Do you have an iPhone or iPad? What Can You Do?

Create apps for iPhones and iPads or share them for live testing with both iOS and Android mobile devices!

No iPhone or iPad handy to test your app? You can always use an emulator on a computer to test how it would look on a mobile device.

Some components and functions are still in development for iPhones and iPads. This document summarizes what does and does not work in App Inventor for iPhones and iPads. For instance, because of Apple's security restrictions on iOS platforms, App Inventor users cannot test AI extensions or install apps permanently on iPhones and iPads. (We’re actively working on it!)

Live Test Your App

Get the App Inventor iOS companion for your iPhone or iPad, install it, and follow the instructions to test your iOS app while you code.

Try a Sure-Fire Tutorial

The following tutorials work well with iPhones and iPads:

• Hello Codi! — Get started by making Codi the Bee buzz when touched!
• Talk to Me — Text to Speech is fun. Find out for yourself with this starter app that talks<./li>
• Ball Bounce — Fling, Flang, Flung? Whatever you call it, bouncing the ball around the screen is pure fun.
• Digital Doodle — Who needs paper? Doodle all day on your iPhone/iPad's screen.
• Two-Button Game — Make a multi-player game that uses the CloudDB component so players' scores can be updated on two devices.
• Hello It’s Me — Make an app with your own image and voice recording so you can share with friends and family.
• My Piano App — Create a piano app. (This app demonstrates how to create a procedure for repetitive code.)
• Music Maker — Combine different sounds of piano, drums, and beats to create your custom tunes.
• Find the Gold App — Learn to make a maze app where you tilt the mobile device to make the ball move through the maze.
• Tour Guide — Build an app using the map components.

Use App Inventor with a Single iPad

This video shows you how to program and test an app with a single iPad!

Emulator

The emulator creates the Android operating system inside a window on your computer. Use our emulator to see how your app looks and behaves without a phone or tablet.

How to Share

Share your app source code with other App Inventor users by exporting the code in an .AIA file.

What Isn't Working Yet

We are currently working hard to implement the following:

• The PhoneCall component’s MakePhoneCallDirect and Texting do not work due to privacy and security restrictions enforced by iOS.
• iOS devices lack certain sensors, such as the hygrometer, thermometer, and barometer. When these are implemented, they will not return data. You should consider updating your code to check the Available property of these sensors if you’re working on a cross-platform app.
• Translator component
• Extensions written for Android are not supported.

Future Work

• Packaging apps (.ipa files) for permanent installation in a device or for distribution on the App Store. This functionality is currently in a closed beta.
• Clickable images
• Some WebViewer methods and events (e.g., ErrorOccurred)
• Navigation component
• Near Field Communication (iOS 14 and later)
• Twitter component
• Bluetooth support
• Internet of Things (IoT) extension support (e.g., micro:bit)
• AI extension support (e.g., PersonalImageClassifier)