Image via Complex Original
According to analysts, the smartphone app market is on pace to hit $15 billion by 2013. As it stands, the little programs that transformed the way we interact with our mobile devices have created overnight thousandaires and millionaires. One billion app downloads from Apple’s iTunes Store can attest to that. How can you get a piece of the action? Traditionally, you would need a good idea and an even better programming team to help you bring the idea to fruition. But that's all changing. After rummaging through the Internet wasteland, we discovered a dope batch of web-based app-builders that are both cost-efficient and require little, or no programming skills whatsoever. Phew! So whether you're creating the next Angry Birds knockoff or pushing your blog, get it done solo with any one of The 5 Best App-Building Programs. Here's to your first millie!
AppsBar
AppsBar
Price: Free
Android, iOS, or Windows 7 Mobile—here's a DIY web service that lets you create apps for all three platforms. An all-purpose wizard is present to help you with the entire building process and the program offers filters to notify users of any additional or missing components necessary before publishing. Choose from several templates that cater to different categories (business, entertainment, etc.) or feel free to build a new theme by accessing the custom feature. Layout options such as photo/video galleries, social media links, events notifier, form builder, and soundboard can be added, too. Not enough? The Appsbar team also takes special feature requests to accommodate mobile UI enhancements. Go nuts.
Google App Inventor
Google App Inventor
Price: Free
Google's code-free web app introduces a drag-and-drop interface (similar to Visual Basic) that allows users to drop objects such as text boxes, labels, and buttons onto a background, utilizing MIT's Open Blocks tool, which runs pre-developed code blocks that link and function with each event. Gain access to a variety of Android APIs such as text-to-speak capability,
barcode scanning, camera functionality, GPS positioning, Twitter integration,
and much more. It also offers limited visual live debugging and testing, as well as C and C++ support. App Inventor requires some knowledge of Java, but Google makes the learning curve easy with online tutorials and reference points. What more could you ask for from a free program?
iBuildApp
iBuildApp
Price: Free (to create apps), $100 (iTunes submission)
Here's another great multi-platform program that offers Android and iOS app development. Since Apple doesn't support Flash, iBuildApp is catered towards those looking to create innovative HTML5 mobile software. Insert photo galleries, preview apps before publishing, and take full advantage of video and audio stream capabilities. Social media and eCommerce integration is also available, while other mobile facets such as GPS, SMS, and camera capability will be available soon. App creation is free of cost, but the
company charges for additional services like submitting an app to iTunes ($100) and binary uploading ($20) for non-Mac owners. It's still cheaper than hiring a developer. Do that math.
AppsGeyser
AppsGeyser
Price: Free
Anyone searching for an app creator designed
to make webmasters extra cash might find a gold mine in AppsGeyser. Bloggers and website owners can now take their web content (even widgets) and convert it into a mobile app without doing any coding. So every time you update your website, your app updates. And since it's saved as an .apk file, you can share the software for free with others via social media sites. Other standout features include the ability to receive real-time user stats and send pop-up notifications. So how do you make cash? The company pays YOU for every time someone clicks an ad that shows up on your app. Cha-ching!
AppMakr
AppMakr
Online news sites like BBC and blogs like Perez Hilton have used this program to build their respective mobile apps. After running a search for your URL, AppMakr pulls your site media and automatically converts it to a generic app that can be customized immediately. While its high dependency on RSS and Atom news feeds might limit
advanced developer practices, amateurs can still snag multiple news feeds from
their Wordpress, YouTube, Twitter, and other media accounts. MP4 playback is supported as well. Finally, earn money by embedding ads from services like AdMob, DoubleClick, or Google Adsense into your app. Though it's the priciest of the bunch, you'll find yourself saving more than a Benjamin in long-term costs.
