MIT APP INVENTOR

INTRODUCTION
What is MIT App Inventor?

 MIT App Inventor is an intuitive, visual programming environment that

allows everyone even children to build fully functional apps for
smartphones and tablets. Those new to MIT App Inventor can have a
simple first app up and running in less than 30 minutes. And what's
more, our blocks-based tool facilitates the creation of complex, high-
impact apps in significantly less time than traditional programming
environments. The MIT App Inventor project seeks to democratize
software development by empowering all people, especially young
people, to move from technology consumption to technology creation.
 App Inventor lets you develop applications for Android phones using a web
browser and either a connected phone or an on-screen phone emulator. The MIT
App Inventor servers store your work and help you keep track of your projects.
You build apps by working with:

The App Inventor Designer, where you select the components for your app.
•The App Inventor Blocks Editor, where you assemble program blocks that
specify how the components should behave. You assemble programs
visually, fitting pieces together like pieces of a puzzle
 Your app appears on the phone step-by-step as you add pieces to it, so
you can test your work as you build. If you don't have an Android phone,
you can build your apps using the Android emulator, software that runs on
your computer and behaves just like the phone.
 The App Inventor development environment is supported for Mac OS X,
GNU/Linux, and Windows operating systems, and several popular Android
phone models. Applications created with App Inventor can be installed on
any Android phone.
What are the Computer Hardware and
Software specification dedicated to MIT App
Inventor
Software Components

• Macintosh (with Intel processor): Mac OS X 10.5,

10.6+
• Windows: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7+
• GNU/Linux: Ubuntu 8+, Debian 5+ (Note: GNU/Linux
live development is only supported for WiFi
connections between computer and Android device.)
Browser

• Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or higher (Note: If you are using Firefox

with the NoScript extension, you'll need to turn the extension
off.)
• Apple Safari 5.0 or higher
• Google Chrome 4.0 or higher
• App Inventor does not support Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Windows users should use Chrome or Firefox
Phone or Tablet (or use the on-screen
emulator
• iOS 9.0 or later on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch
• macOS 11 or higher on computers with Apple M1
Silicon
• Android Operating System 2.1 (“Eclair”) or higher for
Android devices
Installing and Setting
up MIT App Inventor
LET’S GET STARTED!
https://
appinventor.mit.edu/
LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE MITAPPINVENTOR!
Installing MIT App Inventor Setup for
Windows
 Installing the Windows software for App Inventor Setup has
two parts:
1. Installing the App Inventor Setup software package. This step
is the same for all Android devices, and the same for Windows
XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10.
2. If you choose to use the USB cable in step 4, then you'll need
to install Windows drivers for your Android phone. This is not
necessary if you choose to use WiFi in step 4.
Installing the App Inventor Setup
software package
 We recommend that you perform the installation from an account that has
administrator privileges. This will install the software for all users of the machine.
If you do not have administrator privileges, the installation should still work, but
App Inventor will be usable only from the account you used when you installed.
1. Download the installer.
2. Locate the file AppInventor_Setup_Installer_v_1_2.exe (~92 MB) in your
Downloads file or your Desktop. The location of the download on your computer
depends on how your browser is configured.
3. Open the file.
4. Click through the steps of the installer. Do not change the installation location but
record the installation directory, because you might need it to check the driver.
The directory will differ depending on your version of Windows and whether or not
you are logged in as an administrator.
Locating the Setup software

 In most cases, App Inventor should be able to locate the Setup software
on its own. But if it asks for the location of the software, the path to enter
is C:\Program Files\Appinventor\commands-for-Appinventor. If you are
using a 64-bit machine, you should type Program Files (x86) rather than
Program Files. Also, if you did not install the software as an administrator,
it was installed in your local directory rather than in C:\Program Files. You'll
need to search for it to find the correct pathname.
Installing App Inventor Setup on Mac
OS X
 App Inventor consists of several different parts that work together. These parts live in various
places: on Google's servers, on your computer, and on your phone. To install the parts that run
on your computer, download and run App Inventor Setup. This document tells you how to do
that.
 1. Download the Installer.
 2. Double-click AppInvertorSetup.pkg to start the installer.
 3. Click Continue.
 4. Read and accept the software license agreement.
 5. On the Standard Install screen, click Install. “DON’T change the install location”.
 6. If asked, enter your password to confirm that you really want to install software, click Ok.
 7. The installer confirms that the App Inventor Setup package was installed.
Locating the Setup Software

