Mobile apps using web view wrappers

thank you

ive progressed a bit since then, and it appears in ios9 the url has to be secure https, but mine isnt.
 
As an update, and proof of concept, I created a web wrapper app for XenForo.com for Android. No push notifications though, a really lame logo, and it could be made a little more polished using Android Studio.

This complete process took me literally 2 hours from starting it, to getting it uploaded to Google Play. It took about 2 hours to be approved to the store.

Once installed, the app is called "testxfwrapper"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=appinventor.ai_davidjamesdotson.testxfwrapper

Dave, do you mind if I decompile this and alter it for my own site? I'm too lazy to do it from scratch. :ROFLMAO:
 
Knock yourself out, or go to http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/ and use these screen shots:

Create an new app with a blank screen, change the screen properties, add an icon of your choosing, and drag a WebViewer to the screen:
upload_2015-10-27_12-3-16.webp

Click the WebViewer (I named it WebWrapper), and set some options for it, the most important is the HomeURL, change it to your site.
upload_2015-10-27_12-4-49.webp

On the Blocks page, use a control from Screen1 to set some properties of the WebView (your mileage may vary):
upload_2015-10-27_12-7-13.webp

That's it, from there, you can click the Build menu to create an .apk file.
 
I like his add-on a lot.

It is cool because people can download it from the android store.
And what i love the most is the push alerts. It's super helpful.
I am not a fan of the mini browser or web wrapper, whatever it is


I wish he would give us the option of instead of opening it in his own made mini browser, i wish we could open it with our default mobile browser instead.

Without his add-on i can already add an icon straight to the forum. Here's how i did it:

In the chrome settings.
2015-10-27-20-33-52.webp

This is how it looks on my homepage.
2015-10-27-20-52-00.webp

And this is what happens when i click on it
2015-10-27-20-56-30.webp


It takes me straight to the xenforo forum on chrome. It's just a shortcut. Its super helpful and it saves me time. Quick and easy.

The only thing missing is the push alerts. I really with it had push-alerts.


Maybe someone could make an add-on that you can upload to google play, and it downloads the forum icon with support of push alerts to members mobile phones, which then opens in chrome or whatever brower you select and shows push-alerts.


actually i will suggest this to his add-on. maybe he can do it,
 
My wish list:
  1. "Touch Sensitive" style (so you can slide, tap, hold tap etc)
  2. Preload data in some way so is not laggy
  3. Push Alerts
  4. Access to camera/mic etc directly so people can upload content or do other thing
 
I can tell you how I did it. :) Just follow chapter 2 in that guide (chapter 1 is already included in XenForo) and you have your own iOS wrapper app. Will take you 15 minutes, most. ;)

http://codewithchris.com/make-an-app-from-website/

The problem is push alerts -- that is what really separates a 'dedicated' app from a web wrapper, in the eyes of users.

Because with enough effort, you can make a nice HTML5 skin for mobile that I think would work as well as a native app. But without push alerts, it remains a non-starter as a standalone app.

Can you build out push alerts in iOS and Android in 15 minutes with this framework?
 
Since today Facebook has started sending me notifications,

I don't even have the facebook app, it sends them because i'm using chrome mobile browser

this is way better than that dudes 195$ add-on, which still doesn't send notifications to my phone and ive even tried a 2 phones,


hopefully someone makes a chrome notifications add-on

Capture.webp

Capture2.webp


this is way better than pushover as well, i think

i dont really need an app,

notifications which when clicked goes to the mobile brower is good enough for me.

and it will be excellent for traffic,

and now chrome is able to do this, so the future looks good.
 
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Will be updated for Chrome. Should be out soon...

That'll only work on Chrome for desktop, the push notifications for chrome on mobile are only enabled for specific domains (Currently Facebook, eBay, and a few others). Chrome for desktop has had support for push notifications for a while, still not much for mobile without an app yet though
 
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