BYOND App on Mobile Devices

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ID:1015198
 
Oct 13 2012, 5:52 am

Poll: Should there be an BYOND application on cellphones?

Yes 64% (33)
No 35% (18)

Login to vote.

It would be nice to have the byond pager on your phone.

Why it would be beneficial?
-Ad revenue from the mobile devices
-Pay for a ad free version
-Community is more mobile than just a laptop
-Know when your favorite games are up
-Know what's going on in the forums
-Etc
Oct 14 2012, 4:10 am
It's pretty even c:
Oct 14 2012, 6:21 am
There's definitely nothing wrong with having one, but it would also just be possible to make the website (and the web-pager) more mobile-friendly.
Oct 14 2012, 9:19 am
While it would be convenient to the few people who would use it, I have to say no. I just wouldn't see it being worthwhile for BYOND to spend the time on that when there are many more things they could do instead that would get more appreciation.
Oct 14 2012, 9:21 am
In response to Kumorii
Of course, anyone can make this mobile app and just get BYOND's permission to publish it.
Oct 14 2012, 11:48 am
The Monster Atlas wrote:
It would be nice to have the byond pager on your phone.

Why it would be beneficial?
-Pay for a ad free version
Suggesting my loss of money as beneficial is somewhat humorous, but I see what you mean as more support for Byond. I'd be better if the ad free mode were with memberships, seems strange to have to pay for memberships and pay for an ad free mobile experience.
-Community is more mobile than just a laptop
I'd be nice if it were more mobile.
-Know when your favorite games are up
In my eyes, this would be some-what neat but useless if I couldn't play. Unless you get a rush from seeing games pop-up with the fanfare/bullet/cannon sound effect.
-Know what's going on in the forums
Smartphones already handle displaying most websites but it's not fluent and smooth since you have to scroll in all directions (Your either to zoomed out or to zoomed in to read without squinting or scrolling left and right). Those with "not smart" phones may find even more difficult navigation. I guess this could be good.
-Etc
How do I comment on Etc? Etc sounds like a good idea, but it's not something I would give a solid opinion on at the moment.

I think it's a great idea and thanks for sharing it, but I second that there are better areas for BYOND to spend their time on. If someone else did it then I'd definitely try it out, which is why I voted yes.

Oct 14 2012, 12:19 pm
From what I read, Windows Phone 8 is actually going to use a version of the Windows NT kernel, so apparently it will be much easier to port applications from "big" Windows 8 to the phone version. Now, I have never used a Windows Phone, so I honestly don't know much about it, but the similarities in core components between regular and phone versions sounds promising. I'm just wondering how closely tied they are going to be, and how easy it will be to port applications over. Would it just be a matter of compiling things differently?

Anyway, I'm starting to think that it might be possible to port over the entire BYOND suite directly to this new Windows Phone 8 platform, although that would alienate iPhone and Android users. Ultimately, I think Microsoft's agenda as far as their phone goes is to make a common operating system that runs on both PC and phone hardware, but simply reconfigures itself depending on what it happens to be installed on.

For now, we can only speculate, until the new phone gets released.
Oct 14 2012, 3:22 pm
I suppose the easiest thing for Tom to do would be just creating a http://www.m.byond.com/ subdomain for mobile users, and just apply a different css to the site.

I believe you can send pages through the BYOND website now, so creating a 'Pager' CSS skin probably wouldn't be too difficult to do.
Oct 14 2012, 3:27 pm
Why bother with another CSS when you could just make the whole site in a responsive design then depending on screen size the site would responsively fit the users smart phone or tablet (including iPads).
Oct 14 2012, 3:29 pm
Well, I think honestly websites need to adapt for mobile phone users, but at the same time, you can't smush everything that a desktop-based website has. It just wouldn't look good.

You can show / hide information with a bit of css, but I don't agree with just sizing everything down, makes things messy.
Oct 14 2012, 4:10 pm
We do not need a BYOND app, what we need is a byond website that doesnt suck to use on a mobile browser. The navigation bar is awful for a mobile device.
Oct 14 2012, 4:32 pm
In response to Flame Sage
Flame Sage wrote:
Well, I think honestly websites need to adapt for mobile phone users, but at the same time, you can't smush everything that a desktop-based website has. It just wouldn't look good.

You can show / hide information with a bit of css, but I don't agree with just sizing everything down, makes things messy.

With a responsive design you don't need to keep everything on the contrary you can make items look feel and work completely different to the original it's just the matter of doing it right in the first place this will also be the same issue if they made a separate one..
Oct 14 2012, 4:42 pm
In response to DvK87
DvK87 wrote:
We do not need a BYOND app, what we need is a byond website that doesnt suck to use on a mobile browser. The navigation bar is awful for a mobile device.

I second that, even on my tablet clicking the small buttons on the top of the Byond page is a pain. The tiny forum links is also difficult to navigate through.
Oct 15 2012, 6:36 am
Well the problem with having the browser is you wont get notifications from a ringtone or buzz. That's what I'm talking about. You get an active notification when someone comments/hosts a game you're looking for.
Oct 15 2012, 6:46 am
In response to The Monster Atlas
That's true. I'd actually like to get a notification on my phone when something important pops up on my pager.
Oct 15 2012, 6:58 am
I haven't seen Tom commenting for long, so I doubt Flash Version is close to be completed, which means BYOND Apps are very very far away.
Oct 15 2012, 8:11 am
In response to Eternal_Memories
Still, it can't hurt to discuss now what the app would be like, even if it won't actually happen for a long time. It's clear to me that this is much more feasible than getting the games on mobile devices (which is actually getting better with the process of porting the client to flash), so it's not a matter of "should BYOND have a mobile app" to me, it's more like "who has the time to design and develop the app."
Oct 15 2012, 12:31 pm
I don't think there should be an BYOND app for mobile phones, at least not yet. They have enough trouble managing the site and software already. Anyone who wants to get on the site via mobile phone can just use their phone's web browser and use the site that way.
Oct 15 2012, 12:51 pm
The sad thing is, BYOND really missed the boat with Flash.
It's not even supported on Android nor iOS anymore, so I'm not sure what the point is porting to Flash anymore (Linux / OSX?), aside from the ability to more-easily port to other languages.
Oct 15 2012, 1:03 pm (Edited on Oct 15 2012, 1:18 pm)
In response to Flame Sage
Technically, Flash still opens a few good doors. Consider the old website, Gaiaonline, for example. I am pretty sure that all their regular games are designed in Flash, and even their MMO may be. I could be wrong on that, but if I am correct then just imagine what that could do in BYOND?

BYOND could have its own little group of games it designed, or supports more than others and earn a portion of the profits for that. Plus regardless of that, lots of websites should still support Flash games, and that gives BYOND a chance to become well known there or at least lets the developers easily distribute their games there.

Ultimately, Flash at this point is more of a stepping stone than anything, but it's still quite a leap forward in the right direction in my opinion.
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