Introduction
Welcome to this tutorial on how to make a recharge app on Thunkable! In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps of creating an app that allows users to recharge their mobile phones, pay bills, and make other transactions using their credit or debit card.
Recharge apps are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people rely on their smartphones for various transactions. By creating a recharge app, you can offer a convenient and secure way for users to make payments and manage their accounts, which can help you stand out in a crowded market.
Prerequisites
Before we dive into the tutorial, there are a few things you should have in place. First, you will need to have a merchant account with a payment processor, such as Stripe or PayPal. This will allow you to accept and process credit or debit card payments from your users.
You will also need to have Thunkable installed on your computer. Thunkable is a drag-and-drop app development platform that we will be using to build our recharge app. You can download Thunkable here: https://www.thunkable.com/
Step 1: Create a new project in Thunkable
Once you have Thunkable installed, launch the program and create a new project. You can do this by clicking on the “New Project” button in the top left corner of the screen.
Step 2: Design the app layout
The first thing we need to do is design the layout of our app. This will involve adding various components, such as buttons, text boxes, and images, to the app’s user interface.
To get started, drag and drop a “Button” component onto the canvas. This will be used to allow users to select the type of recharge they want to make, such as mobile phone recharge or bill payment. Next, drag and drop a “Text Box” component onto the canvas. This will be used to allow users to enter their payment details, such as their card number and expiration date. Finally, drag and drop a “Label” component onto the canvas. This will be used to display any error messages or confirmation messages to the user.
Step 3: Add functionality to the app
Now that we have the basic layout of our app in place, it’s time to add some functionality. First, we need to set up the recharge buttons to send the user to the payment screen when clicked.
To do this, click on one of the recharge buttons and then click on the “Button.Click” event in the “Events” tab on the right side of the screen. This will open the “Block Editor”, which is where we will add the code for our app.
In the “Block Editor”, drag and drop the “set Visibility” block from the “User Interface” category and place it inside the “Button.Click” event. Then, select the payment screen from the dropdown menu and set its visibility to “Visible”. Repeat this process for each of the recharge buttons.
Step 4: Connect to a payment processor
Now that we have the basic navigation of our app set up, we need to connect it to a payment processor so that we can accept and process credit or debit card payments. There are several options available, such as Stripe and PayPal, each with its own set of features and pricing.
To connect to a payment processor, click on the “Connect to a Service” button in the top right corner of the screen and select the payment processor you want to use. You will then need to follow the instructions provided by the payment processor to set up your account and get your API keys.
Once you have your API keys, you can use them to authenticate your app and allow it to process payments. To do this, you will need to use the blocks provided by the payment processor in the “Block Editor”.
For example, if you are using Stripe, you will need to use the “Create Charge” block from the “Stripe” category. This block allows you to create a new charge using the credit or debit card details entered by the user. Simply drag and drop this block into your code and specify the amount and currency of the charge, as well as the card details.
Step 5: Add error handling
It’s important to add error handling to your app to ensure that it functions smoothly and correctly. This involves checking for and handling any errors that may occur during the payment process, such as invalid card details or insufficient funds.
To add error handling to your app, you can use the “if” block from the “Control” category in the “Block Editor”. This block allows you to specify a condition and execute a specific set of blocks if the condition is true.
For example, you can use the “if” block to check for an error message returned by the payment processor. If an error message is present, you can display it to the user using the “Label.Text” block from the “User Interface” category.
Step 6: Add a confirmation message
Once the payment has been successfully processed, it’s a good idea to display a confirmation message to the user to let them know that their transaction was successful.
To do this, you can use the “Label.Text” block in the “Block Editor” to set the text of the confirmation message. You can also use the “set Visibility” block to make the confirmation message visible to the user.
Step 7: Add more features to the app
Now that we have the basic functionality of our recharge app set up, you can add more features as desired. For example, you could allow users to save their payment details for faster checkout in the future, or offer additional payment options such as net banking or UPI.
You could also add a transaction history feature that allows users to view their past transactions and track their spending. This can be a useful tool for managing their finances and keeping track of their bills.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we walked you through the steps of creating a recharge app on Thunkable. We covered how to design the app layout, add functionality to process payments, and handle errors and confirmations. With these basic building blocks in place, you can now add more features and customize your app to suit your needs.
We hope you found this tutorial helpful and that you now have a better understanding of how to create a recharge app on Thunkable. Happy coding!