Xenforo Native Mobile App? Crowdfund?

[surfsup]

Would love to see a Xenforo mobile app instead of the others out there, the big problem with the others is that you cant be logged in and access a lot of the addon features such as resources, media and more.

I would definitely support a crowd fund if there is interest.

Have you guys ever thought of creating one, perhaps for Xenforo 2.0?

Stop being like Nintendo and come out with a for sure answer

 

[Mike]

the big problem with the others is that you cant be logged in and access a lot of the addon features such as resources, media and more

This is the point of responsive design. It basically makes this a non-issue as the same page serves both. (Of course I'm over simplifying here, but as a general principle.)

Stop being like Nintendo and come out with a for sure answer

I don't think we've ever even implied it. We've always just pointed to responsive design being the ideal approach.

 

[surfsup]

This is the point of responsive design. It basically makes this a non-issue as the same page serves both. (Of course I'm over simplifying here, but as a general principle.)


I don't think we've ever even implied it. We've always just pointed to responsive design being the ideal approach.

I see where you are coming from Mike, but take a look at IGN, Buzzfeed, Facebook and more. The mobile apps are so much more fluid, faster, simple to use and more imo. Even Tapatalk is more faster than responsive but has its own issues at times. Those companies must be doing something right, I have their mobile apps and its so much better than browsing on safari constantly.

I would invest a lot of money to your project if so and I am sure many others would too. Would be a GREAT addon to renew every year, heck Tapatalk is banking off theirs monthly.

 

[Martok]

Facebook and more. The mobile apps are so much more fluid, faster, simple to use and more imo

The Facebook app is a shonky pile of rubbish, the mobile website is better but still not as good as the full website. If only they'd properly integrate the two into a decent responsive design.

Even Tapatalk is more faster than responsive but has its own issues at times

Indeed it does. Security holes, doesn't even support some basic text functions and doesn't support official add-ons.

Responsive design is the way to go, not mobile apps. Sites like Facebook, IGN and so on would be hideous on mobiles and so they have had to create mobile apps to cope. They really need to update their sites to be less cluttered and more modern and incorporate responsive design as part of that. Eurogamer, which did have a mobile app a couple of years ago, have since dropped that because their current website is coded so that you get a nice interface to work with when on mobile.

 

[Alpha1]

Responsive design is great, but it has its limitations.
You can send images and videos to an app straight from your camera or gallery.
Having a button for your website on the phone homescreen does cause people to login to your website more often.
Native PUSH alerts drive a lot more members to your website.
Mobile apps open up a lot of functionality that is unreachable for responsive design. Think about in-app purchases, location services, voice recording, vibration, and then there are a lot of things that addon developers would love to take advantage of.

 

[rafass]

I could be willing to invest / support with money this project.

 

[Daniel Hood]

Have you guys contributed or made your potential support known to @Slavik? Is his project still ongoing?

 

[surfsup]

Have you guys contributed or made your potential support known to @Slavik? Is his project still ongoing?

No, does he currently have a thread up about it?

 

[Mr. Goodie2Shoes]

No, does he currently have a thread up about it?

https://xenforo.com/community/threads/interest-in-a-xenforo-specific-iphone-android-app.90003/

 

[cellarius]

Facebook [...] The mobile apps are so much more fluid, faster, simple to use and more imo.

The Facebook app is a PITA. And not a small one.

 

[Slavik]

The app is still ongoing, though I am reluctant to open up Crowdfunding for it, it may be something that has to be considered simply due to the initial development cost being considerably higher than I envisaged.

 

[Zynektic]

The app is still ongoing, though I am reluctant to open up Crowdfunding for it, it may be something that has to be considered simply due to the initial development cost being considerably higher than I envisaged.

You will definitely get some backers, myself included if you did this as we definitely need an app that works, and works right

 

[RDR]

Would building an app using http://phonegap.com/ be a solution?

 

[RobinHood]

Responsive design is the way to go, not mobile apps.

The availability of an app will become more and more important if ad blockers become prevalent on mobile browsers.

Large sites that rely on advertising revenue to keep the doors open could see a major drop off of impressions and clicks if this happens.

An app potentially provides the best native mobile user experience for the user.
For the admin they gain the ability to serve unblockable ads and provide a better upgrade path to one off payments or subscriptions for those that don't wish to view them.

 

[Dakota Storm]

The availability of an app will become more and more important if ad blockers become prevalent on mobile browsers.

Large sites that rely on advertising revenue to keep the doors open could see a major drop off of impressions and clicks if this happens.

An app potentially provides the best native mobile user experience for the user.
For the admin they gain the ability to serve unblockable ads and provide a better upgrade path to one off payments or subscriptions for those that don't wish to view them.

There's no such thing as an unlockable ad. With the right know how, anyway.

 

[RobinHood]

The average user isn't going to go out of their way to block in app ads if they're not too intrusive.

These upcoming blocking extensions are only for Safari as I understand it. If there's a section of the app store for these Safari extensions or some kind of top downloaded extension list that exposes casual users to web based blockers there's a good chance they could achieve a high install rate even among non-tech savvy users.

 

[TPerry]

Large sites that rely on advertising revenue to keep the doors open could see a major drop off of impressions and clicks if this happens.
An app potentially provides the best native mobile user experience for the user.
For the admin they gain the ability to serve unblockable ads and provide a better upgrade path to one off payments or subscriptions for those that don't wish to view them.

In that case.. paygate it. Dependency upon advertising revenue is an old-school method now and new shifts in thought of revenue generation needs to be found. Even with Apps, you have the ability to block ads on them (jail broke iPhones, etc). And it's not that hard to do.

 

[Karelke]

Responsive design is the way to go, not mobile apps.

Agreed. The web is moving more and more to responsive design.

 

[rwm1962]

Aye, the only mobile app we should need is a browser.

 

[Daniel Hood]

I disagree. Getting push notifications is a huge way to get back to the community. It's a fantastic way to retain new users.