Suggestion App for ScubaBoard

[ScottishTapWater]

It would be great if there was an app for this forum (if there isn't already, I couldn't find one).

If there's an open API I could use, I'd happily make a free one if people were interested.

 

[Allen-1]

Unless logged in I never even look at the site on my phone. The ads are more invasive than a hungry parrotfish in a cloud of DSD puke. I would also never download an app though.

I suspect that it's your preferences setting(s).

 

[ScottishTapWater]

Unless logged in I never even look at the site on my phone. The ads are more invasive than a hungry parrotfish in a cloud of DSD puke. I would also never download an app though.

I block ads network wide so must say I have no idea how bad it is on mobile

 

[ScottishTapWater]

If you want notifications on a certain thread, etc., set up email notifications in the “watch” tool.

I don’t want my emails clogged up with notifications. That’s what notifications are for.

 

[Rilelen]

I’d use an app; I don’t care for the mobile interface and rarely navigate to it on my phone. My guess is that younger demographics (which are underrepresented on scubaboard) are also more likely to use an app.

 

[ScottishTapWater]

I’d use an app; I don’t care for the mobile interface and rarely navigate to it on my phone. My guess is that younger demographics (which are underrepresented on scubaboard) are also more likely to use an app.

Aye, that’d make sense, I’m in my twenties so would definitely come under “younger demographics”

 

[Lorenzoid]

Now that someone brought up the user demographics issue, as one of the old guard in the computing realm (BS comp sci 1985) I'll say I only visit SB or other such discussion forums on my phone very occasionally, mostly when traveling. Other than that, I use a computer with a full keyboard and screen that are easy for my fat fingers and old eyes. I like apps, just not for having long discussions of the type that the forum format is so conducive to.

 

[Brett Hatch]

ScubaBoard is built on top of XenForo, currently version 2.3.3. Skimming the official XenForo forum, it looks like there was a project called Hell-Desk in 2022 to build an iOS and Android app for viewing XenForo forums. As of a 2024 post in that thread, the project appears to have gone dead, although they still offer a free trial on their website. But it is unclear from my 5 minutes of investigation whether the paid product is complete or worthwhile

If anybody on here knows of a viable path forward on this, I betcha the owner of ScubaBoard, @The Chairman, would be willing to at least hear you out. But if the ask is, "hey, can y'all please hire a team of software engineers to go off and build a mobile app for this?", the conversation might be a short one. I work on software for a living, and let me tell ya, app development ain't fast, and it ain't cheap either

 

[ScottishTapWater]

ScubaBoard is built on top of XenForo, currently version 2.3.3. Skimming the official XenForo forum, it looks like there was a project called Hell-Desk in 2022 to build an iOS and Android app for viewing XenForo forums. As of a 2024 post in that thread, the project appears to have gone dead, although they still offer a free trial on their website. But it is unclear from my 5 minutes of investigation whether the paid product is complete or worthwhile

If anybody on here knows of a viable path forward on this, I betcha the owner of ScubaBoard, @The Chairman, would be willing to at least hear you out. But if the ask is, "hey, can y'all please hire a team of software engineers to go off and build a mobile app for this?", the conversation might be a short one. I work on software for a living, and let me tell ya, app development ain't fast, and it ain't cheap either

I’ll have a dig and see if there’s any easy way to pull data from XenForo. If there’s a viable way forward and the owner was fine with it, I don’t see why a few interested people (myself included) couldn’t build an open source one.

I’m not suggesting they hire anyone, I doubt this site makes much money.

 

[ScottishTapWater]

Xenforo does seem to have an API that would make pulling an app together a reasonably simple affair.

REST API | Developer Documentation | XenForo

Developer documentation for XenForo

xenforo.com

I've messaged @The Chairman about getting an API key so I can get permission, and assess the feasibility of this more thoroughly.

 

[dlofting]

Haven't been in software development for a number of years, but ongoing maintenance used to be an issue.

Would building the app include a commitment to keep it current, or is that sort of thing no longer a problem?