Emulator not working

Bugs and Other Issues
1

I'm new to this. I came here because of a book (Building a Mobile App).

I went through the setup process. Option 1 (highly recommended) of 3 said that I could do this entirely from my Android device (no PC needed). In FireFox, I finished the setup (and installed the companion app) on my tablet. Because I was going to follow the instructions from my book, I dismissed the choice to do the choice of 3 tutorials (one of which is what the book uses). I chose the option to start a new project. But then the book said to make sure that the emulator works. But, apparently, in the browser, it doesn't. It flashes messages that blaze away so fast that they can only be read by the world's fastest speed reader. The book simply assumes it does work and continues on from there. And the companion app simply asks for a code, which I don't have yet. So I'm stuck.

If the emulator won't work from the browser, why is the emulator option available in its menu?

2

Show us what you have in your Project so far.

3

I have nothing so far. I don’t know what to do. Perhaps I should skip where the book tells me to make sure that the emulator is working.

4

Make your project.
don’t use the emulator until you have coded your project.

5

Thank you for that. I know next to nothing about this process.

6

It turns out that the Companion is the emulator. And the companion is installed on my tablet. But, as you pointed out, I need to code my app first anyway.

7

The book wants me to test the current code in the emulator. But the Companion turns out NOT to be the same thing. It wants a 6 character code or a QR code. I can do a build, which provides a QR code (but no character code). But the Companion wants to use the camera to see the QR code. It won’t accept a screenshot. And it’s one device. Without a couple of mirrors, that will be a neat trick.

8

Based on what you’re saying, the book you’re using appears to be tailored to situations where you are developing the app on a computer and testing on a separate device or using the provided emulator on the computer itself.

Since you’re doing both the development and testing on the same Android device, the process is a little different from what’s in your book.

Instead, install the Companion app from the Play Store (I’m guessing you’ve done this already), then go back to the AppInventor designer. Under the Connect menu, click “AI Companion” instead of “Emulator.” This should generate the six character code you need, and you can switch back to the Companion to input the code. When your book says to test on an emulator, do this instead.

EDIT: What book are you using?

9

That sounds about right. The book is called Building A Mobile App, by Sarah Guthals, PhD.

10

Did you have any success with this?

11

I used your suggestion. Yes, it gave me the code I needed. I ran the Companion, once. But then I could not run it again. I tried everything I could think of. I finally called it a night and haven’t gone back to it yet.