Create Apps with Andromo: No Programming Needed!

With the rise of the smartphone market, applications greatly help in marketing a business as you can easily reach out to your market anytime. Coming up with an app can be costly, though, because it requires a skill that you can't just gain in a snap. Good thing there are developers that make it really easy for those who doesn't know anything about how it's done. I tried looking for app makers online and came across with Andromo that I find really cool and very user-friendly.

Indigo Rose, a Canada-based company, has been in the software development industry for 20 years now. With Android having approximately 52% of the total smartphones market, they decided to put up Andromo.

With Andromo, you can have your very own Android app

in no time!

You don't have to learn any programming language. You don't have to stress with complicated stuffs. And the best of it all? You don't have to spend much time and money dealing with professional app developers.

As you go through this article, you'll learn how easy it is to have your own mobile app. Let's start!

CREATING AN APP

Creating an app in Andromo is very easy. Once you have created your account, you just have to configure the default settings in the app maker. Let me walk you through on the process:

APP INFO

This section is where you set your app’s identity, upload your app icons, and create your app’s license agreement. There are notes in some of the fields which are pretty easy to understand. What you have to take note in this section is the Package Name. It is your app’s unique identifier and Google Play will treat it as a new app everytime you change it even if you’re just updating the same app. Think of the 'Save As' option in most of the software in your computer. Technically, you’re editing the same file but saving it as a different one.

By default, Andromo already has package names you can choose from:

com.andromo
net.andromo

Customizing it requires you to purchase a license. If you want to use your own package name, you may follow this format:

com.companyname.applicationname

Risk of changing it? Once your Andromo license has expired, though can you still update your app using Andromo's free license, Google Play will already treat it as a new app since it will already use Andromo's built-in package names.

Aside from the package name, you also have an option to have a License Agreement for your app. This is important because if anything happens or your users have concerns regarding your app, at least you’re covered by this piece of documentation. The License Agreement contains the scope and limitations of using your app. It usually explains to the user what your app does in the background the moment they install and use it. If you activate this feature, your user has to accept it before they can your app.

APP ACTIVITIES

For me, this is the most important section of the app maker. Andromo offers a wide range of activities that you can incorporate in your apps. Basically, these are the things that your users can see or do within your app.

TIP: You don’t have to put everything in one app. Of course, you have to gauge if you really need that particular activity or not. It doesn’t mean that when it's available, you have to use it. Agree?

So, amongst the long list of app activities, here are just what I used in my app:

RSS Feeds: I used the RSS Feeds of the specific labels in my blog so the entries displayed in the app are categorized and users will only see what they want to see from my site.
Custom Page: I used it in embedding my events calendar in the app. If you know a bit of HTML, you can leverage on it to fully customize your content through this activity.
Email: I used this so my users can contact me anytime. If you're using my app, I would love to hear your feedback especially on how I can improve it!
About Us: I used this to let my app users know what the app is all about. This is also where I placed my social network accounts where my users can easily connect with me.

Each activity already has an assigned icon but, of course, you’d want to create your own identity so you can go ahead and create your own icons that will spice up the look and feel of your app.

STYLES

This is where you can customize the color theme of your app. You may set the color of your app background, header, primary text, secondary text, and dates. In choosing colors, make sure that everything goes along very well. There are available apps online that can help you come up with your color theme. What I often use is Adobe Kuler because aside from setting up your own theme, they also have a lot of preset color themes available.

So you'll have an idea on what you are changing, here are the different parts of your app screen:

DASHBOARD

This is where you can edit the look and feel of your homescreen. The homescreen shows all the actions you created in the App Activities section. There are four layouts you can choose from:

This is also where you can set your homescreen's background and banner. You have to be careful though because the things you set here should complement with your activity icons.

Apart from the content, I believe a good graphics play a big part of attracting more users of your app. At least, that’s for me. In fact, this is where I spent most of my time doing the app. I can't decide which of my designs would fit my content and at the same time, catch my users attentions. Here's a preview of the EDnything app that I will be discussing in a separate post:

MONETIZATION

Andromo makes it easy for app makers to incorporate monetization within the app. This particular feature lets the app owners earn something out of their work through the ads displayed in the app. You have two options to earn: either put ads on your app or disable this feature and post your app in google play as a paid app. You choose.

Reminder, though. Make sure you use this in regulation because it's annoying if you almost cannot use the app because of all the ads that keep on popping up. I bet you don't wanna lose your users, right?

