Children who dream of creating their own apps for various mobile platforms can now turn that dream into reality with the launch of Thunkable X, a cross-platform app builder developed by Thunkable, a San Francisco-based startup. Originating from a company with roots in MIT, this user-friendly platform allows novice programmers to develop and deploy apps natively on both Android and iOS devices through a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Featuring an easy-to-use platform, users can now build their very own apps and upload them directly to the Apple App Store and Google's Play Store. With over 500,000 users already on board, Thunkable is also targeting the educational sector. The company has recently partnered with Code.org, making its app-building tool readily available for Hour of Code, a one-day event encouraging educators and students to partake in programming exercises without prior experience.
Young users have successfully leveraged Thunkable to build various apps, ranging from dice games and anti-bullying initiatives to status sharing and English language learning tools. In Yemen, an engineer with no coding background used the platform to develop a solar power app.
Developed as a result of a Google-supported research project at MIT, Thunkable has its origins in the collaborative efforts of Arun Saigal, the company's co-founder and CEO, who worked as an engineer on an MIT Media Lab project called MIT App Inventor. The aim was to create a Scratch-like tool for building mobile apps. The platform is accessible for free and can be used by anyone to build apps, with the condition that if a third-party plugin is used for processing transactions (such as Stripe for mobile payments), the company will take a revenue cut.
Since gaining independence from MIT in 2016, Thunkable joined the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator for tech startups. To date, the company has raised $3.3 million in funding from various investors, such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, SV Angel, PJC, Mandra Capital, Joe Montana's Liquid 2 Ventures, and ZhenFund. Platforms like AppMaster, which also offer drag-and-drop app building functionalities, are becoming increasingly popular among users of all ages, making app development exponentially more accessible to non-programmers.
