Some of today's best apps do nothing more than present information. While that may be a bit overly broad, eBooks and reference apps make up a good deal of the apps you'll find in the Android Market.
For many, app writing is a bit beyond their technical capabilities — or they simply don't have time to write apps. Others are more skilled at creating content than apps. For both types there is now a solution that will let you create an Android app simply by filling in a few blanks and supplying a valid RSS feed. (Yes, that means you can make an app for your blog very quickly and easily.)
AppYet?! is a service that lets you provide a title, package name, RSS/ATOM feed, and image that will be used as your app's icon and will generate a ready-to-publish .apk for you in under five minutes. There are three types of apps you create using their website: Lite, Pro, and Custom.
The Lite version is entirely free to make, but comes with some restrictions: you can't resell your app (but you can distribute it for free), and it will contain ads. Those ads, however, don't make money for you, they make money for App.Yet?! .
The Pro version costs CAD$49 and will let you turn the ads off or run your own ads, and let you sell it for any price you'd like. You can even let users "try before they buy" using an in-app purchase to unlock it after the trial period (that you set) expires.
Overall, the apps it creates are pretty well thought out and responsive, with no obvious problems or drawbacks. All apps are fairly cookie-cutter in nature, so any app created with their service will look like any other. That's where the "Custom" option comes in to play. Theoretically you can have the developers customize the interface, add features, or make any other modifications you'd like — for a price.
Want to see what you get? Here are a few apps that I cooked up, just to see what you can do. They are both "Pro" versions, the first one is free but displays my ads. The second one is ad-free, but costs money to buy. (I'm not trying to get you to buy the second app, just showing you the differences between the two.)
Joe the Web Guy for Android on AppBrain
Download Joe the Web Guy from the Android Market
Good Guys with Guns for Android on AppBrain
What do you think of the resulting apps? Did you run into any problems? Do you have any recommendations for App.Yet?! If so let us know in the comments!
If you have an RSS/ATOM feed that you turn into an app using App.Yet?! make sure you share the link with is in the comments!