May 25 2013
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto
There are many iOS prototyping tools out there: Briefs 2, POP, Prototypr just to name a few. The one that really struck me as the most efficient is Flinto by far. Ironically, it’s the only Web-based tool amongst them. And there is nothing better out there. It will literally take minutes to create a prototype that looks like it was made using Xcode Storyboard.
Check out the Heyzap Prototype made in Flinto. It’s even better on the phone.
Super Smart Editor
Once the project is created, all you have to do is drag and drop all your screens. The editor will take care of smartly getting rid of the status bar for you.
If you’re a geek like me, you’ll appreciate how there is zero loading indicator.
Connecting Screens
There will be several “Aha” moments here. Once you have your screens ready, you will want to connect them. Instead of drawing the clicking regions manually, Flinto can auto-detect those regions by holding the Option key while pointing with your mouse. Crazy, right?
Now move your mouse to another screen and click. In the process, you’ll notice a fun orange line that curves and follows your mouse pointer. First of all, what the hell, Web apps never do that.
Transitions
Flinto has all the transitions you’d expect from an iOS app: Push left & right, Modal slide up & down, Flip left & right, Fade In and none. What’s particularly interesting about Flinto is that since it removed the status bar from your screens, all those animations will look perfect. The last thing you want is to have the status bar slide up with the content itself.
The Back Button
In iOS, the back button behavior is extremely common. All it’s supposed to do is reverse the animation from the previous screen. You don’t always want to pick a custom animation for it. To solve this, Flinto has a Link Back option that works beautifully.
Scrolling Content
Unique from its competitor, Flinto allows you to upload screens taller than the iPhone’s screen. They will simply be scrollable.
Preview
While building your prototype, you’ll be able to quickly preview your App by going to the Preview mode. It’s fairly straightforward but insanely useful since the process of installing on your phone may take some time.
Web App Settings
To make your prototype act like a real App, Flinto allows you to customize the icon and the Startup screen. While this step is optional, you shouldn’t skip it. Your App will look and feel better with those assets in place.
Fast Sharing
Web applications usually never reach the level of polish and interactivity as its native counterparts. Usually. Flinto is something else. It has the convenience of a Web tool, with its effortless sharing options that allows you to email your prototype and install to your iPhone from a simple link. It works like a real App, you won’t even see the browser bars and it will be completely responsive.
The prototype will be installed as a Web App.
Previewing On The Web
Sharing is fun. Unlike Briefs 2, Flinto enables you to easily share a Web link publicly. So, here’s mine.
Free To Try
I try to never judge a product before trying it. Just like Sketch, this 2-man product outshines its competitors. Just like Sketch, this product is 10 times more affordable than its competitor. Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at how intuitive it is.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto: http://t.co/l7Tfbym956
Great write-up for making prototypes with @flinto: Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/hFGB17bPoa
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/6WVS6HLizv via @zite
Flinto looks great for simpler apps. I’ve found proto.io to offer better tools if you need to test more complex interactions like swiping specific objects on a screen.
Proto.io does look more complex. I’ll give it a try. I consider Flinto a very polished and efficient app compared to all the other ones I’ve tried.
I’d love to see a prototype you made with advanced interactions. Do you have any you can share?
I have to say I’ve tried both, proto is a good mockup app…yes it is more complex and has a bit more functions however simplicity is key on prototypes. I have to say in an educated opinion. FLinto rocks… now one thing I would add is possibility to inlude gif and videos :)
Great tool for iOS prototyping – a pity that I can not yet use it for Android: http://t.co/CybRY7aqyQ
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/cddYPq8orx via @zite
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/dqP52GttXV
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/uc9z4kRwu0
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/g9FKIKt00g
Have been trying out Flinto for a month now. Clients rarely notice that it’s not a native app. It has improved my workflow significantly. Can’t wait for further updates. Hope they’ll get around to adding fixed nav and tab bars soon. And there are still a lot of bugs, for example when the order of screens is all jumbled up after you’ve left the editor.
I haven’t noticed a lot of bugs, but Nathan is definitely working on fixing those and he will be improving the product a lot in the near future. I think the Web preview needs work. Previewing on the phone is amazing though.
Hi Meng. I am just starting out in Flinto, and I was curious how you created the menu button in the top left of your prototype that slides the whole screen over to show the app navigation. If you are ever thinking about adding more to this post, including that would be awesome :)
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/yYW5P1C6om
Please give http://www.fluidui.com a try too. Great for quick app prototypes and the editor is very simple and fast to use.
Cheers,
Ian
Will give it a try. There are a lot of them, but none as polished or efficient as Flinto. A lot of those tools don’t even support the iPhone 5!
