MIT App Inventor is a web application
MIT App Inventor is a web application integrated development environment originally provided by Google, and now maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It allows newcomers to computer programming to create application software (apps) for two operating systems (OS): Android and iOS, which, as of 20 January 2023, is in final beta testing. It is free and open-source software released under dual licensing: a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license and an Apache License 2.0 for the source code.
It uses a graphical user interface (GUI) very similar to the programming languages Scratch and StarLogo, which allows users to drag and drop visual objects to create an application that can be tested on Android and iOS devices and built to run as an Android app. It uses a companion mobile app that allows for instant live testing and debugging. In creating App Inventor, Google drew upon significant prior research in educational computing, and work done within Google on online development environments.[1]
App Inventor and the other projects are based on and informed by constructionist learning theories, which emphasize that programming can be a vehicle for engaging powerful ideas through active learning. As such, it is part of an ongoing movement in computers and education that began with the work of Seymour Papert and the MIT Logo Group in the 1960s, and has also manifested itself with Mitchel Resnick‘s work on Lego Mindstorms and StarLogo.[1][2]
App Inventor also supports the use of cloud data via its CloudDB component.[3]