DW app for Android

[ktempest]

Title:
DW app for Android

Area:
Outside access to DW

Summary:
Since you've got an intern working on an iPhone app, I would like to request an Android app as well. I'd like to be able to access my reading list as well as have the ability to post to DW.

Description:
Since there's an intern working on an app for iPhone, I'd like an app for Android, too. After all, there are more Android users in general and we love DW, too!

The app should allow users to access their reading list with full permissions so we can see locked posts, too.

The app should pre-load the entries, including stuff behind the cut, in chunks that users define (20, 50, 100, 250, etc.) so that we can read entries even if we're offline. (I often read on the subway during my commute.)

It would be nice to have the ability to star or mark entries that the user wants to comment on when they get back to a computer or a connection.

The ability to post from the app would be great.

I use the NewsRob app on Android to read entries from Google Reader. It works almost exactly as I would envision a DW app should work (if you need a helpful template).

Thanks for considering my suggestion!

Poll #3365 DW app for Android

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 93

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
72 (77.4%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
1 (1.1%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
0 (0.0%)

(I have no opinion)
19 (20.4%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (1.1%)

Comments

[aedifica]

That sounds neat. To me it's not a high priority since I usually do have internet access on my Android phone (no subways on my commute) but it would be cool.

[lassarina]

Seconding all of this.

[lanterne_rouee]

yeah, i don't really see the need for an app. you can do whatever right in the browser and if i'm not connected to the internet i just... don't do anything on the internet. lol

i suppose it would be cool to have one in existence though, for people who want them.

[andrewducker]

Agreed.

I find that I read entries for FB/Twitter on my Android and it's easier through the app than on the site.

Being able to press on an "entry" and choose to reply/open/etc. is much easier than trying to click on tiny links with my finger.

[foxfirefey]

Your suggestion is good and valid--however, in practice implementing it's a bit different than most suggestions.

Many suggestions deal with a practice or function of the site itself, and in those instances, the suggestion must be approved before it can start being migrated into implementation. Somebody can't just say they want a feature and code something up and automatically have it added to the code base.

Clients are a bit different. Anybody can just up and make a client and distribute it to others; there's no approval or vetting process. What's more, unlike site features, people can make more than one client for the same platform.

So, the good news is, making an Android client can Just Happen, without anybody in change saying so. Another good thing is that the iPhone application project will do a lot of work on the protocol in the backend, so that anyone making an Android client will be able to use those improvements in making a client. Even better is that, unlike the iPhone, the Android platform has much lower barriers to entry--pretty much anybody with a decent computer could do development for it, without paying any fees.

The bad news is that programming for Android is a lot different than programming on Dreamwidth, so many people who do development on Dreamwidth aren't very prepared to make an Android client. exor674 has actually tinkered around with making one, but it's kind of a side hobby for her and nowhere near finished--and she doesn't even have an actual Android phone! (There's a really good virtual machine, though.)

[ktempest]

For me, the time when I'm on the subway or otherwise not connected is about the only time I have for catching up on blog reading since I have a day job that can be pretty intense most days. Unlike today, when I have time to check, I usually have about 20 million other things to do.

[ktempest]

I know that this is a different kind of suggestion, I had just hoped since someone was working on the iPhone app that this could get some consideration. I don't know anyone who develops apps, otherwise I would have just asked them to do it for me :)

[foxfirefey]

Question: what version of Android do you use? Apparently there is a bunch of different ones, and 1.6 is when it starts getting not annoying?

[benjamindunbar]

So many people are coming up on 2.2, if they're not already on 2.1. Fragmenting in the userbase is still a problem. Most phones can upgrade to 2.1, but making it 1.6 compatible gives the app broader reach.

It might be possible to reach out to people who have made apps that are already designed for other services based on the same journal source code.

[mneme]

I've tried to make a new suggestion thread, since this one is so deep in mothballs I don't think 9th level thread necromancy is going to work.

But I do think that this is of even greater importance than it was 8 years ago, between the immanent departure of G+ (whose featureset was very much a prettier looking version of Dreamwidth--plus first-class mobile access).

How are we going to get communies to move to Dreamwidth if sections of their membership rely on mobile?

For that matter, I've noticed that my own usage has decreased markedly over time, and some of that, I suspect, is the lack of a mobile app reminding me of anything except replies to my own posts.

[denise]

The good news is that we've been working on the prerequisites to the prerequisites. (The bad news is, there's a lot of them....)

[mneme]

Fair enough. And yeah, I can see how there would be. At this point you're working on API layers and possibly DB changes to support them?

[erik]

A: How's this going?
B: As an alternative, is there any intention to make the mobile version ( www.dreamwidth.org/mobile ) more functional and modern?