Brand innovation: App Inventor for Android
In an example of brand innovation Google Labs has released App Inventor for Android, a desktop (browser) application intended to make creating Android apps fast and easy. According to Google, no programming knowledge is required. One simply drags and drops blocks of pre-packaged code into a composing screen, and the app is generated.
At this point the App Inventor is fairly rudimentary, and the demo apps appear somewhat simple. Wait a few months, however, and we all might be surprised with the apps that result. One observer calls App Inventor “a game changer.”
An excellent example of brand innovation
I see App Inventor as an excellent example of brand innovation. With App Inventor Google is putting more power in the hands of Android users. It’s enabling them to do more of what they want with Android, shaping apps to their personal or particular needs. These will be apps in the pure context of the customer, and as such they can build significant brand depth. They’re also at the edge of the brand ecosystem, and that gives the brand new territory to enter and explore. That’s what personal brand applications are all about.
Personal Apps or Corporate Apps?
Google provides an example of a personal Android app in the video below, but there’s nothing stopping businesses from developing their own Android apps for sales, marketing or operations. A delivery business might find use for such an app, because one of the functions is geo-location. And if the Android OS powers the (rumored) Google tablet, these apps may work on the Google tablet, too. That could open up more possibilities.
Types of applications possible
Quoting from Google Labs:
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Because App Inventor provides access to a GPS-location sensor, you can build apps that know where you are. You can build an app to help you remember where you parked your car, an app that shows the location of your friends or colleagues at a concert or conference, or your own custom tour app of your school, workplace, or a museum. |
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You can write apps that use the phone features of an Android phone. You can write an app that periodically texts “missing you” to your loved ones, or an app “No Text While Driving” that responds to all texts automatically with “sorry, I’m driving and will contact you later”. You can even have the app read the incoming texts aloud to you (though this might lure you into responding). |
App Inventor in education
App Inventor may have important educational uses. See the video here from the University of San Francisco.
Google video and demo app
Here is an introductory video from Google showing the app development process and a completed app:
