Android / IOS Webpage app

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 18:09:16 +0200

adminsforum@hubzilla.org

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 wrote the following post Mon, 07 Oct 2024 18:09:25 +0200

Android / IOS Webpage app

let's code an android / IOS Webpage app.
There are a couple of options which let us do this without a lot of coding

there is NativeAlphaForAndroid
https://github.com/cylonid/NativeAlphaForAndroid?tab=readme-ov-file

i found this
https://medium.com/@hwchan91/make-your-website-into-an-android-app-without-knowing-any-java-in-under-an-hour-e68967f409b9

and i did with Whoville just this:

Whoville-app-release.apk

but @Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝ has even better ideas

das wird bei den meisten "verwöhnten" Usern durchfallen, weil man nicht an die Hand genommen wird. Man landet im Anmeldebildschirm und weiß dann als völlig Unbeleckter nicht weiter.

Ich würde die App im Prinzip als wirklich reine Web-App, bei der Hubzilla in einer Web-Engine läuft, bauen wollen... wo man auch direkt landet, wenn man denn einen Account hat und eingeloggt ist.

Will man aber mit hubzilla anfangen, würde ich einen "Einstieg" programmieren wollen. Mit einer Auswahl des Hub (als Quelle das pubsites-Verzeichnis) und anschließender Weiterleitung im Web-View auf die register-Seite.

Ansonsten, wenn also ein Account vorhanden ist, direkt zur login-Seite.

show all 12 comments

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:28:08 +0200

Mario Vavti

mario@hub.somaton.com

AFAIK using a decent web browser like e.g. chromite and installing the web app should give you about the same ecperience...

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 20:57:09 +0200

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼

chris@im.allmendenetz.de

@Mario Vavti the result may be just the same yes - but the way how newbees may find their way into the project could make a difference .

It is jut true that most young people are uses to install apps on their phone - they are just to lazy to learn that it could be done on different ways also..

since the coding seams not that complicated and not so much time has to be spent on it such apps would be a benefit after all.

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 21:53:22 +0200

Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝

pepecyb@hub.hubzilla.hu

@Mario Vavti

Yes, I think an app that is more ‘mainstream’ (similar to the - not really good - Mastodon app) could help Hubzilla to become more popular.

The ‘people of today’ want it very simple. It doesn't even occur to them that there is anything other than Mastodon and that's why they think Mastodon is ‘the Fediverse’. If you tell them that there is also Hubzilla in addition to Mastodon (and other services), they don't want to start searching for everything in a browser. They want to install an app that takes them (at least a little) by the hand... otherwise they'd rather use Mastodon because it has an app.

Hubzilla's web view is excellent and really suitable for everyday use. That's why I thought we should create an app that does nothing more than display a web view with the content of the Hub. In other words, a browser without all the bells and whistles. Once you have logged in, you stay logged in (unless you deliberately log out) and land back on your hub the next time you start the app. Nothing really needs to be programmed for this.

But beginners, those interested in installing the app but who do not yet have an account, should find something similar to what they know from the Mastodon app, for example. In other words, the offer to register on a pre-selected hub (randomly selected because there is no ‘reference hub’). However, you should also have the option of choosing a different hub. I would use the list from /pubsites as a source for this, because the hubs that allow registration are listed there. You should then land directly on the registration page (/register). And after completing and creating a channel and profile, they should also land in the HQ or stream. Or they can tap on Log in (if they already have an account), which will take them to the login page of the hub. If an account has been created and you have already logged in once with the app, the app should remember the hub if you log out... so that you don't have to search for and select it again, but can log in directly.

Here are just a few pictures of how I imagine it (modelled on the Mastodon app):

If there is no Android expert here, I would familiarise myself with Android app development and see if and how I could implement this.

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Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:12:32 +0200

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼

chris@im.allmendenetz.de

@Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝ this looks great for a start !!

please @Mario Vavti think about what other icon could be used here

Firefox_Screenshot_2024-10-07T20-09-01.649Z.png

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:23:09 +0200

Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝

pepecyb@hub.hubzilla.hu

@𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼 @Mario Vavti

I think ‘layout-sidebar’ would be most appropriate.

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Mon, 07 Oct 2024 22:57:34 +0200

lotfi

lotfi31@cirtensis.net

Several years ago there was an app based on the same principle. It's called Nomad and I've just seen that it's still on F-droid. If I remember correctly, it also worked for other Zot applications like Zap for example.

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0200

Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝

pepecyb@hub.hubzilla.hu

@lotfi Yes, I even still have it on my smartphone (for sentimental reasons and for testing purposes). But it's really quite outdated.

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Tue, 08 Oct 2024 00:47:32 +0200

Mario Vavti

mario@hub.somaton.com

Thinking of the vulnerabilities of a probably outdated android webview

Browsers are being updated regularily for a reason...

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 01:39:27 +0200

Der Pepe (Hubzilla) ⁂ ⚝

pepecyb@hub.hubzilla.hu

If I were to create an app based on Webview, I would of course also update the app when security updates are made to the Webview.

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Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:44:27 +0200

𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼

chris@im.allmendenetz.de

ideally there would be also a documentation of how updates can be done to the code

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 09:02:53 +0200

Alexander Goeres

jabgoe2089@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@lotfi on my phone nomad was never working correctly.

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 09:11:57 +0200

lotfi

lotfi31@cirtensis.net

@Alexander Goeres
I remember using it a few years ago. It worked fine, but it wasn't any better than a webapp. I also notice that the last update was five years ago.