Phonebot

Phonebot is an Android application that allows you to create applications from your Android phone. There are several sample applications bundled with Phonebot which can be used to learn the basics of Phonebot development. The Phonebot developer's reference provides detailed information on how to create applications.

Capabilities

Phonebot can be used for many situations:

• Write custom apps quickly and easily with only basic programming knowledge. Phonebot opens up the capabilities of app development to anyone.
• Write niche apps that you won't find in the app store. These are "toy" apps that may be useful only to you. What would otherwise require knowledge of Java, the Android API, and configuration of a development environment such as Eclipse can be done in less than an hour with Phonebot.
• Write apps because you enjoy coding. Hobbyists and students may want to noodle around away from a computer. Developers may want to sketch out an idea. Do this on the subway or while waiting in line or while eating a burger during lunch.
• Have the same power over your phone that you have over your computer. Tinkerers want their environment to be as exposed as possible. People who love to tinker with new devices will pull things apart and install utilities, but they are not likely to go as far as learning Java in order to write Android apps. Phonebot gives you this power.

Some applications that can be created:

• A health app that reads GPS and calculates your walking speed,
• A neighborhood app that reads the tweets nearest you,
• A vocabulary database that uses Wiktionary's open API,
• An attendance and minutes app for meetups

Future directions

An advanced version is being developed that will provide new features and development tools, including:

• Step debugging - Stop on specific lines in code and execute one line at a time.
• A database manager - Create and manage application database from the GUI instead of just from code.
• User-defined methods - Share common code in a single location.
• A script browser - Access all application scripts from a single location.
• Advanced GUI formatting - Change layout, color, and fonts.

Eventually, there will be added control over the use and distribution of your apps:

• Package one or more apps in run-only mode.
• Create plugin components to extend the functionality of Phonebot script.
• Serve applications to a small group over the web.

References

• Contact information
• Phonebot in the Android Market

If Phonebot doesn't fit your needs, you may want to try one of these similar (but completely unafilliated) apps:

• Locale (two forty four a.m. LLC)
• Tasker (Crafty Apps)
• Basic4android - develop on a PC, VisualBasic-type IDE