Mobile Version of the Site

[Elsa]

Okay, I had a look and the only thing that I could find related to this was this thread which did talk about an App. Mostly what I'm after is a mobile-friendly version of the website for people on smartphones for the near future as something as complex as an app would take a low priority/far future status.

Barring that as it is fairly low priority, I believe that some members of the website use a client of some sort to view the boards and it would be a good idea if those people could share what they are and what operating system they work on so that we have a comprehensive list for people who don't know what to look for.

[Meth Quokka]

iPhone 5 with Safari works fine for me.

[Elsa]

Not very helpful for those of us with Android systems though.

[The Incredible John]

I use an android phone when I'm browsing on here.
I can't really post on the IC's because the screen is too small to post anything long but other than that, it works fine for me.

[CJayxo]

An app would still be good for those that don't have unlimited internet usage while out and about though. Apps are good because they use a fraction of the usage that using a full phone browser would. On top of that i would be easier and simpler to navigate with a mobile app version of the forum imo. :)

[The Imagination]

Kangaroo said
iPhone 5 with Safari works fine for me.

Same here, I think mine is the iPhone 4 though, don't quite remember. Either way its my only access to the internet, and miraculously i've adapted with it enough to be an active member and pump out pretty long IC posts to a degree.

[Elsa]

CJayxo said
An app would still be good for those that don't have unlimited internet usage while out and about though. Apps are good because they use a fraction of the usage that using a full phone browser would. On top of that i would be easier and simpler to navigate with a mobile app version of the forum imo. :)

^

[The Imagination]

Elsa said
^

Yes, I too agree with this. Apps are nice.

[TheDookieNut]

Apps are also expensive..

I've been using a mobile version since it started. To be honest, I'm facing no problems. A simple zoom and things are fine.

[TheDookieNut]

CJayxo said
An app would still be good for those that don't have unlimited internet usage while out and about though. Apps are good because they use a fraction of the usage that using a full phone browser would. On top of that i would be easier and simpler to navigate with a mobile app version of the forum imo. :)

Apps are more inclined to using a LOT more data. Push notifications, running in the back ground. I get 250mb of data a month and have never exceeded. Try turning your data off when you don't use it. That's always an option

[Captain Jordan]

TheDookieNut said
Apps are more inclined to using a LOT more data. Push notifications, running in the back ground. I get 250mb of data a month and have never exceeded. Try turning your data off when you don't use it. That's always an option

Depends on how push notifications are coded. On Android, if they're sent through Google Cloud Messaging, they don't incur any real data cost until actual data is being sent by the app server. I believe iOS has a similar method for push notifications as well. Obviously, if you're doing home-grown push notifications from the server without any OS-level assistance, yes, you're going to have massive data spikes.

Running in the background, however, doesn't cost data. Only memory, which isn't something phone users are charged for on a monthly basis.

[TheDookieNut]

Actually data is used. Take Facebook for example:
That now refreshs and updates in the background, as in when minimized not closed.

On another note, I've used 15mb on this site so I don't think using 3G/4G is an issue for the site, as loveable as a mobile version would be, the site is usable at the moment. Perhaps for andriod users, trying a different internet browser

[Captain Jordan]

TheDookieNut said
Actually data is used. Take Facebook for example:That now refreshs and updates in the background, as in when minimized not closed. On another note, I've used 15mb on this site so I don't think using 3G/4G is an issue for the site, as loveable as a mobile version would be, the site is usable at the moment. Perhaps for andriod users, trying a different internet browser

There's no dispute that actual data is used.

However, my point is that apps which take advantage of Google Cloud Messaging (so, in other words, not Facebook) can get their notifications pushed along with Gmail and other Google app notifications. Because Google owns the front-end (Android) and back-end (GCM), they can do this more efficiently than an ad-hoc push server, like Facebook's, which saves the user data and battery power. Apple's iOS has a similar method as well.

This means that, with GCM, push notifications are virtually free if the user is also getting Gmail, Hangout, Calendar or other Google notifications anyway. The iOS version should work similarly, basically only establishing a data connection when there is content to push, not just regularly checking in and wasting data.