United States · Ages 8 to 14 · MIT App Inventor

MIT App Inventor for kids

App Inventor projects tend to start with a specific idea: a quiz for a younger brother, a soccer score keeper, a button that makes the family dog bark. MIT App Inventor lets them build it with blocks that snap together, then run it on a real iPhone or Android phone the same afternoon. This guide covers what parents ask before starting: how a child under 13 signs in, which devices can test an app, why the phone sometimes refuses to connect, and what a first proper app looks like, with a dice game written in App Inventor blocks that you can build yourself.

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In short

MIT App Inventor is a free, web-based tool from MIT for building phone apps with blocks. Kids design screens in the Designer, add behavior in the Blocks Editor, and test live on an iPhone, Android phone or Chromebook through the free Companion app. It works with a Google account, or without one through code.appinventor.mit.edu and a revisit code. Modern Age Coders teaches this live online for US students, in a batch or one to one, and the first class is free.

Learn it with a teacher

Three courses for young app makers

Every class is live, and every project is an app the child chose to build.

App Making for Kids course thumbnail

AIK / 01

App making for kids

Ages 8 to 12. App Inventor blocks, real phones, finished apps.

Open the syllabus →
Coding for Kids course thumbnail

AIK / 02

Coding for kids with blocks

Ages 6 to 12. A wider blocks course, for younger siblings too.

Open the syllabus →
App Development for Teens course thumbnail

AIK / 03

App development for teens

Ages 13 to 18. From blocks to typed code and app stores.

Open the syllabus →

What it is

What MIT App Inventor is, and who uses it

App Inventor comes from a small team at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Its own FAQ describes it as a free, web-based platform for creating, testing, and sharing mobile apps.

MIT App Inventor in numbers, from its FAQ and 2025 User Survey (read 17 October 2026)
PointWhat App Inventor says
People who code apps with it"Over 24 million people code their own apps with App Inventor"
Schools in one month of 2025Over 11,000 schools globally, in over 200 countries and regions
US schools in that month"over 900 US schools in 50 states"
Who the users are84.9% students, 7.3% teachers, 7.8% outside education
Ages"ages 4 to 84 (and more)" use it every month
CostFree; supported by grants, collaborations and donations

Two windows, one app

Every App Inventor project has two halves. The Designer is where a child drags components onto a phone-shaped screen: buttons, labels, images, and invisible ones such as a sound player or a motion sensor. The Blocks Editor is where they decide what happens when someone taps, shakes or types.

MIT’s own first tutorial calls components the ingredients in a recipe. We find that comparison works well with eight-year-olds: the Designer is the shopping list, the blocks are the method.

Is it real coding?

The FAQ asks this question itself and answers it with who uses the tool: engineers and research scientists who normally work in Java, Python and Swift use App Inventor to build working apps quickly.

Our view, from teaching it: the blocks hide spelling and punctuation, not thinking. Events, variables, conditions, loops and lists are all there, and a child who builds three App Inventor apps arrives at typed code already knowing what an event handler is for.

Sources: the MIT App Inventor FAQ and the HelloPurr tutorial, read 17 October 2026. The FAQ’s figures are App Inventor’s own; we have not added them up or checked them. We are not connected with MIT.

Accounts

How a child under 13 signs in to App Inventor

This is where many American families get stuck, because the usual sign-in is a Google account and children have their own rules on Google. There are three routes.

Three ways in (from the App Inventor FAQ and terms, and Google’s age page, read 17 October 2026)
RouteWho it suitsWhat to know
A personal Google accountTeens of 13 and overGoogle says 13 is the minimum age to manage your own account in every country not on its exception list; the United States is not on that list (our reading)
A Google account managed with Family LinkChildren under 13Google says parents can help create and manage a younger child’s account with Family Link
A school Google accountStudents whose district uses GoogleGoogle notes its consumer age rules may not apply to Workspace for Education accounts; the school sets the rules
No account, at code.appinventor.mit.eduAnyone, including classesChoose "Continue Without An Account" and keep the random revisit code; without it the project cannot be found again

The revisit code, explained

The no-account route gives each user a randomly generated code. App Inventor says that if the user wants to return to the project later, they must copy that code and keep it somewhere safe, because otherwise projects cannot be retrieved after logging out.

Our tip for families: write the code on paper and put it in a phone note as well. Without that code, the project cannot be found again.