There are two types of ads that Andromo can display in your app.

Banner - It's the tiny animated bar that you can see at the bottom of your app screen
Interstitial - These are the ads that pop up on your screen.

If it's your first time to create an app and you're not familiar with ads, no need to worry because you can see here a list of networks providing mobile advertisements. All you need to do is subscribe, and once your application is approved, start setting it up and enter the code in this section.

You can enable multiple ad networks and Andromo will just cycle through them. However, if you do this, your earnings will be distributed and may take time before you can get it.

SERVICES

This is the most exciting part for me. I was a trainer by profession and handled mobile technology that also includes mobile applications. I did modules for mobile applications and am quite familiar with some of the backend services used by the apps. However, I haven't had a chance to tackle on how to set it up since it's more on the developer side.

I thought I would have a hard time configuring this but, surprisingly, it's not that really hard.

There are two services that you can incorporate in your app. First is the Google Analytics. If you have a website, you're most probably familiar with this already. For those who doesn't have an idea, Google Analytics is a service that tracks and reports traffic on your site. Now, it also supports mobile applications and this will surely help you understand your users' behaviours. You can use the data generated by Google Analytics to further improve your app.

Second is my favorite, the Push Notifications. If you have seen a popup or alert on your mobile phones from some of your installed apps, that's the push notification. I'm excited about this feature because it'll let me reach out to my app users easily.

I learned about this when I was still handling training for a mobile app and it makes me curious how the notifications are being blasted to thousands of users. What I knew before is just the high-level process of how it works. But how it's done? Totally clueless!

Andromo supports AirBop push notifications that is a separate subscription. They have free subscription but only offers limited features like the number of registered devices. Their free plan is good if you're just starting up. As your app become so popular and gain thousands of users, you may want to consider upgrading your subscription to reach out to all your users.

As a first timer, I found it really easy to setup. With just a few clicks, I was able to successfully send my very first trial message to my app. After you have created an account in AirBop, you just have to get these information:

AirBop App Key*
AirBop App Secret*
Google Project Number**

* To automatically generate the AirBop App Key & App Secret, just provide the following information in your AirBop account:

App Name
Java Package Name - this is the package name you have assigned in the App Info tab
Google API Key - You have to get this from Google Developers. It can be a bit of confusing at first but if you just follow the steps, I'm sure you can easily get it. Click here for the instructions.

** You may get the Google Project Number in Google Developers too. It's automatically generated once you have created an API Project. Instructions here.

Can catch up so far?

Once you have provided all three information in Andromo's Services tab, then you're good to go! You may already try sending a test push notification as soon as you install your app on your mobile phone.

BUILD

You're just a click away in having your very first Android app!

When you're good with all the configurations you've done for your app, it's now time to export the installer. Build My App button generates the APK file that you need to install the app on your mobile phone. This is also required when you're uploading your app in Google Play. It may take minutes to export your APK file and when it's done, you'll get the download link in your registered email address.

UPLOADING IN GOOGLE PLAY

Uploading your app in Google Play is a different topic. This is where you can get users. If you wish to see your app in Google Play, you have to be a registered publisher and that costs $25.

Click here to find out how.

SUBSCRIPTION

Is there a cost to come up with your own Android App? Yes, there is. However, Andromo also offers a trial plan that is free of charge. That means, you can have your own app without spending! But, of course, you won't get to enjoy all the features of Andromo. Andromo has three subscription packages available:

Their subscription plans are pretty much competitive compared to other app makers.

That's it! Now, here are my thoughts on Andromo:

WHAT I LOVE

Very easy to use. No programming skills needed!
They have a really good support options. Their knowledgebase and tutorials are my bestfriends while I'm doing the app!
Very affordable as compared to other platforms offering the same services
Supports mobile ads for monetization: Banner & Interstitial Ads

WHAT I QUITE DIDN’T LIKE

You can't view what you have already added unless you build and install the app on your phone to test
Limited to Android devices (name says it all. I just hope they can come up with iOS app maker too)
Can't find a way to change the push notification icon. Not sure though if this is still covered by Andromo but I hope there's a way to change the icon of the app's push messages.

WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED

Add more App Activities:

Calendar that can be synced to the phone’s calendar or enables the user to set an alarm for a certain event
Image that lets you display a picture on the app homescreen
Poll/Survey
Tutorial so users get to preview and understand how your app works