I've searched all through the forums and didn't see anyone with this issue. Here are my system specs:
Intel MacBook Pro
OS: Sequoia 15.0.1
I downloaded and mounted the MIT_App_Inventor_Setup_3.0rc3.dmg from Installing App Inventor 2 Setup on Mac OS X. After the usual macOS security gatekeeper warnings, I double clicked the MITAppInventorSetup.pkg and got this popup:
Legacy Installer Package: This installer package is incompatible with this version of macOS. Contact the developer for support.
No, I don't have a Silicon processor Mac. I have an Intel Mac which is currently supported by the MIT emulator, so I think it's a Sequoia OS thing which is version 15. That link assumes that the installer works fine on Silicon processor Macs, and basically requires students to download Android Studio.
I'd try that, but you can't do any emulation unless you have the AIStarter service. And that can only be installed by the PKG which generates the Legacy Installer Package error you see above.
We can see about trying to build an updated installer for macOS Sequoia on Intel. Unfortunately with the holidays that might not be until early next year.
I use different emulators, without the clunky AIStarter launcher.
Just find any Android emulator that can run on your hardware, get it running, and download the Companion.apk onto it.
I have Android Studio installed, but when I go to Connect->Emulator I get the message "The aiStarter helper does not appear to be running"
Ah ok. Question: I'm have Android studio, and installed MIT AI Companion, however the screen it shows just says "running using the emulator or USB, waiting to get blocks". Is there a way I can force it to ask for a code instead? My emulator connects to the Internet - I don't see why it couldn't just pull in the project like my iPhone does.
Because our emulator is just a repackaged copy of the Android Studio emulator, it sees that as its "native" environment and behaves like it would in our distributed package, i.e., it waits for aiStarter to talk to it. I think it may be possible to use a different system image, such as a Google Play Store enabled image, at which point the app will think it's running on a real phone and give you the option to type in the 6 character code.
This only works though if the companion doesn't expect to receive a command from App Inventor directly (hence scanning/entering the 6 character code). Since our emulator is just the standard Android Studio emulator with some extra code around it, a companion running in this environment won't believe that it needs a 6 character code as App Inventor would be communicating with it directly. When using an alternative emulator, it is unlikely to detect that and think it's just running on a phone/tablet.
Hi. Checking in on any possible updates to this. School has started back and I have to install this emulator on my MacOS running Sequoia 15.2 for class...and I cannot due to this bug. Suggestions? First test is due on the 15th, today is the 13th - day one of classes...I'm at a loss here! Help!
Genymotion: This emulator supports macOS with Apple silicon and the latest macOS Sequoia 15 software. It offers a free version suitable for personal use, and it supports Android 14. To install Genymotion, download it from the official website, open the .dmg file, and drag Genymotion into the Applications folder.
BlueStacks: BlueStacks is another popular emulator available for macOS. It has a dedicated version for macOS called BlueStacks Air, which is in open beta. To install BlueStacks, download it from the official website, open the .dmg file, and drag BlueStacks into the Applications folder. Once installed, you can access the Google Play Store to download and install Android apps.
Both emulators provide a way to run Android apps on your Mac, though they may not offer a fully native experience. They are particularly useful for app development, testing, and casual gaming.
Here's a build that I just tested on an Intel Mac running macOS 15.2 Sequoia and it seemed to work. It's a little slow because Google no longer supports the use of HAXM virtualization in the emulator. Since it's currently unsigned (I'm working on that), you'll need to right (ctrl) click on the package, and select open while holding down the ctrl key. This will prompt you to allow the unsigned bundle to be installed.
UPDATE: It works fine in Firefox for OSX, but it won't work in Safari - so dunno why Safari has an issue with 127.0.0.1:8004....
I installed the package successfully, however, when I launch aiStarter, this is what I see in the terminal. When I choose Emulator via MIT App Inventor in the browser, it pops up with the message that says "The aiStarter app does not appear to be running".
I force killed the process on the 8004 and then restarted aiStarter but still got the same result. It's interesting because some process is running on 8004, but I guess Safari can't reach 127.0.0.1:8004 - dunno why.
sudo lsof -i:8004
COMMAND PID USER FD TYPE DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
aiStarter 10438 biglazer 4u IPv4 0x941846e09acee672 0t0 TCP localhost:8004 (LISTEN)
Here's what happens when I try to run aiStarter:
MacBookPro ~ % /Applications/AppInventor/aiStarter ; exit;
App Inventor version: 34.273a.2
Architecture: x86_64
AppInventor tools located here: /Applications/AppInventor
ADB path: /Applications/AppInventor/from-Android-SDK/platform-tools/adb
Bottle v0.12.25 server starting up (using WSGIRefServer())...
Listening on http://127.0.0.1:8004/
Hit Ctrl-C to quit.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "aiStarter.py", line 399, in <module>
File "bottle.py", line 3175, in run
File "bottle.py", line 2801, in run
File "wsgiref/simple_server.py", line 153, in make_server
File "socketserver.py", line 456, in __init__
File "wsgiref/simple_server.py", line 50, in server_bind
File "http/server.py", line 136, in server_bind
File "socketserver.py", line 470, in server_bind
OSError: [Errno 48] Address already in use
[97266] Failed to execute script 'aiStarter' due to unhandled exception!
No matching processes belonging to you were found
No matching processes belonging to you were found
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
error: no emulator detected
Killed emulator
Killed adb
Saving session...
...copying shared history...
...saving history...truncating history files...
...completed.
[Process completed]
