Juice said:
Yeah, I want to be mindful that I don't intend to be combative. At worst I'd invite a healthy rivalry between the two; at best I welcome the idea of cooperating.
I want to be clear that I was very intentional of not visiting ckohler's web app a single time once I started on MobileGAF. I didn't want to lift any of his ideas or creativity, and I wanted to know I was taking a fresh stab at a similar problem without a hint of malcontent. As a result, I don't plan to actively check out his webapp now that the cat's out of the bag, for the same reason, even if it means I won't be able to very well articulate the differences between his and mine.
I think you're doing yourself a disservice by not pulling ideas from my web app. You're not going to hurt my feelings if you do and I've already told other people (in PMs) that if they wanted to pull design concepts from my web app to use on mobile skins for their boards or whatever, they can feel free. I don't have a copyright on it or anything.
AndersTheSwede said:
Standalone apps for the web versions of sites makes so sense. That I can tell anyway, perhaps I need to be enlightened.
I have some expertise in this area so here are some definitive advances of both:
Native app advantages:
- Better interface options (fixed toolbars)
- Access to hardware features (camera, photos)
- No server-side processing required
Web app advantages:
- Multiplatform support
- No user installation / updating
- Smaller, faster data transfers
There are probably more for each but that's all I can think of at the moment. For example, a native app could allow someone to select a photo from their library, upload it to tinypic.com and automatically embed the img in a post or reply. Stuff like that. That's something the web app can never do. On the other hand, the native app would need to be re-downloaded anytime neogaf.com updates their site to stay functional while the web app can adjust quickly without user intervention since it's fully hosted, etc.
Firestorm said:
That's not true. I could allow for logging in on the web app. I could add all kinds of features like viewing the online forum, reading/sending PMs, favorited thread, etc. I already know how to make all that work.
I've held off because I'm not easy with the idea of asking for/storing usernames and passwords of other people. If my app were hosted and/or sanctioned by the GAF admins, then it wouldn't be an issue but a third party site asking for your user credentials is sketchy at best and could lead to it being shut down at worst. Hell, to be perfectly honest Juice's app asking for your credentials is also sketchy. Neither of us would ever do anything malicious, I'm certain, but if I were a GAF admin or user, I'm not sure I could trust anyone other than neogaf.com with my credentials.
Anyway, I still am happy to see Juice's pet project make it this far. Now, I'm going to offer some constructive criticism so don't think I'm trying to be an ass, Juice. You've obviously got strong programming skills but your UI/design skills need some work.
For example, the cropped Thread titles when viewing a thread could be done better without having to crop them. Just look how I did them. Also, not only are posts missing their date stamps, user tags and post numbers, but the names aren't even properly aligned with the area. You need to learn to use more consistent spacing. I space everything 10 pixels. It keeps everything neat. The post quotes, which I'm sure you ripped off from me (heh) have a tacky drop shadow circa 1995. Also, in your first screenshot, there's a huge amount of waisted whitespace before at the top of the post. Again, I can't stress enough how important lining elements up is and reducing excess spacing is for a good UI. Lastly, I'm stunned you don't have a fixed toolbar at the bottom of the screen with more data or controls; something a native app can do easily but a web app can not.
