Google Android App Inventor: Mobile App Development For The People

Google is putting the power of Android application development into users' hands.

With a new tool dubbed App Inventor, Google Labs is giving everyone a taste of mobile app creation. According to Google, App Inventor is designed to let programmers, non-programmers, professionals and students build mobile apps for Google Android devices.

Google this week opened App Inventor invitations to the general public. Google App Inventor is a turnaround on the mobile application development process of Android and other mobile platforms, where applications must go through a rigorous development and approval process. Android App Inventor is a Web-based software that lets users drag and drop controls to build applications. All a user needs is an Gmail email account, Google said.

"For many people, their mobile phone – and access to the Internet – is always within reach," Google wrote on its blog. "App Inventor for Android gives everyone, regardless of programming experience, the opportunity to control and reshape their communication experience. We’ve observed people take pride in becoming creators of mobile technology and not just consumers of it."

Google said App Inventor has been tested for the past year in classrooms around the United States. One early pilot tester, David Wolber, a professor of computer science at the University of San Francisco, said "students traditionally intimidated by technology are motivated and excited to program with App Inventor," according to Google. Meanwhile, a student told Google that "I used to think that no one could program except CS people. Now, I've made dozens of applications for the Android phone."

Google has posted a Google Android App Inventor invitation request form for users interested in trying the platform.