II was thinking of adopting Thunkable instead of MIT APP Inventor for classroom use. The regular version publishes the code online.
I inquired about the Thunkable Pro and i was told it costs $50 per student which is not affordable. I’m not sure if the info i was given correct, but I cannot see how others are adopting Thunkable over MIT APP Inventor. Anyone has information on how they were able to adopt this for large classrooms?
Thunkable Classic is free to use.
Thunkable Classic is comparable to MIT App Inventor to the point of being essentially portable. There are minor differences–like the canvas in App Inventor is a much lower resolution than the one in Thunkable Classic, or the strict appearance of buttons (caption margins)–but there is a good chance an app developed using App Inventor would have the aia file loaded in Thunkable Classic an be able to generate an apk, and vice versa with no required alteration. Thunkable Classic is Android only.
However, it is understood that MIT App Inventor is supposed to be eventually able to target Apple iOS. They said “summer 2019” and according to my calendar, that leaves only 2 weeks…
I do not know of any initiative from Thunkable to allow an eventual porting of the Classic to iOS; actually, Thunkable wants to end support for the Classic version.
Thunkable Pro addresses Thunkable X, which is a different environment, that is meant to allow the same project to be used on Android and on iOS. Thunkable X is NOT compatible with MIT App Inventor or Thunkable Classic. X has additional features, but lacks several components or functionalities found in Classic.
That said, Thunkable Pro is the environment that grants additional capabilities, but the basic X is free to use; the main “limitation” of the basic X is that projects are not private, everyone can see them and use them as a basis for further development.
Thank you for your clear description.
However I still cannot see how institutions are able to adopt Thunkable Pro ( with private repo). It’s quite expensive if we calculate per student cost. Just doesn’t make sense and I would have to stick to MIT App inventor.
That will not happen. Development has been very slow because of the fact that Apple isn’t playing along. It is been at least 7 months since i last tested an Ios companion version of AI. So the development is very very slow. There are now plans to provide special services to schools or individuels by a special plan. The only thing you can do then is test a companion version on IOS but not compile.
Let me drive the point out:
Thunkable Pro is NOT the same, is not compatible with Thunkable Classic.
Thunkable Classic is almost the same as MIT App Inventor, and it still free to use.
While App Inventor is a suitable environment for teaching, there are a few things that are not really up to the level of Thunkable Classic, notably the resolution of the canvas, which is disappointingly low with App Inventor.
@mariam.salloum7h9m1g
Both of these platform are quite great.
I’m not accuracy to agree to compare them.
Why not both?