Apple have gone one way, by restricting their app development to Object C (not the easiest of development languages), Google have gone the opposite. Their new App Inventor uses a set of simple tools and an even simpler interface to allow anyone to create apps. Brilliant! I love anything that democratises things, and whilst I’m sure that many developers will complain that ‘it can’t build a real app’, we could see some really interesting, creative and fun apps coming from this.
It has been argued that one of the strengths of Android is their openness towards app development. There have been reports of developers leaving Apple’s strict regime in favour of Android’s more open platform. With the new App Inventor it looks like they could attract a whole new group of people who have the imagination but lack the programming skills. Now, what app can I think of ….