How App Development Changed Mika’s Life and Allows Him to Give Back to His Community
Interview with Thunkable Power Developer Mika
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Mika and I’m 26 years old. I live in the eastern region of Germany called Freistaat Sachsen in a small town of about 200 people called Lenkersdorf. I completed high school in 2006. Since 2006, I’ve worked in a number of different jobs and spent the last five years in road construction.
How did you discover Thunkable?
About a year ago, I was researching online and came across MIT App Inventor and decided to try developing mobile apps for fun. Through the App Inventor forum I learned that some of the original engineers on App Inventor developed a new version called Thunkable, which included a number of additional features and decided to give it a try!
How did you learn to use Thunkable?
In the beginning, I watched many YouTube videos to learn the individual components and and built a number of simple apps. Once I got comfortable with the program, I just started experimenting on my own and am now very proficient with Thunkable.
What app are you most proud of?
So far I am proud of my latest app Deutsche Radios Live.
The app has over 90 German radio stations and many other features such as favorites, settings, statistics and much more.
A year ago, it would have been hard to believe I could build such a complicated app without any coding knowledge. With every app I have an idea, I am able to share with the world a portion of who I am.
What is the most interesting app you’ve built?
Oh, this is really a very good question. I can not really answer the question, because behind every single app stands a unique idea that I’ve brought to reality. To answer the question nevertheless, I would choose the Crazy Project Radio app. I made it for a friend who runs a small Internet Radio station in Germany. I wanted to help him reach more of his users and an app seemed to be the best way as now his users can access the radio wirelessly.
It felt good to be able to help a friend solve a real problem that he might not have otherwise been able to address given resource constraints. In my own way, with Thunkable, I am able to give back to my friends and community.
How has mobile app development impacted your life?
Since a young age, I’ve been the kind of person who always has a million ideas and previously didn’t have a way to bring my ideas to life. Thanks to Thunkable, I now have the ability to to convert every idea into reality through an app.
My girlfriend is always the first person to test my ideas and apps. I often ask her what she thinks of certain features I’ve built and how I can improve my offerings. Sometimes she is annoyed by my 1000 questions, but I know I have her full support. And then I can always proudly say “she is my girl!” I’m hoping with my new mobile app development skills I can switch into the tech industry, something even a year ago would have been hard to imagine!
What advice do you have to others starting to build their first Thunkable app?
Do not give up! It takes time to become proficient, but it’s worth it!
Once you have an idea and if you are looking for a way to realize your idea, take a piece of paper and write down on what you want to do, then look for a logical way to do it. Think through which components you need for each steps and then think through the “coding” and blocks required to complete each steps. Think through step and by and you will get there! Also if you need help, use the community forum. There are a lot of active Thunkers like myself who are happy to help you!
You can also check out Mika’s blog, which includes tips and tricks for best practices to use Thunkable at http://nmd-apps.jimdo.com/.
Thunkable is a drag and drop platform to allow anyone to build fully native mobile android apps without any prior coding knowledge. Try it out today and email us at hello@thunkable.com with any questions or comments!
