So I learned a ton about apps
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Last week, I decided I was going to attempt to build an app. I did alot of research and found a completely free app builder http://appsbar.com
AppsBar allows you to create an app with practically no knowledge of code. It's a GUI interface that gives you a basic menu with some different widget options. The main widgets I used were either HTML code, which I baked directly into the app, and a link widet. The link widget just functions as an internal app browser. So I was able to just point to various sections of my website. I did end up using a calendar widget too, which is pretty cool because you can add events to your google calendar in two quick taps. Then I customized the icons within the menu.
Once the app was built, it was functional but not pretty. It has a very basic menu, but it would be great for a small business that just wants to show case their website. It also has an ad on it which links back to the AppsBar homepage which lets everyone know you built it for free. Since selling my app is not my intention at this point, that wasn't a big deal for me.
Round 2 - Fight
The app wasn't as visually appealing as I wanted and it lacked some basic features I would like to see. I started doing some research on different paid app builders. Let me tell you what, there are alot of them.
The first one I tried was http://appery.io , but this was above my head since I am not really a programmer. So I ended up abandoning that idea and I found http://appmakr.com . Once I got signed up with AppMakr it was love at first sight, the pricing is right, the interface was easy to work with yet powerful, and you could build your app completely free and only decide to pay if you were satisfied with your app at the end.
I got the Pro package. One really cool thing about the Pro package is that they submit to the app store for you. It goes under their developer account, but in my case it's really cool that I don't have to pay the $100 developer fee to get my app in the App Store.
My app is now in the playstore and I am pretty happy with it. I do have two tickets opened with some minor issues and I could go through and fix some of the HTML formatting, but that's what happens when you pull an all nighter.
If anyone is interested in testing the app for me, I would really appreciate it. It's basic and doesn't require much information other than an internet connection and location information (which it doesn't use so you could turn off your gps).
