Will you be happy to use SW on a mobile browser, if we made these adjustments to help it function more similar to an app? 馃摫
Hi Similar Worlds,
We have a suggestion for a 馃摫 Mobile App 馃摫 and we need your opinion/feedback about it.
Yesterday, we asked you what do you seek the most in a Similar Worlds Mobile App.
If you want to see the Poll:
https://similarworlds.com/25-Similar-Worlds/784267-What-do-you-seek-the-most-in-a-Similar-Worlds-App
The most voted answers were:
[b]Live Updating Chat Messages[/b]
[b]Instant/Push Notifications[/b]
[b]Better Performance (Faster)[/b]
We appreciate very much your feedback to us, and we want to ensure we provide you with the best we can.
Please note, however, that creating a Mobile App does not automatically bring these features/benefits to our users.
Although "Instant/Push Notifications" could be better supported by a mobile app, "Live Updating Chat Messages" is not a feature that is only possible on apps. We would still need to develop it, and we can do that on the website/browser. It wouldn't necessarily make any difference on the app, except for the Push Notifications (which is independent of the Live Updating Chat feature).
As for "Better Performance (Faster)", we can't see how Similar Worlds is slow, except when network is slow. Mobile apps may seem a bit faster in the way that they show old/cached contents before they refresh with new contents, while a website will show a blank page until the very first page is loaded. Otherwise, an app would likely perform as fast as a browser - but it mostly depends on the implementation. An app does not automatically mean it will perform better.
Unfortunately, we have a few reasons that are delaying us so much in making a mobile app:
1) Our workload will increase a lot, as we will have to maintain independent apps for different platforms, such as Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, and numerous versions of those systems and devices.
2) We will have to re-implement parts of our website, as we have to adapt to the Terms of Services of each platform. As a small example, we are not allowed to use PayPal in our VIP payments on Android applications, we would have to use the Google In-app Payment system.
3) There may be other disadvantages to our users when using a mobile app versus using the browser. For example, you can't open links/posts in "new tabs", bookmark SW pages, etc.
4) From our past experience, and from using other apps, many times users can get crashes for reasons that have nothing to do with the app that crashed. That can decrease the level of user experience, while a Browser is developed by a huge team and is already very stable.
[c=#BF0000][big]Will you be happy to use SW on a mobile browser, if we made these adjustments to help it function more similar to an app? 馃摫[/big][/c]
This would be a normal application that would be downloaded from Google Play / App Store, but instead of Similar Worlds showing in a native/webview app, it would open SW in your default browser.
At the same time, it would support:
馃敂 [b]Push Notifications[/b] directly on your phone, even if your browser is not running
馃摬 [b]SW Icon on your App Drawer[/b] and (optionally) on your Homescreen
馃こ Directly Upload a Photo from your phone [b]Gallery to your SW albums[/b]
馃挰 [b]Share links/contents[/b] from other applications to SW
[big]Would the above replace the need of a full/native Mobile App for you?[/big]
[c=#BF0000][b]If the features above are supported, is there any other problem with using Similar Worlds on the browser?[/b][/c]
Please let us know in the comments below.
Thank you very much,
[c=#005E2F][i]- The SW Team[/i][/c]
We have a suggestion for a 馃摫 Mobile App 馃摫 and we need your opinion/feedback about it.
Yesterday, we asked you what do you seek the most in a Similar Worlds Mobile App.
If you want to see the Poll:
https://similarworlds.com/25-Similar-Worlds/784267-What-do-you-seek-the-most-in-a-Similar-Worlds-App
The most voted answers were:
[b]Live Updating Chat Messages[/b]
[b]Instant/Push Notifications[/b]
[b]Better Performance (Faster)[/b]
We appreciate very much your feedback to us, and we want to ensure we provide you with the best we can.
Please note, however, that creating a Mobile App does not automatically bring these features/benefits to our users.
Although "Instant/Push Notifications" could be better supported by a mobile app, "Live Updating Chat Messages" is not a feature that is only possible on apps. We would still need to develop it, and we can do that on the website/browser. It wouldn't necessarily make any difference on the app, except for the Push Notifications (which is independent of the Live Updating Chat feature).
As for "Better Performance (Faster)", we can't see how Similar Worlds is slow, except when network is slow. Mobile apps may seem a bit faster in the way that they show old/cached contents before they refresh with new contents, while a website will show a blank page until the very first page is loaded. Otherwise, an app would likely perform as fast as a browser - but it mostly depends on the implementation. An app does not automatically mean it will perform better.
Unfortunately, we have a few reasons that are delaying us so much in making a mobile app:
1) Our workload will increase a lot, as we will have to maintain independent apps for different platforms, such as Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, and numerous versions of those systems and devices.
2) We will have to re-implement parts of our website, as we have to adapt to the Terms of Services of each platform. As a small example, we are not allowed to use PayPal in our VIP payments on Android applications, we would have to use the Google In-app Payment system.
3) There may be other disadvantages to our users when using a mobile app versus using the browser. For example, you can't open links/posts in "new tabs", bookmark SW pages, etc.
4) From our past experience, and from using other apps, many times users can get crashes for reasons that have nothing to do with the app that crashed. That can decrease the level of user experience, while a Browser is developed by a huge team and is already very stable.
[c=#BF0000][big]Will you be happy to use SW on a mobile browser, if we made these adjustments to help it function more similar to an app? 馃摫[/big][/c]
This would be a normal application that would be downloaded from Google Play / App Store, but instead of Similar Worlds showing in a native/webview app, it would open SW in your default browser.
At the same time, it would support:
馃敂 [b]Push Notifications[/b] directly on your phone, even if your browser is not running
馃摬 [b]SW Icon on your App Drawer[/b] and (optionally) on your Homescreen
馃こ Directly Upload a Photo from your phone [b]Gallery to your SW albums[/b]
馃挰 [b]Share links/contents[/b] from other applications to SW
[big]Would the above replace the need of a full/native Mobile App for you?[/big]
[c=#BF0000][b]If the features above are supported, is there any other problem with using Similar Worlds on the browser?[/b][/c]
Please let us know in the comments below.
Thank you very much,
[c=#005E2F][i]- The SW Team[/i][/c]
