Subj : topics.. let's hear your ideas. To : Nil Alexandrov From : August Abolins Date : Thu Apr 04 2019 01:45 am Hello Nil! NA> Aftershock is the Android only app and is not free. HotdogEd on the NA> other hand has more features and is totally free for FTN usage (there NA> is a paid NNTP module). That being said, none of these apps are NA> available for iOS means iPhone and iPad. Regarding Aftershock, can you blame a resourceful programmer to fetch "something" for the effort? People have the choice to vote with their wallet. Regarding HotdogEd, how long has it been out? The author's site only seems to document version 2.12 from 2016 as the earliest. 2 progs are certainly better than none at this juncture. ;) Doesn't android have a bigger demographic/userbase than iOS? Regarding no apps available for iOS, maybe development for that is more complicated? Maybe the right person needs to have the time and the fire to tackle the project. NA> Also, I would like to stress NA> out that both of them are written by tech folks, software engineers NA> with no dedicated UI design person on the team. It makes the app way NA> less approachable to just regular users and not geeks. Ya.. right out of the gate, programs/apps can be quite "ordinary". In time and with user input, the UI can be improved. The HotdogEd author seems to do a very faithful job in providing the documentation and installation steps. A community of users can help each other too. AA>> Personnally, I don't see the practicality of this communication on AA>> small smartphone screens. I considered trying Aftershock on my AA>> Blackberry Z10 but then backed off. Typing messages on that thing AA>> would be nuts. NA> It's hard to find a smartphone with the screen size smaller than 5" and ne NA> models are above 6". iPads and tablets are used for comfortable web NA> surfing and definitely exceed the typical Fidonet 80x25 textmode messages NA> browsing. Noted! The trend *has* been larger screens for the handheld devices. I tried a simple newsgroup reader on my iPod several years ago and wondered "how is this even practical?" The iPod 2nd, 3rd and even 4th Gen screen is way too small for frequent message editing. But.. the tablets (even with external keyboards) can be quite workable. AA>> The syncing part sounds interesting. Maybe you could achieve a modest AA>> solution with a point installation on a portable thumbdrive? NA> The synchronization feature was actually asked by many users here in R50 NA> but the design is an open question. Sync seems to be promoted heavily in other applications like Mozilla (bookmarks, history, tabs, passwords) across all of the devices you might use. I wouldn't be surprised if a sync solution for fidonet emerged out of the resourceful folks in R50 or its neighbors. Regards, ../|ug --- OpenXP 5.0.36 * Origin: /|ug's Point, ONT, CANADA (2:221/1.58) .