Test Driving a Do-It-Yourself Mobile App Service AppMakr's do-it-yourself mobile application development platform turned Filter Publications into a mobile app developer.

Filter Publications knows you can't sit still when serving a subscriber base with the need for speed.

The Morgantown, W.V.-based print and digital publisher's motocross and supercross news websites (including Racer X Online) welcome 425,000 unique action sports enthusiasts each month. But with a growing number of readers turning away from the desktop in favor of smartphones, Filter recognized its obligation to follow their lead--or get left in the dust.

"It's important to us to be the worldwide authority on motocross and supercross news, and that means getting information to people however they want it," says Filter Publications president Bryan Stealey. "A mobile application seemed like the obvious way to go."

Filter turned to AppMakr to kick-start its mobile aspirations. The San Francisco startup's software development platform promises a complete do-it-yourself toolkit for building applications optimized for Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating systems, with no previous coding experience or engineering acumen necessary. According to AppMakr, a complete, fully functional app requires just hours to create--and the service is absolutely free.