How to make Drink Water Reminder App in MIT App Inventor 2

Summary

In this tutorial, the creator demonstrates how to build a drink water reminder app using MIT App Inventor. The app sends hourly reminders to drink water, with customizable intervals and times. Users can set the time (e.g., every 1 hour or 2 hours) and the number of reminders (e.g., 3 times), and the app will trigger alarms with a drink water message. The tutorial walks through the design and functionality, including how to set up the app's interface, use clock extensions, and handle dynamic reminders. The goal is to help users stay hydrated by sending personalized reminders.

Takeaways

• 😀 The app reminds users to drink water at customizable intervals, such as every hour or every two hours.
• 😀 Users can set how many times they want to be reminded within the chosen time interval.
• 😀 The app interface includes three text boxes for setting the reminder interval, number of reminders, and the message.
• 😀 The button labeled 'Remind Me' triggers the reminder functionality by setting alarms in the phone's default clock app.
• 😀 The design of the app involves simple drag-and-drop elements, like attached boxes, text boxes, labels, and buttons.
• 😀 The text box for the interval allows users to enter values like 1 for every hour or 2 for every two hours.
• 😀 The app uses MIT App Inventor’s built-in clock component to track and manage time intervals for reminders.
• 😀 An extension is used in the app to handle alarm notifications, and users need to import it into the MIT App Inventor platform.
• 😀 The clock component provides the current hour value, which is used to dynamically calculate reminder times.
• 😀 A for-each loop is used to handle the dynamic number of reminders, ensuring flexibility based on user input.
• 😀 Testing the app via AI Companion is essential to ensure the reminder function works correctly with the selected intervals and alarms.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the app discussed in the video?

The main purpose of the app is to remind users to drink water at regular intervals, with customizable settings for the frequency and number of reminders.

How does the app allow users to set the reminder interval?

The app allows users to set the reminder interval by entering a value in the first text box (e.g., 1 hour, 2 hours). The user can specify how often they want to be reminded to drink water.

What happens when the user clicks the 'Remind Me' button?

When the 'Remind Me' button is clicked, the app calculates the alarm times based on the user-defined interval and sets the default alarm system of the mobile device to notify the user at the specified times.

How are the reminder messages configured in the app?

The reminder message is entered into the third text box, where the default message is 'Drink Water,' but users can change it to any custom message, such as 'Important Work.'

Can the app remind users to drink water for different time intervals?

Yes, the app can remind users at different time intervals. For example, a user can set it to remind them every hour or every two hours, and they can also specify how many times they want the reminder.

What is the significance of using a loop in the blocks section?

The loop is used to handle dynamic reminder intervals and repetition. Since the number of reminders varies for different users, the loop allows the app to repeat the reminder the specified number of times, regardless of the interval chosen.

How does the app calculate the time for setting reminders?

The app uses the current time, which is retrieved from the clock component, and adds the specified interval to it. This is done dynamically to determine the times at which the reminders should occur.

Why is an extension necessary in this app?

The extension is necessary to enable the app to set alarms directly through the mobile device's default alarm system, which is not available as a standard feature in MIT App Inventor.

How does the app ensure that the reminders are set correctly for multiple intervals?

The app uses a combination of input values (interval and number of reminders), a dynamic loop, and the clock component to calculate and set each reminder at the correct time based on the user's preferences.

What does the user see after the reminders are set?

After the reminders are set, the app will create alarms on the user's device at the specified times, and the reminders will trigger with the customized message (e.g., 'Drink Water'). The user can view the alarm times in the device's alarm list.