What App Inventor keeps

The FAQ says App Inventor does not keep personally identifiable information and keeps Google account details only so that project files can be saved. Its terms add that projects stay private unless you share them, and that young people especially should be careful about putting personal information on the site.

For schools, the terms describe the code.appinventor.mit.edu version as one that does not collect or keep personally identifiable information, which is why many US teachers use it.

Signed in and the projects have vanished? The FAQ says this is almost always because you are logged in to a different Google account from the one that created them. Check the address shown at the top right before anything else.

Testing on a device

Four ways to test an app, and the one MIT recommends

Building happens in the browser on a Mac, Windows computer or Chromebook. Testing happens on a device, live, while the child is still changing blocks. MIT’s setup page lists four options.

Test options, from the App Inventor setup pages (read 17 October 2026)
OptionWhat you needMIT’s note
1. Phone or tablet over Wi-FiAn iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet, plus the free Companion appRecommended; the easiest way
2. ChromebookA Chromebook that can run Android appsBuild, test and run on the same device
3. Emulator on the computerEmulator software installed on a Mac or PCUnder Revision: Not Recommended
4. USB cableAn Android device and a cableAndroid only; for networks that block the Wi-Fi link
  1. Install the Companion once. Get the MIT App Inventor Companion from the App Store or Google Play. It stays on the phone for every future project.
  2. Put both devices on the same Wi-Fi. App Inventor shows the app on the phone only when the computer and the phone are on the SAME network, in MIT’s capitals.
  3. Connect from the project. In the browser, choose Connect, then AI Companion. A QR code and a code of six characters appear.
  4. Scan or type. In the Companion, scan the QR code, or type the six characters and press the orange Connect with code button, without pressing Enter.
  5. Watch it update. Within a few seconds the app appears on the phone and changes as blocks change. MIT calls this live testing.
  6. If nothing appears, update the Companion first, since an outdated version is the first problem MIT lists, then check that both devices really are on the same network.

iPhone and iPad

App Inventor has worked with iPhones and iPads since March 2021, and MIT says almost all apps in its tutorial list work in the iOS Companion. A few features are still missing on iOS, among them Bluetooth, the Charts and Spreadsheets components and Android extensions.

Turning an app into a permanent iPhone app file is harder, because Apple requires a paid developer account and signing; MIT says that packaging process is currently in a closed beta.

Keeping an app on the phone

The simplest way to keep a finished app works on both iPhone and Android: while it runs in the Companion, tap the book icon at the top right. It is then saved in the Companion’s library and opens offline, with nothing to install.

On Android you can also build an installable .apk file that runs on its own. Building still needs the internet, because App Inventor itself runs in the browser.

A first real app

Build a shake-to-roll dice app in App Inventor blocks

HelloPurr, MIT’s classic first app, plays a meow when you tap a kitten. Our next step for students is a dice that rolls when the phone is shaken, speaks the result and remembers how many rolls there have been. The blocks are ours, written with components from the App Inventor reference; build them and shake your own phone.

App 1 · shake to rollapp inventor blocks
// Shake-to-roll dice (ours)
// Components: LabelRoll, AccelerometerSensor1, TextToSpeech1
initialize global roll to 0

when AccelerometerSensor1.Shaking
  set global roll to random integer from 1 to 6
  set LabelRoll.Text to get global roll
  call TextToSpeech1.Speak
       message: join "You rolled a " get global roll

The random integer block returns a whole number between the two values, inclusive, so 1 and 6 can both appear. TextToSpeech speaks the joined text aloud.

App 2 · a dice that remembersapp inventor blocks
// Remember how many times the dice was rolled (ours)
// Extra component: TinyDB1
initialize global rolls to 0

when Screen1.Initialize
  set global rolls to call TinyDB1.GetValue
       tag: "rolls"   valueIfTagNotThere: 0

when AccelerometerSensor1.Shaking
  set global rolls to get global rolls + 1
  call TinyDB1.StoreValue
       tag: "rolls"   valueToStore: get global rolls
  set LabelCount.Text to join "Rolls so far: " get global rolls

Apps forget their variables every time they close. TinyDB is App Inventor’s persistent store, so the count survives. Screen1.Initialize runs once when the screen starts, which is the moment to load the saved number.

The idea underneath: events change state

Nothing in App 1 runs until the phone is shaken. Shaking is the event; the blocks inside it are the handler; the global roll is the state that the handler changes. That pattern runs nearly every app on a phone.

