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Why no mobile app?
- Thread starter 408Rider
- Start date
kelsodeez
2wheels good 4wheels bad
barf is already good for a forum on a mobile browser. my main complaint is the page numbers to a thread is dangerously close to the "unsubscribe" button, and then its a big PITA to find the thread again.
rodr
Well-known member
You need to kill the browser process. With Android you can do that with the Task Manager app... dunno about iphone.
rodr
Well-known member
deathbug74
owns 99
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2007
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- california's navel
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- ex500 (mine), ex250 (hers), gs500f (project)
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How do you increase the tiny font size?
i zoom in.
(two fingers on the screen, and spread them apart...kind of like a pinching motion in reverse).
rodr
Well-known member
Sure, just hoping for something better. As it is, standard mode on my phone works better for me. Lots of zooming in and scrolling around, but all the features are available.
boney
Miles > Posts
Sorry to resurrect an old thread. Well, actually not so sorry. I'm just curious about some stuff and thought I'd throw some thoughts out there.
It seems like there's a reason that's not being openly discussed as to why tapatalk is not available for BARF. I say this only because it's advantages for users appear to be much greater than the possible disadvantages for the Forum. That is, I don't understand the "we have a mobile site" and "it's run by volunteers and we don't hit you up for money" comments that were raised earlier. Not that I feel I'm owed an explanation, and ya'll can tell me to go pound sand (like you usually do
arty) but I'm confounded that the powers that be wouldn't be interested in something like tapatalk that has from what I can tell, far greater benefits to BARF than what I see as the downsides. Maybe I'm missing something?
Things like these make it attractive to me: attaching pictures to posts from either the camera files or phone. Thumbnail picture views in posts instead of links that open new browser windows. A "slideshow" of all the pictures on each page- so they can be scrolled through. Ease of navigation. No pinching, double-tapping, crazy scrolling, zooming and hunting for the post button once I've typed something into the text box. Some of us are getting kinda old and the small screen of our phones aren't so good for much more than a quick peek anyway... and the current mobile site and the way the standard site display on a small phone is, well, less than useful in my opinion.
The draw backs? I dunno, I've looked at the Tapatalk website and don't see anything there that would deter me from installing it on a forum that I ran (if I ran a forum.) It's free and the directions are straightforward and easy. I mean, even I understand how to do it from the instructions provided and I'm pretty lame when it comes to code and stuff.
Doesn't show ads? Neither does the current mobile.
Additional required server space by making easy for those on the go to post attachments? Sure. But by how much? I couldn't find info about editing file sizes before they were attached. But they must be, since there's limits to the forum software anyway.
Additionally, there are a few people around here who could benefit from the ability to post on the run. Flying Hun, Banjoboy, Woodschick and a host of others who do multi-day rides (including me) could possibly keep an ongoing log from the road that doesn't require a computer or tablet, an off site photo storage account and the patience to click, cut, paste, scroll, tap, and switch browser windows to post one picture with a comment.
Or maybe we just can't be trusted with such ability?
It seems like there's a reason that's not being openly discussed as to why tapatalk is not available for BARF. I say this only because it's advantages for users appear to be much greater than the possible disadvantages for the Forum. That is, I don't understand the "we have a mobile site" and "it's run by volunteers and we don't hit you up for money" comments that were raised earlier. Not that I feel I'm owed an explanation, and ya'll can tell me to go pound sand (like you usually do
arty) but I'm confounded that the powers that be wouldn't be interested in something like tapatalk that has from what I can tell, far greater benefits to BARF than what I see as the downsides. Maybe I'm missing something?Things like these make it attractive to me: attaching pictures to posts from either the camera files or phone. Thumbnail picture views in posts instead of links that open new browser windows. A "slideshow" of all the pictures on each page- so they can be scrolled through. Ease of navigation. No pinching, double-tapping, crazy scrolling, zooming and hunting for the post button once I've typed something into the text box. Some of us are getting kinda old and the small screen of our phones aren't so good for much more than a quick peek anyway... and the current mobile site and the way the standard site display on a small phone is, well, less than useful in my opinion.
The draw backs? I dunno, I've looked at the Tapatalk website and don't see anything there that would deter me from installing it on a forum that I ran (if I ran a forum.) It's free and the directions are straightforward and easy. I mean, even I understand how to do it from the instructions provided and I'm pretty lame when it comes to code and stuff.
Doesn't show ads? Neither does the current mobile.
Additional required server space by making easy for those on the go to post attachments? Sure. But by how much? I couldn't find info about editing file sizes before they were attached. But they must be, since there's limits to the forum software anyway.
Additionally, there are a few people around here who could benefit from the ability to post on the run. Flying Hun, Banjoboy, Woodschick and a host of others who do multi-day rides (including me) could possibly keep an ongoing log from the road that doesn't require a computer or tablet, an off site photo storage account and the patience to click, cut, paste, scroll, tap, and switch browser windows to post one picture with a comment.
Or maybe we just can't be trusted with such ability?
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The only draw back is probably me and the volunteer nature of how this site works.
I already work 65 hrs a week on my real job and I am not all savvy when it comes to computer stuff.
So we rely on a few volunteers to make anything happen here technology wise. Add in the fact that I don't do this for a living so I keep barf the way I want to see it vs. Collecting coin at the cost of more adbertising noise and there ya go. Slow to change..
