Mobile PbP App

[Oladon]

It has recently come to my attention that Wayfinder, the app some of you use to post from your mobile computing devices, has become defunct. (Not being a believer in mobile computing devices, I would not have known but for one of you lamenting the fact to me.)

Most of you probably know about my browser extension, which helps make PbP a smoother experience on the desktop. I'm wondering how much interest there would be in a mobile (iOS/Android) app that combined some of the features of my extension with some layout options like those I see in the Wayfinder screenshots.

If there would be enough demand for something like this, I might be able to find time to take a crack at it. Thoughts?

[John Woodford]

Wayfinder still works for me, at least so far. I'd definitely be interested in a replacement mobile app once/if WF goes down for good.

[Lady Ladile]

Yes please yes please yes please.

Did I mention yes, very yes?

Wayfinder quit working for me around summer of last year when the forums/website underwent an upgrade. It worked fine as long as I stayed logged in, but once I logged out, I never could log back in with it again.

So I would definitely be interested in seeing a new mobile PbP app.

[flykiller]

I would be very happy about a Wayfinder fix/replacement for Android. If the app would also notify me of new posts in my campaigns, it would be just perfect.

[GM Giuseppe]

It would be great!

[Oladon]

What are the features you all like(d) the most, and what was missing?

flykiller mentioned being notified of new posts — what else?

[John Woodford]

Being able to follow links in the header to maps, and access to private messages if that's not too hard.

[Lady Ladile]

I really appreciated the auto-format buttons; trying to manually format the bold, italics, etc. on a mobile device is extremely annoying in my opinion. Being notified of new posts was also great.

I'll echo John Woodford's request for working map links. One thing that was missing/off was that the addition of map links (Roll20, Google Maps, etc.) and stuff on the Campaign tab sometimes seemed to bork Wayfinder to where it wouldn't let you pull up a particular campaign's threads.

[GM Giuseppe]

It would be great to have an area where you can copy your usual posting templates to, thus facilitating to copy/paste your favorite codes for posts.

[flykiller]

I already don't remember if Wayfinder did this or not, but the ability to persistently store draft posts separately for each thread would be nice. As well as setting a default alias for each campaign.

[Oladon]

Default alias per campaign is standard as part of my extension, all of which would be included in this theoretical app.

Saving drafts is a great idea. Guiseppe, by "usual posting templates", do you mean things like dice sets, or full post templates? I'm not sure I like the idea of making it easier to have all one's posts be alike, but I'm not certain that's what you meant.

[John Woodford]

Default alias per campaign is also in the current version of WF.

[Feral]

I have an iPhone so I never got to use the wayfinder app myself but everyone I know that did swore by it. I'd love to have a dedicated PBP app for mobile posting.

[Swordwhale]

That would be really nice, as most of my post are coming from mobile, because I travel a lot of time with the train from/to home/office/university.
I use Windows Phone 8 so would be very happy for a porting to that devide too^^

[Brandon Dellmen]

is there anything like Wayfinder for the IOS?

[Feral]

Nope. A few of the bigger names in the PBP community have posted guides to make mobile posting less painless (usually involving IOS keyboard shortcuts) but a dedicated app would be pretty damn sweet.

Everyone interested should get the word out and direct them to post such here.

[Oladon]

Feral wrote:

Everyone interested should get the word out and direct them to post such here.

What he said. If this is a project that a lot of people in the community would find valuable, I'm pretty interested in developing it.

I'd estimate that a first pass with most of the features we've mentioned here would take 15-20 hours of work. I'm excited about the project, but I do have a full-time job as well as home responsibilities. In order for me to justify the time this project really deserves, prioritize it among the other projects I'm working on, and continue to update & support it after the initial release, it's going to need to at least partially pay for itself.

As I mentioned in the thread about my Paizo (desktop browser) extension, I have a Patreon account where fans of my work can toss a few dollars a month my way to help fund these little projects. What would those of you who've spoken up in this thread prefer: that I play it by ear and spend what time I'm able to on this project based on my Patreon numbers, or that I charge for the app (no more than a few dollars) through your app store(s) once it's complete?

[flykiller]

I think Patreon is a very niche thing; I would prefer a small charge for the app (not more than 5 EUR).

