Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I’ve always thought it would be fun to make an app — you know, build something actually useful, either for myself or for the wider world. But when you’re starting from absolutely nothing, the barrier to entry can seem pretty high. I don’t know the first thing about Kotlin, Java, or Swift (and yes, I had to look up common app development languages to write that). So, I accepted that dedicating time to building an app probably wasn’t in my future.
That is, at least, until Nothing stepped in. Everyone’s favorite black-and-white, semi-transparent Android brand decided that apps should be as personal as a sense of style, and that meant putting the power of creation into everyone’s hands. It added a new section to its community-built Playground, dubbed Essential Apps, and I got an early chance to start building.
Here’s what I came up with.
Nothing’s app builder works surprisingly well
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Essential Apps are, as I quickly came to understand them, just that — quick features that make your life easier without ever leaving your home screen. They’re not here to replace social media or eliminate the need for your banking app. Honestly, they’re more like widgets than full-fledged apps, but I’m not about to split hairs when I get to build them myself.
And yes, that last sentence is what’s really important here: Nothing’s Essential App Builder gives you the freedom to decide what apps you want to, well, build. Simply type out what you want to the very best of your ability, and then enter the rewarding (and tiring) stage of edits, refinements, and resubmissions.
When I finally got access to Nothing’s AI-powered tool, I decided to start with something simple — something I use every day. I decided I’d build a tea timer.
Why? Well, right now, my daily tea-making process is a mess. My clock app is loaded with short timers, ranging from two to six minutes, and I’ve forced myself to remember which one matches each type of tea. So, I sat down with the Essential App Builder and asked for an app that works as a tea timer, lets me adjust the steeping time by tea type (white, herbal, black, and so on), and gives me the correct boiling temperature for each one. Simple, right? Yes, it really was that simple.
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