Frustration

[Flatdog]

Hello 

I have been using AI2 for a few months now and Kodular where I first came across the system.

I have done a few apps now, but every single time I have tried to do anything more than a simple app I run into problems 

I have not been able to create a single app that I would be happy putting on Google Play, even though there are no errors in the blocks The apps do not work as they should.

I have tried again and again with various apps but they do not work the same on the Companion as they do when the .apk is created.

The paint app I created is a nightmare, the paintbrush is very distorted and will not work if a photo is added to the canvas, Worked fine in the Companion but does not work as an app.

The simple torch app I created does not work as an app, works fine in the Companion.

I have been trying to build various apps but so far I have not been able to create a single app that will work as an app as it does in the companion.

I have done courses on Udemy and watched hundreds of videos on Youtube in all sorts of languages but I still can not get the apps I build to work like they do when I test them with the Companion.

After months of trying I have just become frustrated as I can build an app but it will not work as soon as it is exported as an app.

I have tried these apps in various mobile devices with various versions of Android but none of them work as they do with the companion.

I am very very frustrated that no matter what I build It will not work as an app and therefore I will never be able to create an app worth publishing to GooglePlay with this system.

All the effort I have put into learning this has been for nothing, as none of the apps I have built work as an app, this was just more wasted time spent on a frustrating system that does not work.

I wish there was a system out there that would let me build a competent app that will actually work as designed.

[Peter Mathijssen]

I am sorry that you feel this way. My experience is totally the opposite. I have worked with a number of builders and they always deliver as i wanted it. I also published to Google Play without any problems. 

Maybe you can show some of you apps you made. Upload an aia of some of them. I guess there is something wrong in the way you make your app. You say they "don't work as they should" or "will not work". Maybe tell more about what happens when you build or install them on your phone.

[Chris Ward]

Hello Flatdog

The number one issue where an App Works via the Companion but not as an APK is file paths.

The Torch App however relies upon Activity Starter? That could have a permissions issue.

Without seeing your code, nobody can help you - but rest assured there are thousands of App Inventor Apps in Google Play Store, it can be done and App Inventor has to be the easiest way to define Apps.

[Taifun]

The simple torch app I created does not work as an app, works fine in the Companion.

you might wnat to try the flashlight extension https://puravidaapps.com/flashlight.php... there also is an example project available...

Taifun

---

Trying to push the limits of App Inventor! Snippets, Tutorials and Extensions from Pura Vida Apps by Taifun.        

[Flatdog]

Thank You all for your replies, Sorry for the delay my health is not the best.

Here are some screenshots of my blocks and the .aia and .apk 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tyk43b79u8g61c3/BeneficioDoodle.aia?dl=1

Apk removed.  Users are not permitted to post apk's and direct links to apks as a security issue.

The app was made In Kodular as I deleted everything I had on AI2 yesterday, still had the projects on Kodular, I prefer AI2 for some reason.

The system is amazing and it has taught me a lot, I just wish I could get one of these apps to work as they do with the companion.

If anyone can figure out why this works well on the Companion but not as an app I would love to know how to fix this.

I have deleted a lot of my other apps in frustration but I kept the DoodlePad that I created and am building a "Get me out of here" app for my daughters as I try again.

Please note it is not perfect, I got put off by the fact that It would not work correctly.

The brush distorts when scaled up, It will not work when an Image is on the canvas, and it has problems saving sometimes but not always.

After around 4 months now of courses and videos and building, I really thought I would be able to build an app that I would be happy putting on GooglePlay but to date all the apps I have tried to build have had problems like the doodle pad below, and as far as I can tell The blocks are correct and I have no Errors, I am stumped as to why the apps do not work as they do on the Companion, but it has become very very frustrating.

