Assignment #2 : My First App

HelloPur App:



Functions/Commands:

In the HelloPur app, I used Button, Label, and Sound components. I used a Button component that had the image property set to the kitty.png file I downloaded earlier. A Label component that reads “Per the Kitty” was used. A Sound component that plays the meow.mp3 file was also used.

In the Blocks Editor, an event handler was created that tells the Sound component to play when the user taps the button. Then, My Blocks tab was clicked and Button1 was chosen. The when Button1.Click do block was dragged and dropped onto the editor. After that, Sound1 was clicked. The call Sound1.Play block was dragged onto the editor and it was dropped into the when Button1.Click do block. Finally, when the kitty picture on the device was clicked, the kitty meow sound was heard.

Blog Editor Commands

Easy or Hard?

This assignment was reasonably easy; in fact it was way easier than I expected it to be. The steps Mr. Kee provided us at tiny.cc/wgvez were simple and straightforward. The tutorial steps at https://joners-inventor.appspot.com/learn/setup/hellopurr/hellopurrpart2.html were systematic and detailed. Also, the instructions of the HelloPur tutorial had diagrams and pictures which made it easier to follow.

Difficulties:

I faced few difficulties with downloading, installing, and setting my computer ready to build the HelloPur app. At first, I had difficulties installing the App Inventor. Once I dealt with that problem and installed the App Inventor successfully, another conflict occurred. The emulator was not showing up on the Block Editor after I pressed “New Emulator.” That’s why, I had to perform the whole creating app procedure at home and it worked successfully.

Time Scale:

         It took me an hour and half to build the HelloPur application, and it took me about 2 hours in total to complete both of the blogs.  The reason it took me so long to build the HelloPur application is because I had difficulties downloading the meow sound to my PC, and I had difficulty installing the App Inventor and the Emulator. If I didn’t have to deal with these conflicts, it would have taken me only 30-40 minutes to build the app.

What Have I Learned?

  

While doing this App Inventor assignment, I have learned many things such as how to build simple and creative applications, how to use the Block Editor, how to connect to the Emulator, how to design texts in the Designer, and how to follow online tutorial instructions.

Personal Comments:

            I really enjoyed doing this assignment. It was a different type of learning experience and an unique assignment. Now, I know how to create my own app which is something I never thought I’d be able to do on my own. The best part of this assignment was when I clicked “Pet the Kitty” on the HelloPur app, the kitty made the meow sound. I was overjoyed to see that my app was working successfully.