AppsGeyser recently added a new feature. Now you can upload a .zip archive. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, OK, maybe it would sound better if we explained what that means. Up until we added this feature (and the new document feature that we also added fairly recently), AppsGeyser apps only worked properly if the mobile device was connected to the internet whenever the app was in use.

Many Android phones are connected to the internet at all times using 3G, but not everyone has a 3G plan. Sometimes people want to be able to see an app even when they’re on an airplane, and can’t access the internet. In short, we felt that this was too much of a limit to put on our app makers, so we decided to find a way to make apps work even without an internet connection. That is, you’ll need an internet connection to download the app, but once it’s downloaded, you won’t need any further internet connection to access it.

How can I make my app available without an internet connection?

There are a number of ways to make a website. The easiest way is to use an existing web service like Google Sites, but another way that isn’t too difficult is to use a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor. A WYSIWYG editor works a lot like Microsoft Word, but instead of building documents, you can build whole websites with multiple pages.

Where do I get a WYSIWYG editor?

The best known WYSIWYG editors are Dreamweaver and FrontPage. Unfortunately, Dreamweaver retails for about US $400, and FrontPage is no longer being sold. I asked around, and I found this great program called KompoZer. It’s absolutely free. There’s no hidden fee, no upgrade fee, nothing. It’s an open-source project, and you don’t have to pay.

How do I install KompoZer?

After you download KompoZer, you’ll need to unzip the file called Kompozer.exe

Here’s a video that explains how to unzip a file:

How do I use KompoZer?

You’ll need to create a new project. This video gives a thorough explanation of how to get started. There are a number of different ways to correctly size your web page. A good starting point might be to create a table with a width of 350. The height doesn’t matter as users will scroll down.

This video will help you get started.

The basic idea is that you can build your website easily, putting all of the pages and images into a single directory, then zip that directory, and upload it to AppsGeyser. Check back next week to find out more!