How to Make Apps (automator)

by Luigi Pizzolito in Circuits > Apple

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How to Make Apps (automator)

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In this Instructable i'll show how to make your own apps using automator. If you like this please follow me or vote.

Materials

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You'll need

Automator (comes with every mac)

A idea for an app

Preview (also comes with every mac)

Photoshop or Gimp, any photo editor/creator (Optional (Recommended))

Finder

Automator

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Go ahead and open automator and choose Custom template.

This is where you will make the body of your app.

Drag Actions

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Next you need to drag actions to the script. This is where there's endless possibilities. In this tutorial i'm just going to show you a app that opens the instructables homepage.

Test Run

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Once all actions are down press the run button. this will run the script doing whatever the actions tell it to do in this case it opens instructables.

Save

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Next save you script any where you want MAKE SURE IT IS IN APPLICATION FORMAT. If you don't want to change the picture then you're done.

Change Icon

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This is the most challenging step you don't have to do this if you don't want to.

1. Go to your app

2. Right click and click show contents

3. go to contents / Resouces / AutomatorApplet.icns

4. Delete AutomatorApplet.icns KEEP THIS WINDOW OPEN

5. Get a picture or make one using Gimp, Photoshop etc. (I used the instructables robot)

6. Open your picture using preview

7. Do some Instant Alpha to remove the background

8.The picture baground should now be transparent.

9. Right Click your picture and click Get info

10. Where it says Name & Extension Write "AutomatorApplet.icns"

11. Ignore the warning and click use .icns

12. drag/copy this to the folder we had opened (you app /contents / Resouces /

13. close every thing and go to your app

14. the icon should have changed from the automator icon to the application icon if you did the las steps right

15. go back and open your picture with preview

16. Press command + a

17. Press command + c

18. go to your app

19. right click your app and choose get info

20. Right on top ther should be your apps name and a little thumbnail picture

21. click this thumbnail picture it should get blue around the edges

22. press command + v

23. Done now your app icon should have changed to the picture you used.

24. If anything goes wrong just go back and review these steps

Done

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Well done ! give yourself a pet in the back. you just made your own app!

If any troubleshooting needed please comment below and I will try my best to help solve your needs.