I was wondering if there was an API for the new site software.
I’m working with TouchDevelop and there are some APIs for interacting with social media that may make a simple Android, iOS or Windows Phone app possible.
There isn’t at the moment - not for any particular reason, just that we’re a long way from being in any way a mature solution, so it’s not on the radar right now.
We’ve got an iOS app out there, and need to focus a little more to get our Android version out - but neither of them has been put together with a focus on the forum, so we’ll probably need to spend some time finding ways to strengthen our app-based offerings.
When we do, it’d be great to have some initial advice, so I’ll try and bear in mind that you work in that field…
I mostly dabble in development…TouchDevelop is a web IDE that allows exports to IOS and Android…which is why I asked. Still…feel free to ping me…
My recent (very bad) experiences with PhoneGap are ringing alarm bells. Is this product anything like that?
Hwyl,
Stu
Not sure Stu…I’ll take a look and let you know…
I think ideally we’d want to get to the point where we have stuff written natively and people on board who can deal with support/development - we’re probably not a great fit for export tools, since we need a fair bit more functionality than standard page construction - but when we get a bit of time to focus on that side of things, I’ll certainly remember that you have a professional interest…
TouchDevelop is a Microsoft initiative to create a programming language and IDE that is accessible on touchscreen devices from smartphones to tablet PCs, as well as working on more conventional machines. It is partly an educational tool, but also intended as a semi-serious development environment for creating simple HTML5-based mobile apps (i.e. browser-based rather than native code apps).
It’s interesting to play with, though slightly painful to those of us who are used to more conventional keyboard-based coding. Whether you could create a full-blown integrated language-learning app/forum portal, I’m not sure. But then maybe I’m not clever enough to see the full potential of the platform. I’m a bit concerned that the system uses cloud-based apis, which may restrict it’s functionality off-line: We’re not all 4Ged up. Indeed, much of rural Wales is lucky to receive anything even approaching a reliable 3G signal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TouchDevelop
https://www.touchdevelop.com/