 In most cases, App Inventor should be able to locate the

installed software on its own. But if it asks you to type in
the location to look for it, the path name to enter is
/Applications/Appinventor/commands-for-AppInventor
Installing the App
Inventor Setup
Software for
GNU/Linux
NOTE: YOU WILL NEED SUDO PRIVILEGES TO DO THE INSTALLATION!
For systems that can install Debian
packages
 Use these instructions for systems that can install Debian packages (e.g. Debian or Ubuntu):
1. Download the Appinventor Setup installer Debian package. This is a file named appinventor-
setup_1.1_all.deb (about 86 Megabytes). It is a Debian package installer file. The place it will end up
on your computer depends on how your browser is configured. Typically, it will go into your
Downloads folder.
2. If your system can install packages simply by clicking on the package file, then do that.
3. If your system doesn't support clickable package installers, then navigate to the directory where the
file is located and run the commandsudo dpkg --install appinventor-setup_1.1_all.deb
4. With either method, you might need to ensure that the deb file as well as the directory it's in are world
readable and world executable. On some systems, sudo does not have the default privileges to read
and execute all files.
5. The software will be installed under /usr/google/appinventor-setup.
6. You'll also need to configure your system to detect your device. See the Android developer
instructions at Setting up a device for development. Follow the instructions under the step "set up
your system to detect your device" in the bullet under "If you're developing on Ubuntu Linux".
For other GNU/Linux systems

1. Download the Appinventor Setup installer tar file. This is a file named

appinventor-setup_1.1.tar.gz (about 86 Megabytes). It is a Gzip
compressed tar file.
2. Install the files using a method appropriate to your operating system. You
need to extract just the appinventor-setup_1.1/appinventor directory,
which needs to end up on your system with the full path
name /usr/google/appinventor. If you have installed this correctly, the
file /usr/google/appinventor/commands-for-Appinventor/adb will exist.
Locating the Setup directory

 In most cases, App Inventor should be able to locate the installed Setup
software on its own. If it does ask you where the software is located, the
directory path you should enter is /usr/google/appinventor/commands-
for-Appinventor
Installation and Setting up the MIT
App Inventor Companion for
Phones or Tablet.
TO TEST YOUR APP AS YOU CREATE IT, FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO INSTALL
THE MIT APP INVENTOR COMPANION APP ON A PHONE OR TABLET:
Step 1: Download and install the MIT
App Inventor Companion app on your
Android or iOS device.
 Download and install the MIT App Inventor
Companion app on your Android or iOS device. (Open
the Google Play store or Apple App store on your
phone or tablet).

 After downloading, step through the instructions to install the Companion

app on your device. You need to install the MIT App Inventor Companion
app only once, and then you can leave it on your phone or tablet for
whenever you use App Inventor. Note: There are some differences between
the Android and iOS versions.
Step 2: Connect both your computer
and your device to the SAME Wi-Fi
network
 App Inventor will automatically show you the app you are building, but only if
your computer (running App Inventor) and your device (running the
Companion) are connected to the same Wi-Fi network
 A feature of AppInventor allows users to connect a device to a PC over Wi-Fi
to test their apps. Below we explain in more detail how this process works.
 To use the AppInventor connection over Wi-Fi, a user must download the MIT
AI2 Companion App via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, and install
it directly to your phone.
 The MIT AI2 Companion allows users to make a connection between an
Android or iOS device and a PC over the MIT RendezVous Server.
 The phone or table must be using Wi-Fi and not the cell network for Internet
connectivity.
How MIT RendezVous Server works:

 1. Your PC checks in with a 6-character code generated by the MIT AI2

Companion
 2. MIT RendezVous Server records the IP address of your PC
 3. Your device checks in with a 6-character code
 4. MIT RendezVous Server records the IP address of your phone
 5. MIT RendezVous Server tells the device and computer with the
matching 6-character code the other's IP address
 6. Device and computer communicate directly using IP
Why is my phone still not connecting?

 Check that your device is connected to Wi-Fi and not the cell network. On

some devices and in some locations, even with Wi-Fi enabled, the phone
continues to use the cell network. If this is happening to you, you can
disable mobile networking (cell phone carrier based Internet connectivity)
from your device's settings menu.
Step 3: Open an App Inventor project
and connect it to your device
 Go to App Inventor and open a project (or create a new one — use Project >
Start New Project and give your project a name).
 Then Choose “Connect” and “AI Companion” from the top menu in your
browser:
 A dialog with a QR code will appear on your PC screen. On your device,
launch the MIT App Companion app just as you would do any app. Then
click the “Scan QR code” button on the Companion, and scan the code in
the App Inventor window:
 Within a few seconds, you should see the app you are building on your
device. It will update as you make changes to your design and blocks, a
feature called “live testing.”
 If you have trouble scanning the QR code or your device does not have a
scanner, type the code shown on the computer into the Companion’s text
area on your device exactly as shown. The code is directly below where the
screen on your PC shows “Your code is” and consists of six characters.
Type the six characters and choose the orange “Connect with code.” Do
not type an Enter or carriage return: type just the six characters followed
by pressing the orange button.