Thank you 

[Taifun]

The app was made In Kodular 

you are not using MIT App Inventor and therefore should ask in the community of the distribution you are using

thank you

Taifun

[SteveJG]

Sorry you are plagued with issues.   Are you aware  aia files created using AppyBuilder, Kodular etc. are not compatible in most instances when one attempts to re-compile them using App Inventor?  These app inventor clones have controls and features that do not exist in App Inventor 2 and vice versa.   Since your example is coded using Kodular and uses controls that do not exist on App Inventor 2, you might get specific help from the Kodular Forum  https://community.kodular.io/ 

If you would kindly provide an aia  made with App Inventor 2, someone here would be glad to help/provide advice.

Regards,

Steve

[Flatdog]

Hello 

Here is the remade DoodleApp that I have redone in AI2, I tried to keep it as simple as possible.

I am still having the same problems so here are all the blocks and the aia and apk from the AI2 version that has the same problems as the Kodular Version.

The Problems:

1. The PaintBrush Distorts when scaled up 

2. The app will only save one Image then will save no more images

3. I can clear the brush strokes but I cannot remove the image from the canvas in any way, I have tried various ways of doing this none have worked.

4. The PaintBrush distorts, even more, when an Image is on the canvas.

Apart from that, the app works ok.

The most annoying problem is the distortion of the brush when it is scaled up, and not saving more than one image.

If anybody can help me solve these problems I would be very grateful, as I am truly stumped as to why it is not working as it should.

I have tried the forums on AI2, Kodular, Thunkable, Youtube, Udemy and more but I have no idea how to solve these problems and they are the same on 

all platforms I have tried.

As far as I can tell I have done everything correct and the way I have been taught, so it is boggling my mind that it is not working as it should.

I really enjoy building apps with this system and It has taught me a lot about programming, I just wish I could build an app that works without problems.

Thank you

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qlb6ixyzg790hz4/BeneficioDoodlePad.aia?dl=1

[TimAI2]

Try painting with DrawCircle instead of DrawLine

You only generate a notification for the first file saved, the app saved more than one image for me when i went looking

Set canvas.backgroundimage to empty text block to clear background image

Image picker not finding the save directory though (for me...) even after restart

Odd way to save images and handle camera shots ....but that could just be me and my ways :)

[Italo]

Do you really need to have the user accept your privacy policy EVERY TIME they use your app?

When they accept once, you should not show it again. Save a tag in TinyDB when they accept. In Screen1 initialize, check if that tag exists. If it doesn't then show the policy, but if it does, then it means it was accepted previously and you can skip that part.

When saving the image, Why do you ask if global SaveCount = 1? I don't understand that part. How about you save in TinyDB the number and every time you save an image, you increase that number, so you are sure that file name wasn't saved before?

You don't need to ask anything there. Just show the SAVED notification.

To draw smoother lines, before the DrawLine block, place a DrawCircle block with CurrentX, CurrentY and radius will be CanvasMain.Linewidth / 2. Believe me, it will look way better.

[SteveJG]

More advice...   the image you use for the app icon is 512x512 pixels; this should be 48x48 or no larger than 96x96 pixels... When the image is larger, it will probably prevent you from installing your apk on most devices (sorry, originally I said 'compiling' ..the issue is installing.  

You are storing your doodles to  /BeniDoodle/BeniDoodleImage 1.jpg;   2.jpg etc.  The doodle images are not going into the device's Pictures folder so the ImagePicker cannot find them.   To retrieve these images

you need to use the full path   which should be something like  /storage/emulated/0/BeniDoodle/BeniDoodleImage1.jpg      

Regards,

Steve

[Peter Mathijssen]

This extension from Taifun has a Galleryrefresh block so your saved images will be visible in your gallery. 

https://puravidaapps.com/tools.php

[Flatdog]

Hello Good Morning and Thank you very much, everyone, one for your help.

I am going to read through your comments a few times today as I go back and fix this app.

I will try and answer all the point here:

Ok, so the saving of Images I think it is just the way that I learned from Youtube, the courses on Udemy did not cover this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpHmpbfJ_Yk

If there is a much better way of doing this Please show me with Blocks as I am dyslexic and I would never have been able to do this without the colour coding of the Blocks.

