1. Prepare Your System (Java)

App Inventor requires Java

If you already have Java installed, or if you are not sure, proceed to the Java Web Start Verification below. If you are sure you do not already have Java installed, follow the instructions on Oracle's Java Installation page.

Attention Mac users: The Oracle Java page says that Java does not work with the Chrome browser on the Mac. This appears to be false, you should be able to use Java 7 and App Inventor on the Mac with Chrome.

Java Web Start Verification

To verify that Java Web Start is working properly, click the orange "Launch" button below to try to launch a program from the Web. This test should download and run a file (notepad.jnlp), which will create a window named "Notepad" where you can enter text. Depending on your browser, you might need to manually open the jnlp file after it downloads.

If Notepad does not run, then the test fails. Do not go on to try to use App Inventor. See below for possible solutions.

If the test passes, then close the Notepad window and go on.

If the test fails, reasons might include:

• Your computer is behind a firewall that will not let the program download. (See your network administrator or IT department.)
• Your browser is not configured to use Java Web Start to open jnlp files. Fixing this might require creating an association from .jnlp files to Java Web Start, or reinstalling Java.
• Your computer does not have enough memory to run App Inventor. It requires a Java heap size of about 950Mb of contiguous memory.
• Your network proxy settings for Java need to be changed.

System requirements

Computer and operating system

• Macintosh (with Intel processor): Mac OS X 10.5 or higher
• Windows: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
• GNU/Linux: Ubuntu 8 or higher, Debian 5 or higher

Browser

• Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or higher
• Note: If you are using Firefox with the NoScript extension, you'll need to turn the extension off. See the note on the troubleshooting page.
• Apple Safari 5.0 or higher
• Google Chrome 4.0 or higher
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher