Implemented...ish Making the case for a XF native app

Ludachris

Well-known member
I know XF is forum software, and I understand that forums are fundamentally different than social media. I know that Tapatalk is a viable option for many forum owners. I've tried it but it wasn't the right solution for my site, mainly because it doesn't work with various plugins that website owners tend to use to try and set themselves apart from their competition and make their forums more sticky and cool (among a few other deal breakers). I understand that an app is costly to develop and that it's difficult to come up with something that will make the masses happy.

With of all that said, here's the case I'm making for an XF native forum app:

If your forum members take photos using their phones, where are they more likely to share those photos these days? The road blocks and extra steps it takes to open a browser on the phone, navigate to your forum, click around and find the right place to post the photo in the forum, and then use the upload feature to click around and locate the photo on the phone takes WAY more time than clicking the Share button after you take that photo and selecting FB or Instagram. And when you have a lot of the people in that forum as friends on your social network, why go through the extra hassle of also sharing that content in a forum?

Social media networks have given the user the ability to make their own networks that they used to depend on forums to access. I don't think this will kill forums, but it will certainly start taking away from a big part of what used to make forums sticky. For some communities - take the car enthusiast communities for example - those photos signify what a member is working on at the moment with their car, and that is an extremely important community-building element that is starting to drop off in forums these days because it's FAR EASIER to share that content on social media via mobile, especially with the upward trend in mobile device usage for interaction. This is not a problem that is/will be exclusive to the automotive community.

I've been talking with members of my site for several months about this, getting their feedback and taking notes. The consistent message coming back is that the forum will always be a great place for finding technical information, but that FB is becoming more preferred for engaging and networking with other car enthusiasts because of how simple it is to use, especially on a mobile device. The problem is, being a technical resource ONLY is not going to keep a forum community thriving.

Over 65% of my traffic views the site on a mobile device these days. I'm using a mobile friendly theme without Tapatalk (for various reasons). And though the site is easy enough to use on a mobile device, I would LOVE to have an app that is native to XF that was build in a way that it coule be extended by some of the talented plugin developers we have in this community (like @Bob who built Showcase and other cool content-centered plugins). If I install an app it has to encompass all areas of the site where I collect content - when that user clicks Share after they take a photo I need to be able to give them quick and easy options to share that content in my forum somewhere so that they don't just share it on FB or IG instead.

The simplicity and ease of sharing content from mobile is becoming more and more expected from the average user. And the traditional way the user has to go about posting in a forum is falling behind in terms of modern day usability. I'm not advocating forums be more like social media. I'm advocating exploring ways to make forums as easy to use as social media on mobile device and doing it in a way that it's extendable - so that plugin developers can tie their plugins into standardized locations.

I'd pay an upfront license fee and a monthly fee for that and I know quite a few other forum owners who run their forum as a business and rely on advertising revenue would invest in this as well. I'd think it's worth exploring and I imagine the XF decision makers probably already have, and probably keep revisiting as mobile usage continues to increase. As someone who didn't used to be too concerned about social media being a competitor a few years back I now see why it's very possible that forums could be used less and less for sharing content and networking among people with similar interests - which could turn forums into obsolete, searchable newsgroups.

We need to keep people engaged and make it extremely easy to have new, quality content posted on our sites. I've always felt XF was forward thinking in the forum space, which is why I moved over from vB last year. I'm hoping the XF devs will seriously consider revolutionizing the way members post content on forums using mobile devices, I like most everything else they've done with the script so far.
 
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Apple push notifications would be the only major reason I could see an app being of use these days (unless it's a highly customised forum, and really only using Xenforo as a skeleton for another purpose (i.e internal business use)), but then other approaches are probably better.

Xenforo these days is actually really goood on mobile, and with a good quality theme is quite useful and really only limited by a users screen resolution.
 
I of course won’t be advertising the competition on here, but a simple research of the top forum platform providers should reveal which one.
 
Quite frankly, with out an APP, Xenforo may as well close up shop because even after PAYING for this I would leave in a NY minute for one with an app.
While I accept there is some desire for an app, and understand that it might be a crucial component for your forum, it does not appear to be a desire that’s shared emphatically by the majority of our customers.

This doesn’t mean to say we won’t ever make an app, but I can assure you the lack of one does not mean we’ll have reason to close up shop any time soon.

I’m not certain but @ozzy47 may be referring to Invision but to say they have an app is not quite accurate. They have an app for their own customer support forum at the moment but as I understand it their next project is to offer some sort of “companion” app (like Tapatalk I guess but for their customer’s forums) before one day offering presumably a white label version of their current app.

Discourse offer a sort of companion app too.

In XenForo land there are a few third party developers who have developed an app which may be worth looking into.

We’re currently focusing on making the mobile web experience as strong as it can be. XF 2.2 includes more PWA features which follows on from 2.1 adding native web push notifications - a feature that - to the best of my knowledge - the other forum software do not yet offer. It’s just unfortunate at this point that it involves web standards that Apple do not currently support.

Hope that helps.
 
No need for an app for me and I am not sure what is the benefit. It needs to do something that can't be done in a mobile browser or PWA to be worthwhile, IMHO.

So keep it as an add-on and let those who are demanding it show how important it is by paying for it.
 