[Lady Ladile]

Honestly, I'm happy to go with whichever would work the best for you. If I remember right, Wayfinder cost maybe $2-3 and I was happy to pay that for the service it offered - and I would be happy to do so again, especially considering the time and effort you put into your Paizo browser extension. But if Patreon would suit better as a form of overall support for a PbP app and your other work, I would also be happy to kick a few dollars your way when I'm able.

[Dungeon Master S]

Chiming in with my experience. (Hey Oladon it's Sareth)

I still use Wayfinder daily. Still, I'm always looking for options:

What I love about Wayfinder:
1. Buttons for formatting.
2. Concise screen set up for all of my campaigns.
3. It was $1 and money well spent!

What I wish it could do:
1. Follow map links
2. Let me make posts with my default alias.
3. BEING NOTIFIED OF NEW POSTS. :-)

[John Woodford]

I paid for Wayfinder, and I'd pay for your version as well.

[Oladon]

Really hard to tell from a thread, but it sounds like this would be a useful thing to a good number of people.

What I'd really like to do is hire a professional designer to make it the Best UI/UX Evar, but professional designers are kinda expensive, and I doubt I could afford it, even charging for the app. So... you might have to settle for a "designed by me" version, unless someone rich comes along and wants to spring for the designer (my guess is a few hundred dollars to hire one, but I haven't gotten an actual estimate).

Any other features people would like to see?

Going to see when I can fit this into my schedule; once I figure that out, I'll post an update and projected timeframe here.

[Shifty]

Hmmm I'm an iOS user so wasn't able to get Wayfinder, but I am interested in an app for PbP's.

being able to follow links is a bit of a thing, as a significant number of PbP GM's (including me!) are running the maps off Googleslides.

[Oladon]

I can say with some very large amount of certainty that being able to follow links would be a thing.

[Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan]

My vote would definitely be for an iOS app, and I'd pay for such a thing through the App Store.

[GM Giuseppe]

Oladon wrote:

Saving drafts is a great idea. Guiseppe, by "usual posting templates", do you mean things like dice sets, or full post templates? I'm not sure I like the idea of making it easier to have all one's posts be alike, but I'm not certain that's what you meant.

I meant something that allows you to copy and paste easily your usual codes for posting. For example, there's recurring template I use to format my own posts, including a line to separate the OOC section from the actual description. Also, I tend to use some specific codes to make my posts look better, as below.

________________________
This is how I write OOC comments in my posts. I would like to be able to copy the smaller/ooc codes.

GM Rolls:

And this is how I usually roll dice: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14

[pinvendor]

This would certainly be a must have app for my iPhone!

[Old Guy GM]

I'd pay for an iPhone version no sweat. My time alone over all the posting I could do is worth $5-10 easily.

Edit: And let me add before anyone hits me over how $5 or $10 is way too much for an app. Think about the time time you spend each day posting in your PbP. Do the math for a one-time fee. Rejoice in your new app.

[Oladon]

Hey Jeff, thanks for the encouragement. :)

Giuseppe, I think it'd be pretty reasonable for a "second-stage" version of such an app to have a few custom buttons that enter whatever you want them to, or something like that. Probably wouldn't make it into the Minimum Viable Product version, but something I could certainly see supporting down the line.

One issue that I've recently discovered is that Apple charges a $99 annual fee to anyone wanting to release an iOS app. While that doesn't necessarily mean I won't do it, it likely means that I'll release the Android version first as a way to gauge interest, and then (if the interest is high enough), spring for the Apple fee to release it on iOS. Nothing's settled yet, just wanted to let you all know my thoughts around this.

By the way: I've pretty much decided to take on this project, at least as an experiment, and am now just scheduling some time to work on it.

Appreciate you all's feedback and participation in this thread. I'll post progress updates here as I go, so stay tuned!

[Lady Ladile]

Thank you for the update! Looking forward to seeing what happens :)

[Zedth]

Old Guy GM wrote:

I'd pay for an iPhone version no sweat. My time alone over all the posting I could do is worth $5-10 easily.

Edit: And let me add before anyone hits me over how $5 or $10 is way too much for an app. Think about the time time you spend each day posting in your PbP. Do the math for a one-time fee. Rejoice in your new app.

Agreed.

[Oladon]

It starts.