(thank you, Grammarly for helping me to write well enough for you to more or less get what I am trying to say. I am very bad at writing)

I have tried this way on 3 mobiles all with Android 7 and above when the image Is saved for the first time, It creates a new folder called BeniDoodle and the first Image I save shows up there and in my Gallery, but if I clear the canvas, In which case only the brush strokes will clear not the Image, and draw on it again, and then save, no image is saved to any folder anywhere on any device I have tried, if I change the Image or take a photo and try and save nothing is saved, If I close the app, and then open the app and do a new image, It will save to a new folder LMAO called BeniDoodle1 then BeniDoodle2 and so on, It is clear that this method is wrong.

And set canvas background to empty text box was not what I was expecting, I was trying to do it with a White colour background but it did not work, Thank you @Taifun.

@Itlo Thank You I agree that accepting the privacy policy every time is very annoying, but I had not worked out how to do that yet it was on the list for the app completion, including adding adverts later maybe.

"Save a tag in TinyDB when they accept. In Screen1 initialize, check if that tag exists. If it doesn't then show the policy, but if it does, then it means it was accepted previously and you can skip that part." Please, can you show this to me in Blocks I will understand so much better? I half understand at the moment.

As for the saving please see the video from youtube above, any blocks showing how to better do this are very much appreciated.

As for the draw circle, I am a bit confused, do I create it with its own block or add it to the CanvasMain where the DrawLine is now, again any screenshots of Block would be amazing thank you.

@SteveJG Thank you for your advice, I am used to doing images at 512 x 512 it is a habit, I will start doing them all at 96 x 96 new habit.

and Thank you very much for your help.

I think the biggest Problem I have is how I am learning by cobbling together my apps with videos from youtube, they are not always very clear and sometimes a little outdated, then there is the fact that everyone has their own style of doing the blocks so it can be a little confusing trying to learn the best way to build these apps. Udemy has helped but I have not found anything advanced on there yet, just the basics. 

I have been wanting to build apps for years but I am a bit of a perfectionist and when something is not right it really bugs me.

Thank you very very much, everyone, for your help I really do appreciate it.

[Peter Mathijssen]

It is great that you keep on trying to make it work. That is the fun of using builders like App Inventor. Learning every day.

I once made this to save my canvas. I wanted it to have a unique name based on the date and time. I had to have leading zeros everywhere so it is a bit big. 

You said you are dyslexic. Would it be helpful if you could use this font when reading the documentation or using app inventor itself? https://www.opendyslexic.org/

[Flatdog]

Thank you very much that is very useful, I have just downloaded it.

[Peter Mathijssen]

I am really curious if using such a font really helps. If it does, i could make my conceptcards and other products use this font. And maybe the developers could make the builder use this font as an option.

http://blog.petermathijssen.nl/app-inventor-maker-cards.html

http://blog.petermathijssen.nl/app-inventor-concept-cards.html

http://blog.petermathijssen.nl/app-inventor-blocks-in-svg.html

[Peter Mathijssen]

I got this via mail from Flatdog so i just paste it here.

Hello Peter Mathijssen 

Yes, it is a massive help and is much easier to read than other fonts, I have also found that darker backgrounds are easier to use than a white background.

But everyone is different so what works for me may not work for another, giving people the choice is the best option if there was an Integration to the builder.

The colour coding of the blocks is very very helpful and helps me easily remember what is what

This system is awesome and I would never have been able to build a single thing if it were not for AI2 so thank you all developers and designers.

[Peter Mathijssen]

Hi Flatdog,

You can use this chrome extension and then you can use opendyslexic with every website including App Inventor.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/opendyslexic-font-for-chr/cdnapgfjopgaggbmfgbiinmmbdcglnam

[Peter Mathijssen]

I made an example of the MakerCards using the opendyslexic font. Could you test if that works for you?

