Now that I've got my App Inventor programs up and running for the upcoming SEP sessions, today, I took on actually getting the application to connect to my smartphone so that you can see your projects on an actual phone, which allows you to see programming you create that uses the phone's features (shaking the phone so that a noise plays). The App Inventor simulator ("emulator") is fantastic, but it cannot display the effects you program using phone features such as the accelerometer or SMS.

So ... I'd been putting this part off; it does take a few steps, especially if you are connecting to a PC and have a non-Windows phone. And, I was behind in my windows updates and did not have my update settings set to "Update Important Automatically". So, you must have all your updates complete and update settings = "Automatic". Other things to do (nicely summarized in this App Inventor overview):

I. Change your Phone settings:

**Tap the Home button to go to your phone's Home screen.
**Tap the Menu button, then Settings, then Applications.
**If your phone has an Unknown sources setting, make sure it is checked.
**Tap Development.
**Make sure both USB Debugging and Stay Awake are checked.

To note: my phone's AVG constantly alerts me to "Threat Detected", concerned that having USB Debugging enabled leaves my phone at risk for viruses. Make sure you have some sort of virus protection software loaded on your phone; otherwise, you should be fine.

II. install and format an SD card; I used a 32gb version.

III. For non-Windows phones, you will likely have to install a USB driver onto your workstation. You can tell if this is necessary by trying to connect to your device once you have the App Inventor blocks editor open. If you click on "Connect to Device" and you see only Wifi or emulator -5554 in the dropdown, then you have to install one. To do this, go to the website for the maker of your phone (in my case, Samsung), type in the model of your phone, and you should be directed to the appropriate download area (the download is free). In my case, this looked like this. 

IV. Once you've installed your phone's USB driver onto your workstation, connect your phone to your workstation using the USB cord. You should get an "initialize" alert and a series of 4 green checks once all has been initialized. This means your computer is aware of your phone, and now, so should App Inventor!

V. Open the App Inventor Designer and Blocks Editor, then click on "Connect to Device". You should now see a third option, which will be the name your USB connection recognizes as your phone. Click on it and once the icon is green, your fully functional App Inventor project will appear on your smartphone screen.

Very impressive to see your work in action on an actual phone! Next, I've got a Nook HD tablet on order, so I can test out the "wifi" connection option to App Inventor projects so I can pass it amongst the kids I teach so they can see their projects IRL (in real life).