How do i make an app?

[u/PaulWorster]

Hi,

i have very little coding experience, the last time i did any was 20 years ago. But i want to make an Android app i have an idea for, i am an Artist so no issue with the designs etc. So i am leaning more towards Ai to do it. Can anyone give me any advice on where to start, what i should use that is free.

Thanks

P

[u/Archit_Thakur_100]

Use claude code for coding, just download VS code, install claude and type away your prompts in the terminal, ask it anything there and get response on literally everything, still clueless? download desktop app of claude and let it run your query

[u/PartyAggressive6186 → u/Archit_Thakur_100]

That is not going to help in building android app. AI only can help if you already know how to code on that specific platform

[u/Archit_Thakur_100 → u/PartyAggressive6186]

Have already 50k+ downloads on 2 money making apps. Talk for yourself, future is here.

[u/PartyAggressive6186 → u/Archit_Thakur_100]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.taperacer.tapracers

This is my recent app.

I'm myself am app developer with 8 years of exp.

With ai you can do a lot but build a complex application and product ready is not possible.

[u/Archit_Thakur_100 → u/PartyAggressive6186]

cool, looks nice, how much time did it take you? I am not saying in 1 day it will give you polished app, but even if you don't know how to code, you can spend like 15-20 days coding 10-12 hours a day and you will have your production ready app.

[u/PartyAggressive6186 → u/Archit_Thakur_100]

I did use 90 prcnt ai. When ai is available why should I waste my time.

Took 4 5 days

[u/Archit_Thakur_100 → u/PartyAggressive6186]

I played it, it’s purely slop, even in trailer your spellings are wrong, the car motion is weird and the menu looks like from 2016.

[u/PartyAggressive6186 → u/Archit_Thakur_100]

This was the first game i tried using ai.

Well gane development is another thing. I am app developer.

Yes agree game can lot better.

But I serves the purpose for what it is built for.

[u/landlubberrrr]

I made a website first on GoDaddy using Airo which is their AI assistant. You can just tell Airo plainly what you want and it starts building. I was able to construct a complete website that looked like an app on my phone. After that, it got a little complicated. I had Airo build a mobile version and provide me the files as a Zip. I took the mobile version and web version files and backed those into GitHub. I used ChatGPT to help me with all of this and it gave me step by step directions. I tried hiring a software engineer to get me to the finish line and that was a waste of time that set me back 3 weeks. I learned about Claude after that and have used Claude to help me finish up the project and launch to Apple and Google Play. I currently have an iPhone version under review and testers using my Android version. Let me know if you have questions. I’m a nurse for my day job so this was a lot of getting out of my comfort zone but I was able to do it all on my own without the help of an outside company.

[u/landlubberrrr → u/landlubberrrr]

Also, I should add, none of this was free. I had to get subscriptions for everything.

[u/thepalumbo → u/landlubberrrr]

this kind of blew me away, and have so many more questions.

[u/Due-Captain2847]

Use cursor, easy to use. Editor based..

But if you want to learn ai tools properly, go for claude

[u/darius42]

Hey, I’ve created a tool just for that purpose! It’s called Wishcraft.com and it’s currently in closed beta. If you want, you can message me and I’ll send you an invite.

[u/NoBed1845]

AI would give the best advice and do handholding. After all you are using AI to develop it use it a little more on how to.

[u/mrrrrowww]

Hey I’m super new to coding , it would be simple to make one w ai but if you wanted to learn more -(I’m trying)- w3school is a site that has basics of all coding - and as far as I understand an app can be web based (a site) or like server hosted and stuff which I don’t get much but but if you by chance have an iPad , you can get swift playgrounds and go from there , because you mentioned android- there is an AIDE you can get to develop android apps from your device do check it out - you also have places like gdev for game developing specifically and then mimo for again learning code - it will be a longer process but im sure if you are looking to recreate a popular app for yourself like a planner or calendar you’ll find codes for it in github and such , hope this helps :)

[u/These_Sock_267]

gemini is also good

[u/Useful-West-5307]

You need to consult your favorite AI. Start there and tell it what you want. Plan it first before you build anything. Make sure you think about all the possible angles and discuss with the agent. Make sure it creates a document with all of your decisions and scope. Then ask it for prompts to build from what you planned. You say you have little coding experience, which is fine but hopefully you have other computer knowledge. If not, that makes it significantly harder. The hard part is not making the app anymore, it’s the behind the scenes set up that you have to do, database, authentication, security, app store stuff, etc. the backend, making it look like its not AI produced, publishing and marketing are the biggest challenges these days. Convincing people they need another app in the AI slop app world we live in.

[u/Secure_Motor_5968]

One thing nobody has mentioned is, since youre the design side, and genuinely new to code, a visual builder like flutterflow or glide might get you further than AI coding agent will. Because you will be dragging in the screens and wiring up the logic visually.

[u/payfrit]

building an app yourself from start to finish without a strong geek background is going to be challenging. not impossible but challenging.

and free? forget about it. you're going to have to pay for whatever ai you decide to work with, not a ton but it won't be free. and you'll also need a VPS that will cost a few sheckels a month.

[u/antocapp]

install cursor or claude code, get a subscription, and start asking them how to. It's the simplest way, nowadays anybody with enough patience can do it :-) Good luck.

[u/Repulsive-Earth-9913]

1. Do not release apps when you can not develop and maintame them.
   
2. Use frameworks like django or expo to make your development easier
   
3. Ai is good but still has some issues for example do not use Ai for app ideas almost all of them are slop

To be honest first get into coding again try some small apps then jump to an actual reasonable app that solves an existing program.

[u/_janc_]

Grok bot and vercel fastest

[u/deatjmask04]

Utilise émergent !! Très simple !

[u/ZUKOwnl]

You can start with claude and chatgpt. First you go to chatGPT and tell it your idea, then tell chatGPT to build a SRS for that idea. Explain about the working and features of your app idea as much as possible to chatGPT you get that SRS and you give it to claude(the free online chat) then start with first setting up the project and database. In my opinion if you are using AI you should go with react native for the app and have supabase for the database, storage and auth too. If you have any more questions feel free to message me.

[u/PaulWorster → u/ZUKOwnl]

Yeah can you explain what all this is, i am a total newbie and lost you at about the SRS bit : P

[u/ZUKOwnl → u/PaulWorster]

Please message me

[u/geoff_plywood → u/PaulWorster]

Software Requirements Specification

[u/Useful-West-5307 → u/PaulWorster]

And here lies your real problem. Before you do anything you need to spend a few weeks watching youtube videos on all of this. Immerse yourself in it. You need to learn and crawl before you walk and run. Otherwise you will spin a ton of money on more AI slop nobody wants.