[Flatdog]

Hello 

I have been trying and trying and trying to get the privacy policy to show only once but I have failed every time, I cannot find an example on how to do this anywhere.

I have had to give up for today as I just cannot figure out how to do it.

Please if you can show me the blocks it would help a massive amount.

Thank you.

[Italo]

This would be a simple one time privacy policy procedure:

Go thru the blocks one by one and figure out what is going on in each one. Then let us know if you don't understand something.

[Italo]

This is what you need to do to have smooth lines while dragging on a canvas:

[Italo]

Peter's method to generate a unique file name is really good. If you don't need the whole date in the file name, another way to get a unique filename for your picture every time is to use the current millisecond. It is ALWAYS a unique 13 digits number. It will never repeat.

There's ways to optimize this and use less blocks but for the sake of simplicity I made it a little more self explanatory.

[Flatdog]

Thank You very much, Peter you are awesome.

The Cards are great and help a lot so does the font, it makes everything so much easier to read.

I still have so much to learn and so many apps I want to build.

I was trying to work out how to display my own adverts in the apps and not the adverts of some company like admob want to show, but I have not worked out how to do that yet.

I will post all my blocks here soon for the doodle app when it is done, I am also building a few other apps to help me build the bigger more complicated apps I want to build.

Ideas for apps I have in abundance, so I am so very happy to have found AI2.

Thank you again for all your amazing help.

[Flatdog]

Hello Italo 

Thank you very much, I have tried this but I get an error 

The variable $x is not bound in the current context 

Ahh, Click, Ok I see my mistake Get Current x and Current y not just get x and get y on the DrawCircle, I will put that one down to stupidity, as they have big red X showing they are wrong, I did not see them before.

I hope to complete this app today, and I will Post all the Blocks Here.

Thank you very much 

[Peter Mathijssen]

Hi Flatdog,

I made the MakerCards using OpenDyslexic. http://blog.petermathijssen.nl/open-dyslexic-maker-cards.html

Great that you are having fun playing with App Inventor. 

[Flatdog]

Hello Everyone 

I would very much appreciate a little help with one bit of blocks I am trying to do that is Not working out 

I think from the blocks you can see what I am trying to do but I have tried various ways of doing this, this morning and all have failed.

I have two labels one visible saying Your Canvas has NOT been saved.(LableCanvasSave) then a second label (LabelCanvasSaved) as shown above.

I want the second label LabelCanvasSaved to show for 3 seconds then revert back to LabelCanvasSave.

I have searched youtube and my Udemy Courses but I am still stumped.

What am I doing wrong Please?

Any help with this would be amazing as I nearly have the app ready.

Thank you very much

[TimAI2]

Something like this

You have to set the clock timer to enabled to get the timer to work

[Flatdog]

Thank you I will try that Now.

My last try did not work either, but I thought it might as It worked for the button LOL

[Flatdog]

Hello All

Ok I have Almost completed the app but I still have a problem, One I did not have before.

Error 201 camera did not return an image, I did not have this error earlier, and I have not touched the camera to canvas blocks.

Does anyone have any idea how I can fix what looks to be the Only problem left with this app 

Here are all the Blocks and the AIA file

Screen2

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f9ns77he6shgc2v/BeneficioDoodlePad.aia?dl=1

Thank you very much

[Evan Patton]

Hi Flatdog,

Are you using Android 6.0 Marshmallow or higher? If so, did you accidentally deny camera permissions to the app (either the companion app or your compiled app)? You can check your app's permissions in the Settings app under Applications.

Regards,

Evan

[Flatdog]

Hello Evan 

No I am using Android 7.1.1 and I have checked the Permissions and they are set as they should be.

I am really not sure what I did to cause this, It was working this morning, this afternoon it is no longer working, and as far as I know, I did not tough the camera blocks so I have no idea why this error 201 is showing up.

I appreciate the help Thank you.