App 2 adds the harder idea: state that outlives the app. Children who understand why the count resets in App 1 and survives in App 2 have understood what a database is for.

Two things that surprise students

One hard shake can count as several. The AccelerometerSensor has a MinimumInterval property, in milliseconds, that ignores further Shaking events until the time has passed; raising it is the fix.

While testing, every app run in the same Companion shares one TinyDB, so a count from yesterday’s project can appear in today’s. The reference says this sharing disappears once apps are packaged, and suggests clearing the Companion’s data when starting a new app.

A quick check with arithmetic, ours: a fair dice shows a 6 one time in six on average, so in 60 shakes you would expect about 60 / 6 = 10 sixes. Ask your child to shake sixty times, count, and explain why the answer is rarely exactly 10. That is probability, taught by their own app.

At school

App Inventor in US classrooms, including phone-free schools

With over 900 US schools in all 50 states using it in a single month, according to App Inventor’s 2025 survey, many children meet it in class first. Two school questions come up most.

When phones are banned

The App Inventor FAQ answers the phone-ban case directly. Students can test on a Chromebook in a second window, on an iPad, on an Android tablet shared by a team of two to four, on the free emulator (which cannot reach some sensors and Bluetooth), or on a Mac with Apple Silicon that runs the Companion on the desktop.

Coding on a touchscreen alone is possible on an iPad or Android tablet, but MIT warns it can be tricky and suggests trying it before a class depends on it.

App Inventor and AP CSP

For high schools, the FAQ points teachers who want App Inventor as an official course to the "AP board certified Mobile CSP", an AP Computer Science Principles course built on it.

If your teen is heading toward AP CSP, our page on AP Computer Science Principles coaching covers the exam itself, and App Inventor apps make good practice for the course’s programming work.

If the school network blocks the Companion (from the App Inventor FAQ and setup pages)
SymptomWhat MIT suggests
The QR code connects at home but not at schoolSome school firewalls block the kind of Wi-Fi connection App Inventor needs; try USB on Android
Nothing loads at all on the networkThe FAQ points IT staff to its letter for IT professionals in schools about blocked ports
The browser is the problemApp Inventor supports Chrome, Firefox and Safari on most laptops and desktops

A first term

Three apps in a first term, and the idea each one teaches

Our plan for children of about 9 to 12 who are new to App Inventor. Younger children take longer on each app; that is fine.

A three-app first term (ours)
WeeksThe appThe coding idea
1 to 3A talking button app of the child’s choosingComponents, properties and one event
4 to 7The shake-to-roll dice above, then a coin flipVariables, random numbers, joining text
8 to 12A quiz with a score that is savedConditions, lists and TinyDB storage

Ages 8 to 9

Design-heavy apps with one or two events, plenty of sound and color, and a parent nearby for the Wi-Fi setup.

Ages 10 to 12

The full three apps, with their own idea by week 8, often something for a sibling, a team or a class.

Ages 13 and up

Faster through blocks, then the move to typed code in our teen app course, where the same events reappear.

A teen with an app worth showing can also aim at a US audience: our Congressional App Challenge guide explains that competition from its official rules.

From idea to app

Four stages of a young app inventor

The stages our App Inventor lessons move a child through.

Stages of a young app maker (ours)
StageWhat it looks like
1. ArrangerPlaces buttons and pictures in the Designer; no blocks yet
2. ResponderWrites one event per button, like HelloPurr
3. RemembererUses variables and TinyDB so the app keeps track of things
4. DesignerPlans screens on paper first, tests with real users, fixes what confuses them

For parents

The Wi-Fi connection step is where younger children need an adult. After that, testing is something a child can learn to do alone.

Ask to use the app. A child who watches someone else get confused by their screen learns more about design than any lesson.

For kids

Make the app small and finished before you make it big. A dice that works beats a game that almost works.

Name your components. LabelRoll is easier to find in the blocks than Label7.

The catalog

Nine courses for kids who like making things

Taught live online by the same teacher each week, in a batch or one to one.

I

Apps and blocks

Ages 6 to 12

AIK / APP / 01

App making for kids

App Inventor, start to finish.

Open the syllabus
II

Typed code

Ages 9 to 12

AIK / TYP / 02

Web development for kids

Websites with HTML, CSS, JavaScript.

Open the syllabus

AIK / TYP / 03

Game development for kids

From blocks to game engines.

Open the syllabus
III

Teens

Ages 13 to 18

AIK / TEN / 01

App development for teens

Real app code and publishing.

