TouchDevelop: Create apps and games on your Lumia

If you’d like to develop your first app, look no further than TouchDevelop: a Windows Phone 8.1 app that creates apps right on your Lumia.

I’ve always wanted to develop an app, but I don’t have the knowledge (or the patience) to know where to start.

Fortunately, TouchDevelop introduces any wannabe-app and game developers to the world of coding and holds your hand while it does so.

For example, I developed an app called Supernatural Turtle through the TouchDevelop’s in-app tutorial. It may not do much except create a colorful spiral, but it’s a start and I couldn’t have done it without the app’s help.

You can see my Supernatural Turtle here.

TouchDevelop can be set at three different skill levels:

• Beginner: Drag and drop blocks and simplified interface.
• Coder: Edit code as text and more options. For aspiring app developers.
• Expert: Javascript-like curly braces and all the tools for coders.

Needless to say, I cranked my settings all the way up to beginner. With a bit more skill, you can create more than a twirling turtle.

You can also develop apps that make use of your phone’s sensors, automate tasks, manage data held in the cloud, and more. Once you’ve developed your app or game, you can leave it at that, keeping it all to yourself.

Alternatively, you can share your creations with your social networks and publish them to the Windows and Windows Phone stores. You can do the latter two options at Windows App Studio.

The TouchDevelop community is an active one, with questions and answers going back and forth almost continuously on their forums. Please note that other users can modify any published scripts you create, so while you’re learning from others, you’re also giving back.

Start developing today; we encourage you to try TouchDevelop!

If you do create any apps or games please share them with us in the comments section below. We’ll feature our favorite ones in a future story.