(I've started working on this project. Can't say yet how far I'll get this weekend, but I can guarantee it'll be further than if I hadn't started it yet.)

[Rhenthyl]

Not sure if it's possible, but any chance of a Safari extension? As i use a mac i use safari more than anything, and don't really want to use google just for one thing.

And i'd demo be interested in an iOS app

[Oladon]

Allow me to recommend Firefox on the Mac.

Apart from that, a quick search reveals that Safari /does/ support extensions. However, I don't think a lot of people use Safari... not sure I could justify the time spent porting it over to Safari if there aren't many potential users there. Open to hearing from other Safari users if they're out there.

With that said, the code for the extension is all out on Github, so if someone wants to take a crack at porting it to Safari, I'd be happy to answer questions and generally assist.

[Rhenthyl]

I'd offer to do it for you, but I'm so computer illiterate I'm surprised mine docent blow up when i press a button :D

[TarkXT]

Yes very much appreciated.

Outside of what's mentioned already a macro that lets you roll 1d20 by pushing the button and inputting the appropriate bonus would be sweet.

[MattZ]

Posting for great interest. I've never done a PbP before, but I'm looking to get into it. A well made mobile app? I'd buy that for $5

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

I currently use Wayfinder. If a new app came out that improves on Wayfinder, I'd buy it for $10 or less, I think.

Features I'd like include: a way to view the profile of a character in the app, a "quick reference" pane specific to individual campaigns for storing your stats or commonly used text, and an interface, or at least a notification, that you have new PMS on the Paizo site.

[Feral]

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

Features I'd like include: a way to view the profile of a character in the app, a "quick reference" pane specific to individual campaigns for storing your stats or commonly used text, and an interface, or at least a notification, that you have new PMS on the Paizo site.

A PM interface would be amazing. Paizo's PM system is such a mess.

[Jerran_Kell]

Hi, I'm interested in an Android version, a chrome extension, or an iPad app compatible with 5.1.1 .

Feature requests
Make checks easy. Have the app know who is in a campaign and their stats, and let me or a GM press a couple of buttons to enter checks, like
[Make Check][Perception][Me]
or
[ApplyDamage][PlayerName]

Thanks

[Oladon]

Hi Jerran_Kell!

I've already created a handy Chrome extension to help with PbPs, though it doesn't (yet) have the dice feature you've requested.

A feature similar to that is on the list of things I'd like to add, but it's not a trivial undertaking, and my time has been pretty full lately.

Update (for the rest of you)

I haven't made much progress on this yet... not due to trying and failing, just due to lack of time. Although I don't have an ETA right now, I just wanted to let you guys know that it's still very much on my radar.

[Alyksandrei]

Sweet. This will be nice once you have time to finish it. BTW, thanks for your work on the Chrome extension - I love it, and wish it worked better with mobile Firefox. Not to derail the discussion, but do you know if your Chrome extension works on Chrome for Android?

[Oladon]

Thanks for the positive feedback! I'm sortof surprised it works at all on mobile Firefox — I've never done any targeted testing or work on that platform. :)

I don't believe mobile Chrome supports extensions, unfortunately... unless something has changed since the last time I researched it, which was sometime late last year.

[DMG]

Would buy the app for sure if for iOS.

[GM Niles]

I'm late to the party and I'm still using Wayfinder but would gladly fork over some cash for a new app that is being supported.

[DebugAMP]

I never managed to get Wayfinder before it disappeared from the play store. I would certainly buy an app that makes it easier to put in common tags for formatting and die rolls. Doubly so if it notifies updates for threads and/or PMs.

I'm an android user, 6.0.1 at the moment.

[Oladon]

Thanks for posting, DebugAMP!

At this time I've put the mobile app project on hold due to low interest and lack of time. However, it's currently up for "election" as the next Paizo-related project I work on, so have a look at the thread and cast your votes!

[Oladon]

An update for all you who've been asking for a mobile app: the Paizo Forum Tools browser extension is now available on Firefox for Android.

I realize this a) isn't a mobile app, and b) doesn't help those of you with Apple devices, but hopefully it'll help some of you!

[Ancient Dragon Master]

Interested would probably pay up to $5

[EwokBanshee]

I ain't afraid to necro a beautiful thread. Wayfinder just stopped working for me. I'll look into your extension, but would LOVE an app.