Open the syllabus

AIK / TEN / 03

AP CSP preparation

The College Board course and exam.

Open the syllabus

How lessons work

App lessons at a time your family chooses

Weekdays or weekends, flexible: choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

Weekdays

After-school batches across the US time zones.

Weekends

Weekend mornings for families who prefer them.

1-on-1

A private plan, at the hours you choose.

A phone on the desk

Kids test every change on their own device.

Their idea first

The app is one they want to use.

The same teacher

Week after week, term after term.

Blocks, then text

The step to typed code when ready.

From home

Any state, any time zone.

Batch or private

Fifteen to twenty, or just your child.

Student work

Apps and projects made by our students

A few things learners built after their first App Inventor term. See the student labs for more.

NutriLife AI nutrition coach project screenshot

AI and ML

NutriLife

An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.

by Bhavya · Open it

Misti AI chatbot for maths and coding screenshot

AI and ML

Misti

A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.

by Harshit · Open it

GuardianX AI internet safety assistant screenshot

AI and ML

GuardianX

An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.

by Vivaan · Open it

SkyCast weather forecast application screenshot

Web app

SkyCast

A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.

by Krish

Fees

Fees

App Inventor and the Companion are free. Our lessons are billed one month at a time in US dollars; there is no term contract, and you can stop at the end of any month.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

  • A free first lesson
  • Bring an app idea
  • No card details
Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

  • Fifteen to twenty per batch
  • A regular teacher
  • Batch times to choose from
  • Paid monthly
Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

  • Private lessons
  • At your convenience
  • An app plan of their own
Enquire

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"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

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"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

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"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

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Questions parents ask

MIT App Inventor for kids: questions

What is MIT App Inventor?

A free, web-based tool from MIT for building phone apps with blocks. You design the screen in the Designer, add behavior in the Blocks Editor, and test on a real phone through the Companion app.

Is MIT App Inventor free?

Yes. App Inventor and its Companion app are free. MIT says the site is supported through grants, collaborations with educational organizations and donations.

What age is App Inventor for?

MIT says people from ages 4 to 84 use it every month. We teach it from about 8, when children can read the blocks comfortably; in our experience it suits ages 9 to 14 especially well.

Does my child need a Google account?

No. App Inventor can be used without one at code.appinventor.mit.edu by choosing Continue Without An Account. Keep the revisit code it gives you, because without it the project cannot be found again after logging out.

Can a child under 13 use a Google account for App Inventor?

Google says 13 is the minimum age to manage your own Google Account in countries not on its list of exceptions, and the US is not on that list. A parent can create and manage a younger child's account with Family Link, or the child can use a school account or the no-account route.

Does App Inventor work on iPhone?

Yes. MIT says App Inventor has worked with iPhones and iPads since March 2021. Kids test live with the iOS Companion app. Packaging a permanent iPhone app is harder because Apple requires a paid developer account.

Can you use App Inventor on a Chromebook?

Yes. App Inventor runs in the browser on a Chromebook, and many Chromebooks can also run the Android Companion, so a child can build and test on the same machine.

Why won't my phone connect to App Inventor?

Check that the computer and phone are on the same Wi-Fi network and that the Companion app is up to date. Some school networks block the connection; on Android a USB cable is the fallback.

Where did my App Inventor projects go?

Usually you are signed in with a different Google account from the one that made them, since projects are attached to that account's email address. With the no-account route, you need the revisit code.

What times are classes for US families?

Weekdays or weekends, flexible. Choose your batch, or for a very personalised plan choose 1-on-1 at your convenience, weekend mornings or weekdays.

How much are app-making classes?

The first lesson is free. After that, families pay for teaching one month at a time, and the fees section shows the monthly figure in US dollars.

Elsewhere on this site

Related pages

For US families with a child who builds things.

Coding classes in the USA

Every page we have for US families.

Congressional App Challenge

A US competition for student apps.

AP CSP coaching

For teens taking the course.

From app idea to app store

A roadmap for older teens.

Scratch classes

Blocks for younger children.

Coding for 10 year olds

What a 10-year-old can learn.

Coding classes for elementary students

Coding for elementary students, grade by grade, with a first program and an at-home activity.

Coding classes for middle school students

Coding for middle schoolers: grade 8 expectations, a real Python program, and how to choose a language.

Coding classes for high school students

Coding for high schoolers: CS access data, AP CSP and AP CSA in 2027, and a four-year plan.

Start here

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