1. No-Name Slob

    No-Name Slob Member Supporter Contributor

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    Question No bugs or issues, just curious

    Discussion in 'Support & Feedback' started by No-Name Slob, Apr 25, 2016.

    How likely is it that Writing Forums may one day develop into an app? That would be super awesome!
     
  2. Komposten

    Komposten Insanitary pile of rotten fruit Contributor

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    Personally I don't think this is going to happen. Developing an app would cost a great deal of money as it would take a lot of time and probably be pretty complex (a forum isn't exactly a simple venue, neither on the user's side nor behind the scenes). While it would be great to have an actual app dedicated entirely to WF it sounds like too ambitious and big a project to be realised. :(

    ETA: This is my opinion and view on the matter, and does not necessarily reflect what the other mods/Daniel thinks about it.
     
  3. Komposten

    Komposten Insanitary pile of rotten fruit Contributor

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    Just did some quick research and found that there are apps out there that can be used to display XenForo forums on Android/iPhone. From the looks of it, though, we would have to install plugins on the forum to allow the apps to sign in, post content, etc. I will definitely look into this more and see what I can find. If it's not too much of a job to integrate (and if it sounds safe and secure) I might try to get Daniel to implement such a plugin.
     
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  4. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Tapatalk is a decent app that people seem to like.
     
  5. Daniel

    Daniel I'm sure you've heard the rumors Founder Staff

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    With the massive growth of mobile, and with mobile increasingly becoming a primary medium for viewing content, I'd say it will eventually happen. We actually already have a substantial percentages of our visitors who view the site on mobile.

    It's unlikely in the near future, but I think it will come eventually.

    The website displays okay on a mobile browser though, right? I'm not sure I 100% understand the benefit of an app versus a mobile version. Our website is responsive, and while the usability can be improved, I think it works pretty well on mobile.

    Is the primary benefit ease of use and access?

    Most likely we would end up hiring a developer for it, or I'd teach myself how to create the app.

    I think integration is straightforward enough, but I'm not a fan of those sort of apps. They're usually apps that let you access a site - WritingForums.org in this case - through their app. I've heard bad things about them both from an administrator and an end-user point of view.

    When I open a forum in the search results and I get a pop-up telling me to install Tapatalk, I nope right out of there.
     
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  6. Brindy

    Brindy Senior Member

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    It displays fine on my iPhone 5s if I use it sideways on, but I would love a 'top of page' button at the bottom if possible as each page shows a lot of content so I seem to doing a lot of scrolling back to the top. Please?
     
    Daniel likes this.
  7. No-Name Slob

    No-Name Slob Member Supporter Contributor

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    It displays okay on mobile, yeah. Like you said, just ease of use and accessibility. :)
     
  8. Komposten

    Komposten Insanitary pile of rotten fruit Contributor

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    There is a top of page button at the bottom, among the many links on blue background. :)
    Though maybe it would be better to have a small, floating button that follows the user as they scroll? Personally I don't always scroll to the bottom before wanting to return to the top.
     
    Daniel likes this.
  9. Brindy

    Brindy Senior Member

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    Oh, thank you, I would never have noticed it there.
     

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