Has anyone made their own smartphone app?

[MontyVeda]

...or does anyone know where i could learn?

There's apps out there that almost do what i want, but not quite... plus, the freebies tend to have adverts.

Can't be that hard can it? Just a load of ones and zeros innit

 

[BoldonLad]

...or does anyone know where i could learn?

There's apps out there that almost do what i want, but not quite... plus, the freebies tend to have adverts.

Can't be that hard can it? Just a load of ones and zeros innit

a first step Google "writing apps for android and ios"

 

[Markymark]

iOS apps require an sdk that only works on macs. When I looked sometime ago it was free to download.

Don’t know about the baked-bean-tins-and-string devices some of you have.

 

[MontyVeda]

a first step Google "writing apps for android and ios"

great way to get discussions going on a forum... send me to google.

 

[MontyVeda]

iOS apps require an sdk that only works on macs. When I looked sometime ago it was free to download.

Don’t know about the baked-bean-tins-and-string devices some of you have.

it's for android

 

[Markymark]

it's for android

As shocking as this my sound, that’s not my area of expertise.


In terms of writing code though, they’re all pretty similar. If you’ve experience you should pick it up fairly quickly. If not, who knows, some do some don’t.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you are familiar with writing web stuff then phone gap can turn them into Apps.

https://phonegap.com/

 

[annedonnelly]

I think there used to be a course on FutureLearn. I was tempted to have a try but got distracted on other courses...

 

[chriswoody]

Mit App Inventor.

I've had a short play with it in the past and it's pretty good. It's based on drag and drop code blocks, so less hassle with syntax errors. It was developed by MIT laboratories and now run by Google.

The fun part is that you build the app on your computer and simultaneously test it on your phone.

 

[MontyVeda]

Thanks for the links.

Surprised that no one's really had a bash.

 

[jefmcg]

Did you get further with this? I'm just now playing with Tasker which allows you to write programs on the phone itself, and with a plugin convert them into APK files (ie apps). It's not perfect, but it allows you to make your phone do just about anything. I've combined it with Movement Detection and now have an app that starts and stops strava when I start and stop cycling, and another that nags me if I haven't done brisk exercise today.

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks for the links.

Surprised that no one's really had a bash.

I suppose it depends what it is that you are trying to do ... I'm writing my own puzzle games using the Godot game engine. Godot is designed for games, but you could use it for simple non-game apps too. It can deploy to Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, web ...

Godot is free, powerful, and fun to use. There are hundreds of beginners (and more advanced) tutorial videos on YouTube.

 

[Milkfloat]

Thanks for the links.

Surprised that no one's really had a bash.

I see what you did there.

 

[MontyVeda]

I have a couple of remote control apps for software such as winamp, windows media player, etc. which let my press play and pause, skip back and forth using my phone instead getting up and pushing the mouse... they're handy, but have buttons i never use whilst lack some handy functions. All these apps do is replicate keyboard shortcuts under a nice skin, and having fiddled with winamp skins and websites, figured the pc remote phone apps might not be much different.

Then i found a remote app which has a customisable feature which meant i needn't learn to build my own app from scratch... but that feature is only on the full-paid version... at which point i started a tread titled "Why can't i buy any phone apps?" and after a week of fruitless fiddling and faffing, it turned out that my phone is too old to do anything fancy, including buying apps... so gave up on the idea.

Making up games could be fun. I can't help but think of the old Spectrum Game Skool Daze

 

[lazybloke]

Good luck! I tried writing a phone app a few years ago. I got as far as an icon and a welcome screen before realising that a childhood of Sinclair & Acorn computers had not equipped me with the necessary skills.












But no one could ever beat me on Zalaga