are provided to help people get started with the tools.

The tool may well prompt a spike in the number of apps for Android phones which, statistics suggest, are already enjoying a healthy growth.

Figures gathered by Android app site AndroLib predict that the number of applications will pass the 100,000 mark by the end of July 2010, a ten fold increase compared to this time last year. However, it still has less than half the number of apps available for Apple's iPhone.

Google in its one more innovation has introduced a new tool, which will enable the users to create an Android app in a very short time. A person does not need any coding knowledge to make such application.


The new application of Google will stimulate the young and teen developers to make their own applications for Android platform.

The application by Google has followed the introduction of Ovi App Wizard App by Nokia in the month of May. However, the Nokia app has some limitations.

The Google app inventor is simple and easy, and a very powerful tool to create Android apps. A developer can now create funny jokes app or custom reminder app. To create an app, one needs to use the custom blocks in the tool and then drop them in the phone’s interface.

The team for app inventor has formed various blocks for different functions and purposes. The app permits access to GPS-location sensor of the phone for creating location-services app. The visual interface of the app allows access to the basic functions of the phone. To create app for Android through this new application, a person does not require the knowledge of C++ and Java.