tapatalk plugin for teh forumz

[v1nsai]

I would imagine that a lot of us geeks at xkcd are iphone and android users who access the forums from our devices. iPhones get an awesome app called 'Forums' that parses vbulletin and phpbb forums flawlessly and renders them for the iPhone, but Android hasn't gotten one yet. There's a program called Tapatalk for both Android and iPhone that renders forums of any format for portable devices, and also allows for things like checking your pm's, seeing who is currently browsing, viewing your posts and your profile and whatnot, but it requires a small server-side plugin to be installed.

Anyway, it'd be really cool if xkcd made this available, maybe I'm not the only one browsing the forums from the android browser with a on my face

[c0smic]

This post is pretty old now, and xkcd forums still don't have the tapatalk plugin installed, searching on tapatalk doesn't reveal anything. Correct me if I'm wrong here. Anyway, just throwing it out there that I'm sure there would be a lot of other people interested in this as well.

[SecondTalon]

but it requires a small server-side plugin to be installed.

Well, there's the problem.

Since the gentleman responsible for installing server-side plugins has remained silent, either he missed this or is uninterested in installing a small server-side plugin.

In all honesty, he probably didn't click the link out of spite due to the horrific spelling. Can't say I blame him. If you can't type a subject line correctly....

[c0smic]

but it requires a small server-side plugin to be installed.

Well, there's the problem.

Since the gentleman responsible for installing server-side plugins has remained silent, either he missed this or is uninterested in installing a small server-side plugin.

In all honesty, he probably didn't click the link out of spite due to the horrific spelling. Can't say I blame him. If you can't type a subject line correctly....

Gotcha, didn't even realize he typed it like that, I was just searching to see if the tapatalk plugin had been mentioned on the forums before.

So perhaps a new thread would be in order here? Just wanted to find out if there would be any other interest in getting this installed if possible.

[SecondTalon]

davean will take a look when he gets a chance and then voice his opinion.

[c0smic]

Sounds good, thanks for taking a look at this, I appreciate it!

[davean]

Yah, when I initially saw that title, I pretty much went "And encourage more people who write like you? I'll be right back with my cane ..." That isn't a very fair reaction perhaps but really? Screwing up your writing to try to be cool? (It doesn't seem to make much sense for the title's writing "mistakes" to have come from another source given the nature of them.)

Server-side code, esp. code that exposes an API has a reasonably high bar to cross and I worry it is likely to have some failings. I'd like a convincing argument that this plugin is worth such a vetting effort. Particularly I expect it will need some enhancement to work with other forum modifications. Some of these are fundamental (history storing related) comparability issues, and others are mostly localized to specific user groups (TeX math support).

While hardly a deep review, a very quick glance at google seems to show a history of security issues with tapatalk. The forums are hardly the most secure software in the world already - and kept separate from other infrastructure for that reason! Still, that isn't an argument for adding yet another level of security issues. If there does seem to be a history of issues or likely to be such issues, I would have to audit the code, or have it audited, before I used it. That is a fairly serious affair and would push up the required perceived utility fairly high.

So: Who would benefit? Why? How much?

[AvatarIII]

i just browse the forums on my android using Opera or Dolphin, and while it can be annoying at times, it's not so annoying that i'd want to risk the forum's security for an easier option.

[Red Hal]

I use tapatalk on my Android and have installed it. Although I have my reservations about the security aspect I haven't found anything overt in my own searches. My issues with it are that it tends to start a lot of sql connections that it can leave hanging - even in the latest incarnation - and over time this can bog down the server if left unchecked, though obviously there are ways to deal with that. It may get better but as things stand I would imagine it would probably need a rewrite to use a persistent connection to be successfully deployed here. Oh and although the server-side is open source and free, the app itself is paid.

[Adacore]

While an android-friendly forum viewing mode would be nice, I don't have any real problems browsing the fora on my phone's regular browser. If there are significant issues with installing such a plugin, I don't personally see the benefits as being worth it.

[AvatarIII]

While an android-friendly forum viewing mode would be nice, I don't have any real problems browsing the fora on my phone's regular browser. If there are significant issues with installing such a plugin, I don't personally see the benefits as being worth it.

do you just use the default browser? i have problems posting using Opera, (sometimes i'll write a post and it will vanish) and Dolphin has some issues with accuracy when trying to click a link close to another link (like differentiating the thread link from the created by link) which opera doesn't have because if it's not sure what you want to press it zooms right in for you at the place you pressed, which is a handy feature.

[Red Hal]

Default browser running on CM7. No issues here.

[v1nsai]

Having a native viewer is really nice with forums, the text is resizable and is wrapped to fit the screen and is overall a lot smoother than using any mobile browser and having to zoom in and out and deal with weird formatting and whatnot.

Ideally a native PHPbb and vbulletin parser is what we really need for android, which is something I've been working on for a while now but haven't had much time for. Any Java devs reading this? I'd be happy to share what I've written if someone else is interested in it. It's something I've been wanting since I got my first Droid.

And the bad spelling was on purpose, I did it hoping to get more attention to this matter, I know I for one click on retarded looking posts just to see if the person really is that dumb O:-)

[Azrael]

And the bad spelling was on purpose, I did it hoping to get more attention to this matter, I know I for one click on retarded looking posts just to see if the person really is that dumb O:-)

In that case: We all sorta hate you forever. We are more than capable of dealing with you in a forthright manner, and request the same.

[v1nsai]

And the bad spelling was on purpose, I did it hoping to get more attention to this matter, I know I for one click on retarded looking posts just to see if the person really is that dumb O:-)

In that case: We all sorta hate you forever. We are more than capable of dealing with you in a forthright manner, and request the same.

Yea I can see that, my bad wasn't trying to be an ass. I hope this won't completely sidetrack getting tapatalk set up though because it is still a topic worth considering.

I'm also going to set up a Google code account once I can get to my desktop and upload the source for my forum parser. I'm a self taught programmer so I might be doing things badwrong but I'll try to keep it clear. Once I get settled in with all my new classes I should have time to set it all up. Anyone interested in helping send a pm I'll add you to the project. I'll post links once I get it all going.

[Red Hal]

Have you considered something like BBfoc?

[v1nsai]

bbfoc would be terrific if it worked. Hasn't been updated in a long time and dev doesn't respond to emails. I wish they'd at least open source it they have a good start but no dice.

[davean]

I'm closing this as not having nearly enough support given how I view the negatives.