I saw a barf app pop up on a friends droid last week. I had nothing to do with it and not enough time to look into it. It is my bad boney.
Pure and simple. I love teh barf, but I have to run my real biz first.
I already work 65 hrs a week on my real job and I am not all savvy when it comes to computer stuff.
So we rely on a few volunteers to make anything happen here technology wise. Add in the fact that I don't do this for a living so I keep barf the way I want to see it vs. Collecting coin at the cost of more adbertising noise and there ya go. Slow to change..
I saw a barf app pop up on a friends droid last week. I had nothing to do with it and not enough time to look into it. It is my bad boney.
Pure and simple. I love teh barf, but I have to run my real biz first.
jafo
I act my shoe size
tired of every forum i go to on a mobile device having a pop up telling me they have a friggen app
barf is fine as is where is
barf is fine as is where is
rodr
Well-known member
I use Tapatalk on my Android phone with the advrider site. But it's got some bugs and is only marginally better than using the web browser. Plus I almost never post with the phone 'cause typing is such a pain anyway. So for me, not a big deal.
boney
Miles > Posts
It's super easy to stop that from happening. There's even directions on the installation site.
JackTheTripper
Shotline For Mod
Another thing I thought of is the security aspect. Tapatalk is some company that wants to that YOUR user name and password and use it to log you into BARF (or some other site). How is this done? Do they have access to the user/pass? Do the store the user/pass? Do they store pics you upload? If your user/pass get's stolen because of using the app is BARF liable?
The fact is BARF works just fine on smart phones. The one exception would be posting pics from an iPhone which is an issue with the iPhone, not BARF.
The fact is BARF works just fine on smart phones. The one exception would be posting pics from an iPhone which is an issue with the iPhone, not BARF.
Dude, we're on version 3.8.2 here. Are we really going to use security as a reason. Really?
I agree. However, with all of the geeks on here we could work together to make things better.
The .css could be changed out or modified to better accommodate a mobile device without the archaic mobile theme we have now. BARF mobile was great when the only game in town was a Blackberry. We can find a middle ground now that a solid majority of people are using webkit based mobile browsers. Or simply keep the existing BARF mobile theme and add a new third option.
And if the community can't find the time to volunteer toward that kind of effort, then I'm sure the community can put $199 together for the vBulletin Mobile Suite.
JackTheTripper
Shotline For Mod
Dude, we're on version 3.8.2 here. Are we really going to use security as a reason. Really?
Yes Really! The future is all about security. I don't care if it's on version 27.53.burgundy. All I'm saying is personally I wouldn't just install something without getting those questions answered first which takes some research bud and others don't have time for. See, I just learned something about it I didn't know.
The skin that VB Mobile Suite uses kinda sucks.Dude, we're on version 3.8.2 here. Are we really going to use security as a reason. Really?
I agree. However, with all of the geeks on here we could work together to make things better.
The .css could be changed out or modified to better accommodate a mobile device without the archaic mobile theme we have now. BARF mobile was great when the only game in town was a Blackberry. We can find a middle ground now that a solid majority of people are using webkit based mobile browsers. Or simply keep the existing BARF mobile theme and add a new third option.
And if the community can't find the time to volunteer toward that kind of effort, then I'm sure the community can put $199 together for the vBulletin Mobile Suite.
I use Lightweight Mobile Style on the VB forum I run, and it works pretty well.
I personally don't like the look/feel of Tapatalk
Point missed completely. 3.8.2 is a full version(and licensing scheme :|) behind the current release. There have been several maintenance and security patches released in the 3.8 line that have not been applied here. If you want to lean on security as a reasoning for stalled features development, maintain your base platform to a recent iteration. Any other reason is reasonable to me, but skip the lip service you're giving to security.
As far as Tapatalk goes, I'm not a big fan of needing yet another app on a mobile device just to view a web forum. The browser should be able to handle it with no problems or issues. I'm sure some of the need for this app is directly related to iOs/Safari deficiencies in functionality. So I'm in the "no on Tapatalk" camp.
And while my exposure to Tapatalk is admittedly minimal, from the 5 minutes I looked into it I don't believe forum credentials are funnelled through them at all.
I looked at that a while back too and I think it would be a great fit for BARF.
JackTheTripper
Shotline For Mod
I misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you meant tapatalk is at 3.8.2.
I am not in charge of vBulletin updates so I can't speak to that. I also don't speak for Bud by saying the reason we don't use tapatalk is because of security. I was merely saying in my opinion bringing a third party into the mix would make me nervous without knowing more about it. But ultimately it's not up to me.
As you pointed out we are already behind on updates. In my opinion we should focus on things like that before making things even more complicated by bringing something like TT into the mix.
I am not in charge of vBulletin updates so I can't speak to that. I also don't speak for Bud by saying the reason we don't use tapatalk is because of security. I was merely saying in my opinion bringing a third party into the mix would make me nervous without knowing more about it. But ultimately it's not up to me.
As you pointed out we are already behind on updates. In my opinion we should focus on things like that before making things even more complicated by bringing something like TT into the mix.
+1
Agreed. I'm sure that there are plenty of volunteers (myself included) on here that have the skills to help make things like this happen. It up to the admin/mod core to take the lead on it.