Possible Android Version of the App

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Edgar

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So far, two members have expressed an interest in working on an Android version of our app. Both are talented IP/Systems guys with some Java programming experience, but only very limited app development experience at this time.

I have sent both of them some basic app information so they can evaluate the feasibility of jumping into an Android development project. If either or both of them (or anyone else for that matter) is interested in pursuing this effort, I will organize a project team and provide whatever information and assistance I can to make this a reality.

Just be patient though, because this is not a trivial task.

Edgar
 
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Edgar

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It would be great to have your app on an Android platform. Get going you Droid geeks.

Edgar, is it possible to port this over to a PC or MAC?

It's certainly possible, but again, it's not trivial.

Porting to a Mac would be easier than a PC because most of the API and Frameworks used in iOS are also available for OSX apps and the same SDK is used for both. Still there would be a lot of work to redo touch features to work with mouse or trackball input devices, revise screen layouts for a computer monitor and redo things like scrolling tables that don't really have a computer equivalent.
 

randyrls

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It's certainly possible, but again, it's not trivial.

Porting to a Mac would be easier than a PC because most of the API and Frameworks used in iOS are also available for OSX apps and the same SDK is used for both. Still there would be a lot of work to redo touch features to work with mouse or trackball input devices, revise screen layouts for a computer monitor and redo things like scrolling tables that don't really have a computer equivalent.

I believe it would be easy to create an APP that is browser based. This would allow it to work on any device that supports a web browser.

I have done a bit of web based app development, but I am thinking of getting a new android smartphone and using my old android phone for development purposes.
 
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TonyL

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I have both platforms, but prefer Android. Are the development costs a barrier?
 

Edgar

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The development costs are very minimal - the biggest hurdles are time & knowledge.

Browser based, server app & Android versions are all doable by anyone with enough time & development knowledge or an ability & desire to learn that capability.

This is not a trivial task though. I have 5 years of experience developing iOS apps & a dozen apps on the Apple App Store and it still took me about 400 hours to do the initial development of our app. I have spent at least that much time since on upgrades & enhancements since. Believe it or not, Android development is at least as difficult as iOS (possibly more), and a browser-based app won't be much easier.

Two members are currently looking into alternate platforms, but there are no timetables (or certainty) for any releases at this time.

We welcome anyone else who might want to join the development team and contribute to these efforts. Just send me a pm & we'll go from there.

Edgar
 

Edgar

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Here's a link to the app User Guide that explains all its features & describes the various screen presentations.
http://content.penturners.org/library/general_reference/AppUserGuide.pdf

I'm not familiar with iPadian, so I can't offer any firsthand experience about it. Offhand, though, I doubt if it will be possible to run our app on it, and even if you can, I doubt if the experience will be very satisfying.

For one thing, smart phone apps (and especially this one) are heavily gesture-oriented (taps, swipes, pinch, rotation, etc) which can't be simulated very well in a desktop emulator.

Then there's the issue of even being able to download the app into the iPadian emulator. From what I've read about it, it doesn't appear that it's possible to access the Apple App Store to download apps.

If anyone has any firsthand experience with it (or any other iOS emulator) though, feel free to chime in.
 

Edgar

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Any word on the IAP app for Android?

The short answer is that there is nothing new to report at this time.

Longer answer: A couple of people have stepped up to look into a possible Android version & a couple of others have stepped up to look into a possible web-based version.

However, the basic facts are unchanged: we are an all-volunteer organization, these are NOT trivial tasks and this is rather new ground for all these folks who have other occupations and demands on their time.

All I can say at this time is that there is no timetable for any other platforms nor any guarantee that they will ever happen.

We would like to be able to offer those alternates, and hopefully, that will be possible someday. Sorry, but that's the best that I can report right now.

The bat light is still out for any experienced smartphone developers who might like to join our development team.

Edgar
 
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