Native XenForo App in Development.

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Slavik

XenForo moderator
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Important note: This App is not an official XenForo product.

(For release 1st Dec)

I am happy to finally make an announcement now that work is well underway on a Native XenForo App for Android and iOS in collaboration with myself and The Orange Room. The aim from the beginning was always quality, we have seen what other apps out there do, or don't, and putting a responsive design into a wrapper doesn't sit well with a lot of people either, so with that, our aim was always to take the time to ensure it was done right, rather than rush out something buggy and problematic.

Another issue was funding, quality App development comes with a price, and whilst a croudfund was considered, it was deemed best to avoid this given the history of poorly managed croudfunds previously.

It will be mainly focused on the end user forum engagement of a stock board. We also aim to include support for the official XenForo addons (though this will be a long way off).

The apps will work directly from App <> Your Server via an API addon, no middleman stuff, your users are your users, not ours. Push will be the only 3rd party part.

Prices are provisionally:
$10 a month for a shared native app with self styling
$15 a month for a forum-specific app with self styling
$25 a month for a forum-specific branding free app
Additional charges may apply for differing publish options.

These prices would be yearly paid for in advance. There would be no free version.

So what is self styling? Well similar to the XenForo color pallet, it would be a set of basic options within the XenForo addon to allow you to color the basic elements of the app to match your forums theme, as well as a logo.

The forum specific and branding free apps will contain support for a handful of ad templates as well for in-app advertising. The ultimate aim is to give as much flexibility as possible in the familiar XenForo format.

Initially we are hoping for a mid-January release for the first iOS release, with Android coming sometime around the end of February/March.

I would like to stress the Shared App is not going to be available with the first releases as we will be focusing on getting a solid stable app released before having to implement a categorization system etc.

With that in mind, at this point we are open to taking reservations for the forum specific and branding free apps. We will have a limited number of spaces of forums who wish to be the first to get hold of and test these apps before general release. Please message me if you wish to reserve an early spot for the app release. (Note, Payments won't be taken until just before the first release).

With that said, enjoy the following!

1-launch-file.webp 2-register.webp 3-homepage.webp 4-homepage+notice.webp 5-topics.webp
6-single.webp 7-single.webp 8-single.webp 9-single.webp 10-single.webp
11-reply.webp 12-reply.webp 13-reply-with-quote.webp 14-single-with-quoted.webp 15-whats-new.webp
 
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@Slavik will this be open to customers to further extend the audience for members who don't use ios or android devices? Such as blackberry or windows universal apps?
 
@Slavik will this be open to customers to further extend the audience for members who don't use ios or android devices? Such as blackberry or windows universal apps?

Currently the focus lies on providing the 2 fully featured, stable, apps for iOS and Android, so anything additional would be a long way off im afraid.
 
Does it support Xenforo's Official Add-ons? (XFMG - XFRM)
If not, is it going to support them in near future?
 
It looks great but the price model does not suit me. I would gladly take the subscription model for the shared application but I'd like to have the option to pay a fixed price for the forum specific app and then pay yearly renewals. If I don't pay, I don't get updates. If the developer doesn't produce enough or quality updates for me, then I can still have the option to not pay, retain some voting (with my wallet) rights and still be able to use the app.

Anyway, I wish you the best. I know this is not a small feat. Congratulations!
 
If I don't pay, I don't get updates. If the developer doesn't produce enough or quality updates for me, then I can still have the option to not pay, retain some voting (with my wallet) rights and still be able to use the app.
The problem is that you aren't just getting updates. Regardless of updates or not, you're also "leasing" the server that handles push notifications. It's not like the normal add-on where you're either constantly getting updates or support. There is some cost associated with just continuing to run the existing version.

@Slavik, this looks fantastic and the pricing is very reasonable.
 
The problem is that you aren't just getting updates. Regardless of updates or not, you're also "leasing" the server that handles push notifications. It's not like the normal add-on where you're either constantly getting updates or support. There is some cost associated with just continuing to run the existing version.

@Slavik, this looks fantastic and the pricing is very reasonable.
That's a great point. I didn't thought about it and it makes sense to charge a fee for the push server.
 
Tapatalk build your own which we spent an insane amount of money on was after all the one time fees and setup and cost, 68/mo for something that arbritarly decided when push notifications worked and when they didn't.

25/mo is extremely competitive and reasonable compared to the competition. Heck if quality is top notch and the thing actually works, which I'm sure it will(I like to think I can trust Slavik and the fact he wouldn't get involved with trash), it will become one of the most popular addons around.

This means big and small sites a like can afford it.
 
I'm pretty sure most forums could recoup $25pcm off members interested in using the app. Set up a usergroup promotion with a recurring subscription and charge $1 or $0.50 a month or even $0.10? Laughing!

Also at these prices it will probably take Slavik and the team a substantial amount of time to recoup costs and generate a profit so I think the price is very reasonable indeed. If not too generous!
 
@Slavik
What's the difference between the branding free and the branded versions?
Just the logo/link in the first screenshot?

Is this app using the Google App indexing API?
 
@Slavik just to make sure I'm reading right is it $15 or $25 per app like the Android or iOS version?

The price includes both Apps.

Also at these prices it will probably take Slavik and the team a substantial amount of time to recoup costs and generate a profit so I think the price is very reasonable indeed. If not too generous!

Quite, the development costs are eye watering, our aim is basically to make it available to everyone (within limits). A free model simply won't work, so thats why the cheapest option still allows smaller boards to get involved.

What's the difference between the branding free and the branded versions?
Just the logo/link in the first screenshot?

There will be a couple of locations which will be removed. There may be a couple of extra things included in the branding free app (extra ad template locations etc).

Is this app using the Google App indexing API?

Not something I had considered, I am unsure if a forum-specific app would be good for example, with sites who may have a CMS, if that CMS is unavailable because of it.
 
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