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Open a browser to beta.appinventor.mit.edu Login with your Google account.

Download the App Inventor software

App Inventor is mostly a cloud tool but it does require you to download some software to your computer. Go to the Setup page in App Inventor and setup your computer. Here are some notes on the process:

  • Most computers have Java on them already, so for now ignore that step.
  • Instead, go straight to Install the App Inventor Setup Software instructions and follow the link for the type of computer you have.
  • If you have a Mac, download the .dmg file and double click it. It may start the install process automatically. If not, look on your desktop and you'll see a mounted disk. Click it, then double click on the .pkg file within it. This will start the install process. After installation completes, you are ready to go.

Create a new project, open the blocks editor

  • Back in App Inventor choose the New button on the far left to create a new project. Enter a name for the project. This will open the Component Designer. This is where you'll show how the app will look.
  • In the Component Designer, click on Open Blocks Editor. A dialog should appear asking if you want to open or save a file named appinventorForAndroidCodeblocks.jnlp. If one option is to open it with Java Web Start, perfect, do so. The process will take up to a minute, so don't get impatient. If after a minute nothing has happened, look in your downloads folder to see if the file is there, and double click it.
  • If the system doesn't ask you to open with Java Web Start, you probably need to configure your system with Java (go back to the Learn | Setup screen).
  • The blocks editor is where you'll program the behavior of your app, e.g. what happens when the user clicks on a button.

Open an emulator

Once you've successfully opened the blocks editor, click on New Emulator. Click OK on the dialog that appears. In about a minute, an emulator (an on-screen phone) will appear.

Now you're ready to build an app

Most people start with Hello Purr, an app in which touching the phone (or clicking the emulator) causes a cat to meow. Get started using this video tutorial