[Peter Mathijssen]

Hi,

Nice work. I tested the app in the companion. I got a "can not find camera error" (translated from dutch) while wanting to take a picture one time but can not reproduce it. It was while testing in the companion. 

[Flatdog]

Hello Peter

Thank you very much

Did you only get the error 201 once, and then it worked or did you keep getting the same error?

When I have tried the app I get the error 201 every time I try to take a photo

I still have no idea what is causing it.

Thank you 

[Flatdog]

Good Morning everyone 

I hope you are all having a good day.

I am still having a lot of trouble building an app that I would be happy putting on GooglePlay as they all have problems that make the UX bad.

The DoodlePad App that I have been building is the closest I have come to a completed app but this now has the error 201 I have searched but there does not seem to be a solution to this problem as yet.

I have tried building a number of other apps to try and get one to work well enough to put on GooglePlay but I have failed miserably so far.

I tried to create a Translation app from English to Spanish, Unfortunately, it is using google translate and it cannot translate English to Spanish in a way that can be understood by a Spanish speaking person I know I am fluent in English y Español, It did give me a good laugh but there is no way People in this community where it is badly needed would be able to use it as the translation from Eng-Esp is atrocious.

Here are the blocks for the first part I created, after testing, I knew it was another failure as the translation was terrible and the text to speech only worked the first time after opening the companion, then there was no text to speach just the text showing in the label below the button.

I also built this same app on Kodular but the Yandex Translator does not work on Kodular with error 2201 always showing.

The ONLY app I have got to work so far is the Motorola style torch but that was the easiest of all the apps to build.

I have truly become addicted to building with AI2 it is one of the best programs ever created, and I know that some people can make awesome apps with AI2 but after 4 months of trying with Kodular Thunkable and AI2 I was really hoping I would be able to build an app that would be worth putting on GooglePlay, so far I have failed to build an app that does not have problems of one sort or another and it is very very frustrating, as I am learning a massive amount but getting bad results.

The fact that my health is so bad and I am useless at Maths and have dyslexia does not help, but not all apps are about Maths.

I tried to do the Compass app but it was just a mass of confusion for me with the maths for the longitude and latitude, That is an app I will never be able to build, it is way too complicated mathematically for me.

I am trying to build some apps that I think will be of use, but I have not been able to get any to work well enough yet.

List of apps I want to build.

A GetMeOutOfHerre app mainly for my kids so they can get out of a sticky situation.

A band app for the various bands I work with.

A translation app that will translate well from English to Spanish and vice versa.

A compass pointing to Beneficio would have been nice but I know I will never be able to do the Maths.

A stock manager for a small shop again too much maths.

A community messenger app, this one is very confusing.

A social community app.

Most of what I want to build and have tried to build so far has failed in the 4 months I have been learning to build apps, It is very disheartening as I really thought I would have an app for GooglePlay by now.

I really do Love AI2 and it is addictive to use yet also very very frustrating as I am not getting the results I hoped for.

I am stubborn and will keep trying until either I or my Computer kicks the bucket.

Thank you.

 

[TimAI2]

This HERE might help with the Error 201, is you device on the list of devices that have this issue ?

In terms of app development, take your time, plan your apps on paper first, do the tutorials, do things in small steps, checking everything works at each step, save and download project aias as you go

[Flatdog]

Hello TimAI2

Thank you very much for your help.

My Main Mobile is a Motorola X with Android 7.1.1 It is not on the list.

I have also tried this with my Motorola Moto G4 Play also with Android 7.1.1

The crazy thing about this error is that In the morning there was no error and then after adding a few other blocks and not touching the camera blocks when I tested the app in the Afternoon suddenly I was getting the 201 error.

As for App development, I really thought that after 4 months of Udemy Courses and Tutorials and Youtube I would have something to show for it, I do not.

