Today’s goals:

• Discuss apps: how they’re different from websites, how to make them, etc.
• Create a basic Android app!

 Today’s featured website:

• http://appvswebsite.com/– It’s not just about money; pretend you have a big budget to see some of the differences between mobile apps and websites

  App vs website

• In groups of 2 at your tables, you will be assigned one of the following:
  1. Write down three of your favorite apps and why you like them so much.
  2. Look at YouTube.com on your computer and then take out your phone and go to YouTube. What did you do to get there? Did you go right to the app or open the browser first? What happened if you open the browser?
  3. Go to the Cool Stuff page and check out the Apps category; click on some of the links and write down some observations.
  4. What is the difference between an app and a website?
  5. How do you choose what to make- an app or a website?
  6. What is a native app? A hybrid app? A web app?

 MIT’s App Inventor

• You will follow the basic Hello Purr tutorial in which you make an Android app that has a photo of a cat that, when tapped, makes a meow sound.
  1. Go here and click create apps at the top right
  2. Sign in with your Google account (if you don’t have one, let me know)
  3. Follow this tutorial
  4. When you finish, test your app on my old Android phone
  5. Change up the app by adding a new image and a new sound (you can find tons of free sound files here)
  6. If you already did Hello Purr and modified it, you will pick a tutorial from this list to create another app.  You can work on your own or with a partner.  When you’re done, check out how your app works on the Android phone.