Member Avatar for Mya:)

Hi Guys, and Dani.

How about a mobile app of the site? Not an app that just opens the real website - those are just a waste of time. I'm talking about something like the facebook app? It updates every few minutes and you still have direct contact with the other users, it's just through a mobile.

And what do my fellow users think? Would you use it?

Just a suggestion :)

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Dani AI

Generated

A pragmatic, low-effort route to a true mobile experience is to treat the forum like a modern web app and progressively enhance it. That keeps maintenance light, avoids separate native code for iOS and Android, and fits a volunteer-driven project. Given the discussion in this thread (notably , , and ), a small, focused prototype is the best next step rather than a full native rewrite.

A concise, practical roadmap:

  • Decide a minimal feature set (read threads, post, lightweight notifications, basic messaging) and lock it down for v1.
  • Build a responsive front-end that prioritizes speed and low data use (touch-sized controls, simplified DOM).
  • Add an offline cache and background-sync with a service worker so reads and queued posts work on flaky connections.
  • Use token-based authentication for mobile clients to avoid fragile cookie flows.
  • Plan push notifications but confirm current platform support before relying on them; packaging for stores (Capacitor/Cordova) can come later if distribution is needed.
  • Break work into very small issues (UI polish, SW, auth, packaging) so volunteers can pick short tasks.

A tiny starter snippet to register a service worker:

if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
  navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js').catch(function(err){
    console.error('SW registration failed:', err);
  });
}

Notes and cautions: keep privacy and moderation controls front and center (background sync and push increase surface area for spam and notifications), and factor rate limits into polling/real-time strategies. A single public repo with tiny, well-documented tasks (design, testing, docs as well as code) will produce the most progress from a small community effort.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Dani

Anyone can use our API and write a mobile version of DaniWeb. There was an iOS version in the works awhile back but it seems to have fallen off the radar. Someone mentioned an Android app sometime fairly recently, but I'm not sure of the status of that.

Member Avatar for happygeek

Plenty of us would love a mobile app (something that makes DaniWeb usable on Android would be very cool) but as Dani says, someone has to want it enough to actually code it. AIUI the numbers just are not there from the device access perspective to make it a priority (or even just make it for that matter) on the in-house todo list.

Member Avatar for pritaeas

If you just want to watch new articles then my API test is an option:

Login there and then open DwArticleWatch. Am open to suggestions, but a little short on time lately.

Member Avatar for Mya:)

Thanks pritaeas! Will definitely check it out! And I agree with happygeek that a mobile app would be great. I would code if if i actualy knew how :D haha.

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