Quick iOS prototyping using Flinto • cc @The_Minh http://t.co/V13mRlHGM6
HNews: Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/nfflGYHNm7 #ios
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/fPGOKbWH7f via @zite >> worth a look @airmilesowl ? Free trial too.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/BZfEUCwhOU via @prismatic
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/5b7JuZ6jJy
Agreed, it‘s also my favourite at this point.
There are so many of them. This one is definitely my favorite for fast prototyping.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto via Meng To: http://t.co/hw1PJmE5Zn
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/c6QZs3TJj6 @trafnar #flinto
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/lcN4dI1F2n
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/3s692pRAH6
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/sJRIJNRCNe
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/ZcV5UvWA2s
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/vfhCLJe325
Hey @carlomcastillo and @jemreal, have a look. “@ASocialFace: Another nice ios prototyping tool. http://t.co/ZtfIY3kM1j”
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/v8fJrTxYDp
@myen Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/yCWRLQLYXE via @prismatic
Try iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/ofwT8lWBna
@EsterSerrano http://t.co/rqyPxiTTSN
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/8rG9AoOBRr
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/lMM6kx5ZBQ
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/C8q3DoLotC #UX #iOS #UI
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer http://t.co/MZnlrLtkpa
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/J71PqRTKhU
@iaanvn Thank me later… http://t.co/6jzhJd9KkR ;)
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer http://t.co/F6y9dfsAHr
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/z7tn7KsIPz
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/l79vvbLbzt I am going to buy after 30 days i have used.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/ifCC140LbQ
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer http://t.co/zTBYiizdP0
Wow, thanks, looks like i need it right now :-) and thanks for the tips.
You are quite welcome. Thanks for reading!
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto: http://t.co/4AZuFJZa0E
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/bO6QcVPFKC
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/WBjCCe0eL3
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/R2Su4Py8Vk
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/S9up3smMu2
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/JQYMKcjxz0
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/5OJFnWFp49
It’s pretty simple compared to other prototyping tools, I have tried Axure it’s a bit complicated but the results are amazing, I’ll give flingo a try, from what I saw it seems to be easier and faster than other options available.
I was wondering if you can turn off the hotspot rectangles. Also, can you imagine simulating typing with Flinto? (animating the keyboard). Working on a prototype for a product video and using TAP because of the advanced options… but would love to switch to Flinto. Thanks!
http://unitid.nl/2011/03/touch-application-prototypes-tap-for-iphone-and-ipad-using-adobe-fireworks/
Yes, you can turn them off in settings > share view.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/FRrNhCdwTY
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto, http://t.co/pjIJgzmmy2.
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/9f1IvlzRUV
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Added
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How come you have an Albanian name?
It’s not your business
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/75LeGo5ffh This looks awesome.
@trafnar nice to see @flinto get some well deserved attention:
http://t.co/oWjzZQjGcz
Still need to take it for a spin!
Quick iOS Prototyping :)
http://t.co/Mju5mAerxR
Quick iOS prototyping using Flinto http://t.co/rLUAOAX3mr
Looks legit. “Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/c7z6lTsR3j“
I need to try this. Article: Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/WbES8bV7D6
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | http://t.co/QByG2yNqEn
Quick #iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/EW7oTGZSw4 Loving this product for #mobile #product #design and #ux #ui!
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/HlUuLTB9b5 @margoula @CyrSan
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To|UI/UX Designer http://t.co/Av7KEdHoAQ #ux #design
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto — http://t.co/ILgZmvQ2kU
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/UbCtCZZY7S
Flinto инструмент для ооочень быстрого прототипирования мобильных приоложений. Очень круто! | Meng To|UI/UX Designer http://t.co/zb9qcB2WUt
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto (via @Pocket) – http://t.co/RH00i17EXl
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/H9CMIOIfWb
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/gS6TTTPsUq
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto http://t.co/3vjkZdIR9h
Cool. Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto. Article with other options too. http://t.co/32RzFTYNNv
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/YCV50L5Y4H
Great article again! Really loving your articles (particularly the sketch ones).
A slightly unrelated question, but do you use grids at all during your design process? In terms of layout/composition. Your designs always look so clean. Thanks.
[…] Meng To סוקר כלי מאוד שימושי לבניית פרוטוטייפס לאפליקציות IOS בשם Fl… […]
[…] Meng To סוקר כלי מאוד שימושי לבניית פרוטוטייפס לאפליקציות IOS בשם Fl… […]
You should give proto.io a try…. Seriously…it has features like FB like slide bars, and framerJS like easing animation PER element. You can even prototype in it (in addition to importing images and hooking them up)
I have a 2 week trial, would love to signup if it was a bit cheaper. $24/m is a bit more than I can pay for just 3 projects. I wish they price it a little better..
Next is FluidUi as someone suggested. Best part of it is the birds eye view of the whole project and has all the features flinto has. It’s free for 10pages but not as sophisticated as Proto.io
You should try out proto.io before declaring flinto as winner :)
Ps: not affiliated with either proto & FluidUi
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer: http://t.co/YyXxWphHKl
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer: http://t.co/lykh07GViE #ux #in
I’ve used both FieldTestApp and InvisionApp, but I really like the way this prototyping tool considers transition and animation design.
Thanks for sharing. I will add it to my ever growing list of useful Mobile Prototyping Apps.
http://www.griffininteractive.net/2012/07/prototyping_mobile_apps.html
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/LvCgBSTUJA #Mobile #Prototyping #AppDesign
Flinto is a great click through prototyping tool for iOS http://t.co/Hxb0YY2C0P #UX
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer: http://t.co/liOTJxz9XZ #ux
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To|UI/UX Designer http://t.co/I97Qc86iDV #UX #Prototype #iOS
Quick #iOS #Prototyping in #Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/O4SZCB614B
[…] Meng To סוקר כלי מאוד שימושי לבניית פרוטוטייפס לאפליקציות IOS בשם Fl… […]
Cool tool for Quick iOS Prototyping http://t.co/p3jhElqb2N
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/BeY72jlQw1
[…] Flinto for quick iOS prototyping (great overview by @MengTo) Check out Nathan Berry’s 25 Free iOS design resources. Try App Design Vault for quality iOS […]
Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto http://t.co/UwHEQ4y4hZ by @mengto
Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto by @MengTo: http://t.co/XBQEFvVJTP
As soon as I read your “How to Prototype in Xcode…” article, I thought to myself, “what about Flinto? It’s way easier and snappier.” Glad to see ya highlighting this wonderful tool. Thanks again, Meng!
[…] übersichtliches Tutorial zu iOS-Prototyping mit dem webbasierten Flinto findet sich auf Meng To. Dieser Artikel richtet sich als Feature-Überblick explizit an […]
I love Flinto, But what if I want to send the demo to someone who has Android ?? Is there a similar product for Android out there?
I have to give another +1 to proto.io. I have tried several and keep migrating to it. It’s not perfect but you can create a prototype that is barely distinguishable from an actual app. For that very reason, though, Flinto looks like it could be a better option for rapid prototyping.
I should also mention Codiqa. The real powerhouse feature of this tool is that it exports your prototypes right into jQuery Mobile. You can take that export, wrap it with PhoneGap, and you have an app. Great tool if you are not building a native app.
[…] Flinto sind kostenlos, anschließend werden bei Gefallen $10 im Monat fällig. Schaut euch diesen Blog-Eintrag zum Thema und die Beispiel-Präsentation des App-Entwurfes Heyzap […]
I’ve use FLINTO for lot of my projects – now that android version is out – it is a breeze!
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[…] Quick iOS Prototyping In Flinto | Meng To – UI/UX Designer […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto65,” Meng To66 A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] 相關 Demo […]
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I’ll throw in, if by ‘rough-shape’ you mean shape the profile, you could probably get a piece of 1/8″ oil-hardening steel from Enco or someplace similar, it comes annealed, and can be cut and shaped with hacksaw and file. You could cut it out of that, drill the pivot hole and grind the bevels before heat-treating. Or are you including heat-treating in ‘rough-shape’?
It’s really good to read your blog. I totally Agreed. Flinto looks great. Thank You for sharing. :)
Hi Meng, my question might sound stupid. Actually I am new to app development. I was just curious to know that if we make a good prototype in Flinto or for that matter on any other prototyping app with all fancy screen transitions, and the client approves the prototype, how do we achieve the same effects ( screen transitions and animations ) in the real app. Does Flinto generate any kind of source code for transitions ??
Hi, I like your blog
I’m also iPhone lover, which are addict of these kinds of technology. After reading this post getting more information from this post and knew about flinto or how its work. :)
In these kinds of tools is more admirable, getting more information of different kind of post, to know that what is quick ios prototyping flinto and how its work, thanks for sharing, getting bunches knowledge from it.
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[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto,” Meng To A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
[…] “Quick iOS Prototyping in Flinto,” Meng To A decent exploration of how to get prototyping in short order with Flinto. It even has classic iOS 6-style designs. (Ahh, nostalgia!) […]
Flinto is good, I have been using Balsamiq and flito to publish a wireframes.
great keep it.
Using Flinto since last 2 years, having some great experience
Yes, I’m agree with you, Prototyping with Flinto is one of the most essential skills for the best UI/UX designers. The software allows its user to create transitions and micro interactions which very precisely showcase the project’s functionality.
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It’s pretty simple compared to other prototyping tools, I have tried Axure it’s a bit complicated but the results are amazing, I’ll give flingo a try, from what I saw it seems to be easier and faster than other options available.