I do sketch out my apps on Paper and what I want them to do, I search Youtube and Udemay and Tutorials for the best way to do each block and I Always test each part as I go. I have been building Websites on WordPress for 12 years (without Coding I am more a designer than a developer) so I am no stranger to creating stuff for the web, AI2 is a little different and a lot more complicated than building a website with WordPress, There is no way I would ever be able to do it if it were not for the colour coded blocks.

https://www.udemy.com/make-android-apps-no-coding-app-inventor-2-complete-course/  I have done this course over 3 times now, I have also done many other courses and watched many many tutorials and videos on Youtube, I have been using Kodular, Thunkable and AI2 (I prefer AI2 out of all of them)

I have learned to put the blocks together for various elements but when I try and put those elements together in an app things start to go awry.

I knew it would take me a while to learn how to use the system but I really thought I would be able to build a decent app within a month to 6 weeks time, I was wrong.

I love building with AI2 but the results have been really disheartening.

Thank you

[Peter Mathijssen]

i didn't get an error 201 but an error that my camera wasn't found. I got is once and couldn't reproduce it. 

[Flatdog]

Hello 

You can add Motorola Moto G4 Play and Motorola X with Android 7.1.1 to the list of devices that get the Error 201.

I think I may have found the problem, but not the solution, It seems that the camera does not work correctly if the SD card is set as Internal storage.

The reason for my Thinking.

When I was working on the app in the Morning My SD card was set as external storage and the camera was working fine on my mobile, Due to the fact that I had to set my SD card as Internal storage for another app when I went to test my paint app again the camera would not work and I got Error 201

I have been trying to solve this for the last day or so, When I downloaded the apk of my paint app and launched it for the first time I got a 902 error on the very first try, this also stated something about the SD card but was gone before I could read it well (an app to record errors would be good for this)

After some more research on google I am now almost certain that the problem of the error 201 is due to the fact that the SD card is set as Internal Storage and not External storage, the Camera element of AI2 does not seem to like the SD card used as Internal Storage.

I may be totally wrong, I do not have another phone to test this theory on, but if this is the case it should help find a solution. 

There must be some way to get the camera to accept the SD card as Internal Storage as well as External Storage.

Thank you.

[Flatdog]

Hello All

I have had a chance to test my Theory about the error 201 and the SD card and My theory was confirmed.

If the SD card is set as Internal Storage the camera will return a 201 error if the SD card is set as External storage the camera returns the image without a problem, I have tried this on Motorla, Sony Xperia, Samsung Galaxy Edge7, basically, anyone who would give me there mobile to test out the app.

I have found a very good course on Udemy https://www.udemy.com/desarrollo-de-aplicaciones-moviles-con-app-inventor/learn/v4/overview

Thankfully I speak and read Spanish, so far this is one of the best courses I have ever taken, it is very well structured and explained

Thank you.

[Flatdog]

Hello All I hope you have had a good week end 

I have been sending my paint app to friends to test out and see what problems there are, I had a few more than expected.

I have also confirmed my theory that the camera element of AI2 does not like the SD card being set as Internal Memory.

The camera is looking for the SD card an external, a lot of devices have the SD card set as Internal Storage I have searched for a way to get the camera to read the SD card Internal Storage but have not found a way to do it yet.

When I sent the app to one friend they stated that the + and - buttons were not working on huawei phone, on android 8

That was a surprise.

Here are the aia and apk if anyone wants to have a look.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f9ns77he6shgc2v/BeneficioDoodlePad.aia?dl=1

The apk was removed as a security issue.  The forum does not permit posting of apk files or links that automatically download an apk file.

(ok thank you, and sorry)

Thank you very much

[Kilian Pouderoux]

Hi everybody 

I have the same problem as you Flatdog, I mean that my application is not working as an app but perfectly in the Companion.

Here is the point: it's about connecting Bluetooth and Arduino and sending SMS to a specified number.

Should I create another topic more focused on the problem I am facing or this one works fine ?

Thank you for your answers.

[TimAI2]

@ Kilian Pouderoux

Yes, new thread, please...