Chapter 12. Web-enabled apps
You’ve already seen that App Inventor lets you connect with other people using text messages (see chapter 6). In this chapter, we’ll look at other tools that let you send and receive information, this time using the internet. You’ll see how you can show pages from websites, read information from online sources, and store data in the cloud using the WebDB component.
You’ll need a data connection to use these features on your phone—so that means either a Wi-Fi connection or a phone network data connection. Most people pay (or have a monthly data allowance) for their phone’s data connection, so we suggest using Wi-Fi while you’re playing with these features—and if you’re using a data connection, please check with whoever pays the phone bill first. We’ve tried to use examples of websites and services that will be around for a while, but it’s always possible that a service will change or disappear. If that happens, let us know on the Manning online forum for this book.
You’ll start by looking at how each of the components works with some simple examples. We’ll also make suggestions about how you could use these features in the apps you’ve already created.
App Inventor offers two options for viewing the World Wide Web:
