You can make an interactive app directly on iPad with hyperPad. Start with a small idea, lay out each screen as a Scene, add Objects and UI, then connect visual Behaviors to decide what happens when someone taps, swipes, or makes a choice.

This workflow works for educational apps, prototypes, simulations, interactive stories, and simple utilities. You build and test the experience on your iPad. If you later want to release it on the Apple App Store, use hyperPad’s Export workflow and complete Apple’s submission steps.

What makes an app interactive?

An interactive app responds to a person’s input and keeps track of what has happened. A button can reveal an explanation. A slider can change a value in a simulation. A choice can take the reader to a different Scene.

That differs from game development. A game usually centers on rules, challenge, goals, and a play loop. An interactive app may have none of those. Its purpose could be to teach a topic, test an interface, tell a branching story, or help someone complete a task.

hyperPad supports both. This guide stays focused on apps where the interaction serves information, exploration, or utility.

Plan one useful interaction

Choose one job for your first app. Keep the first version small enough to finish in one project.

For example, make a plant-care guide with this flow:

A home screen asks the reader to choose a plant.
A detail screen shows its light and watering needs.
A “Watered today” button saves the plant’s current state.
A status label changes from “Needs water” to “Watered.”
A reset button lets you test the flow again.

Sketch those screens before opening the editor. Write down what the reader can tap and what should change after each tap.

Build the app with hyperPad’s main parts

Use Scenes for screens and steps

A Scene contains the Objects for one part of your app. Your plant guide might use a Home Scene and one Detail Scene. A longer interactive story could use one Scene per page or decision point.

Scenes also control the app’s flow. A button can use a Scene Behavior to open the next screen. Read the Scenes documentation before you decide how many screens your app needs.

Use Objects for everything on screen

An Object is an item in a Scene. Images, labels, buttons, illustrations, and invisible touch areas can all be Objects.

For the plant guide, add a plant Graphic, a title Label, a care-instruction Label, and a button Object. Give each Object a clear name such as PlantImage, CareText, or WaterButton. Clear names make your Behaviors easier to follow later.

Keep controls in the UI

Use UI Objects for controls and information that should stay in a fixed place on screen. A back button, navigation bar, instruction label, or status message belongs in the UI when it should not move with the rest of the Scene.

Make each control explain itself. “Mark as watered” is clearer than “Continue.” The button label should tell the reader what the tap will do.

Store state with Attributes

An Attribute stores information on an Object. In the example, the plant Object could have an Attribute named watered with a starting value of false.

When the reader taps “Mark as watered,” a Behavior changes that Attribute to true. Other Behaviors can read the value and update the status label. This is how the app remembers its current state while the project is running.

hyperPad also provides Box Containers for temporary values used across Behaviors. The Storing Values guide explains how those work.

Connect input to actions with Behaviors

Behaviors create the app’s logic. Events listen for something to happen. Actions respond.

The plant guide can use this flow:

Started Touching WaterButton → Set watered Attribute to true → Change status label to Watered

You can add a condition before the label changes:

Started Touching WaterButton → If watered is false → Set watered to true → Change label

The Behavior Editor overview explains Events, Actions, connections, and Behavior categories. The If Behavior reference shows how to run an action only when a condition is met.

Build the example app step by step

1. Create a project

Open hyperPad, choose New Project, name the project, and choose its orientation and device support. The new project guide explains those setup choices.

2. Make the Home Scene

Add a title, a short instruction, and a plant button. Connect a touch Event on the button to a Load Scene action that opens the Detail Scene.

3. Build the Detail Scene

Add the plant image, care instructions, a status label, and the “Mark as watered” button. Keep the back control in the UI so it stays easy to find.

4. Add the app’s state

Create the watered Attribute on the plant Object. Set its starting value to false. Connect the button’s touch Event to the Behaviors that change the Attribute and update the status label.

5. Test every path

Tap Play and try the app as a first-time reader would.

Check these points:

Does each button do what its label promises?
Can the reader move forward and back without getting stuck?
Does the status change only after the correct input?
Is important text readable without zooming?
Does the app start in the correct state when you reset it?

Fix one issue at a time. Test again after each change so you know which edit affected the result.

Move from a working prototype to a finished app

A prototype only needs to prove the interaction. Once the flow works, improve the text, spacing, Graphics, sound, and accessibility. Ask a few people to use the app without instructions. Watch where they hesitate and revise the unclear parts.

You can build and test the project on iPad. Publishing to the hyperPad Hub and exporting for the Apple App Store are separate workflows. hyperPad Starter can Publish its one project to the Hub. App Store Export requires the paid hyperPad app, an Apple Developer Program account, and Xcode on a Mac for the final upload.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make an app on iPad without writing code?

Yes. In hyperPad, you connect Events and Actions in the Behavior Editor instead of typing traditional code. You still plan logic, input, conditions, and state.

What kinds of non-game apps can I make?

You can create educational activities, interactive books, interface prototypes, simulations, presentations, and small utilities. The interactive book tutorial shows one complete non-game structure using Scenes, Objects, and Behaviors.

Can hyperPad Starter export an app to the App Store?

No. hyperPad Starter lets you build one project. App Store Export is available in the paid hyperPad app.

Make your first interactive app

Start with one screen, one input, and one visible result. Try hyperPad Starter free and build your first interactive app on iPad.

How to Make an Interactive App on iPad Without Traditional Coding