While I accept there is some desire for an app, and understand that it might be a crucial component for your forum, it does not appear to be a desire that’s shared emphatically by the majority of our customers.
👍👍

I do not want an app--the improved web view is plenty good enough for our visitors. I don't want to ever require a member to have to download an app to get a mobile experience--that is more clutter on the phone, more battery usage, more CPU and memory usage in the background. It seems the kiddiez are into their apps, but for my forums, most of which skew older, they really want very little to do with a mobile experience beyond being able to look through the forums on their phones or tablets. I've used my own forums for years now in a mobile view and honestly don't want for anything. (Other than wishing I didn't need reading glasses to even use a phone anymore.)

And with so many alleged "apps" out there being nothing more than browser shells anyways...what's the point? Just to appease the kiddiez? Good content and good design are what attracts the real membership to forums...not some silly app. Not everyone on this planet walks around with a phone tethered to their palms. The XF team, in my opinion, is on the right track.
 
Quite frankly, with out an APP, Xenforo may as well close up shop because even after PAYING for this I would leave in a NY minute for one with an app.
Nice tantrum... so they may as well close because they don't offer something that the vast majority don't want.

Replace Brayden with bforesman and ice cream with app, because that's how you are coming across.

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then which because I'm not wasting my time or $ on a platform that can't see the forest...
Umm you have posted in the CUSTOMER forum, so are already a customer!

Something something, due diligence, proper research yadda yadda.

Unlike you I recently did research on forum software before deciding on which one I would use, and I hate to break it to you, but most are moving AWAY from apps (and/or using Tapatalk), because they are limiting functionality compared to mobile responsive design, and all too often break.

Lets be honest here, what functions would an app offer you over a mobile responsive design? I'm keen to know.

In addition are your members going to want an app with potentially permissions to their data?
Does said app comply with data protection laws like GDPR laws or other countries your members may join from?
And how will you stay on top of security issues that an app presents?

Ha ha I'm not the only one so WAKE UP Xenforo!
Grow up and stop acting like a child. You don't always get what you want in life.

From being on a large forum that USED to have an app (and got rid of it), I can tell you that the biggest issues are phones and phone operatig systems (and even moreso in modern day) change at a rapid rate. One small change, one small update, and things break.

Then you have users complaining because they can't use the app because it no longer works. So you spend countless hours digging through the internet looking for a solution, implement that solution, and all is good for Android users.

7 days later someone on IOS complains that the app doesn't work for them, and is crashing out. So you spend time looking into that, and realise what the issue is and solve it.

A month later Android and IOS update and both updates break the app again.

They are nothing more than a painful time sink.

If you've never run a busy forum (and clearly you haven't), stop looking at it from a "this would be cool and awesome" perspective, and rather from a system administrative, support and troubleshooting perspective.

You'll VERY quickly realise why apps are a massive pain in the arse, and even large forums don't use them anymore.
 
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Yes, having a dedicated app for XenForo is awesome but I don't think most people here gonna need it. But having an app also mean that we will have more problems to deal.
 
Nice tantrum... so they may as well close because they don't offer something that the vast majority don't want.

Replace Brayden with bforesman and ice cream with app, because that's how you are coming across.

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.


Umm you have posted in the CUSTOMER forum, so are already a customer!

Something something, due diligence, proper research yadda yadda.

Unlike you I recently did research on forum software before deciding on which one I would use, and I hate to break it to you, but most are moving AWAY from apps (and/or using Tapatalk), because they are limiting functionality compared to mobile responsive design, and all too often break.

Lets be honest here, what functions would an app offer you over a mobile responsive design? I'm keen to know.

In addition are your members going to want an app with potentially permissions to their data?
Does said app comply with data protection laws like GDPR laws or other countries your members may join from?
And how will you stay on top of security issues that an app presents?


Grow up and stop acting like a child. You don't always get what you want in life.

From being on a large forum that USED to have an app (and got rid of it), I can tell you that the biggest issues are phones and phone operatig systems (and even moreso in modern day) change at a rapid rate. One small change, one small update, and things break.

Then you have users complaining because they can't use the app because it no longer works. So you spend countless hours digging through the internet looking for a solution, implement that solution, and all is good for Android users.

7 days later someone on IOS complains that the app doesn't work for them, and is crashing out. So you spend time looking into that, and realise what the issue is and solve it.

A month later Android and IOS update and both updates break the app again.

They are nothing more than a painful time sink.

If you've never run a busy forum (and clearly you haven't), stop looking at it from a "this would be cool and awesome" perspective, and rather from a system administrative, support and troubleshooting perspective.

You'll VERY quickly realise why apps are a massive pain in the arse, and even large forums don't use them anymore.
OLD school will always whine about change but you even leveled up with a childish rant yourself. What do I care about $400 for forum software when there's more opportunity with one with an app? If your clients are mostly desktop then ok but perhaps NEW forums/discussion for OUR audience WANTS an app. You're thinking about YOUR situation which is what close minded people do. And they also call others names just like children. I'm saying I'm 100% willing to move to a platform that IS embracing what I want AS A CUSTOMER so FU.
 
An app only makes sense if it offers something complementary to the website. Duplicating all features just to have an app doesn't make much sense.

Remember, it's not 2015 anymore. There was a time everyone wanted to have an app; anno 2020 the hype peak is far behind us.
 
again, for YOUR situation perhaps but if you already have a community of folks then you've established the expectations. Bottom line if the competitors app is worth it then I'll leave you to your assumptions.
 
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