Invision Community Apps for iOS & Android

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Invision Community Apps for iOS & Android

I'm excited to reveal that we are making Invision Community native apps for iOS and Android!

For the past few months, our staff has been using an internal test build right here on our community. Now we are ready to widen testing to a larger pool of customers. Information on how to become a tester is at the end of this post. But first, let's take a look at the app itself.

Technology Preview
We have a lot of exciting plans for the Invision Community app.

We wanted to take full advantage of a clean slate and build a brand new experience that embraces a native app's interfaces. While the app is unmistakably Invision Community, it features new ways of interacting with your content.

We want the app to help shape the future of Invision Community, and we're asking for you to help.

What we are opening up for testing today is a technology preview. This slim app covers the essentials with a view to much more expansion later.

The technology preview is locked to our community. The app we will release will be a 'multi-community' app; a directory of communities users can browse and save.

We’ve taken this approach because the app stores have clamped down on ‘template’ apps, and the cost involved in building and maintaining a separate app per-community won’t be an option for many of our customers. A multi-community app is a great approach for most: simple setup, minimal cost, still fully-featured, and a great way for new users to find your community too.

What The App Does
For the initial phase of this technology preview, discussions are the main focus which is the foundation of every Invision Community. Also available are profiles, streams, search and notifications - including (at last!) push notifications.

Any areas that the app does not currently support will open seamlessly in a web view within the app. As we build new functionality into the app over time, users will encounter fewer of these hybrid views.

Your feedback will allow us to target the highest priority areas during the technology preview phase.

RPReplay_Final1568062287_1.mp4

Pricing
Note: The information below outlines our current intentions, but may change as we finalize the app's release to app stores.

The...

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[User37935]

Very interesting!

The app we will release will be a 'multi-community' app; a directory of communities users can browse and save.

We’ve taken this approach because the app stores have clamped down on ‘template’ apps, and the cost involved in building and maintaining a separate app per-community won’t be an option for many of our customers.

Maybe not an option for many of their customers, but still an option some would like to explore. Not sure personally I would like being part of a "multi community" but really looking forward to seeing how this pans out, definitely a step forwards in terms of getting apps for our communities. I think current IPS owners will be excited by this.

 

[R0binHood]

Very interesting indeed, and sounds like fantastic news for IPS users. This may help really give them a strong cross platform edge.

XF has announced no interest publicly in a native apps when mobile has becoming more and more important each year and you get companies like Automattic and Wordpress stressing the importance of native mobile.

Apple appears to have no intention on implementing web push any time soon, and native push will always be more powerful in terms of OS level integration in the long run anyway.

I believe I read that some of the XF devs did have an interest in React a while back though, which is what this is built in, so unless there's something hidden in the pipeline this could be a really strong play by IPS to allow forum admins to rid themselves of reliance on poor 3rd party solutions such as Tapatalk and be one of the only companies to offer a true 1st party cross platform community experience.

Hopefully it's well executed. Can't wait to see more about it.

 

[zappaDPJ]

Very interesting indeed, and sounds like fantastic news for IPS users.

I agree, to quote myself ...

A dedicated app with push notification. One app to rule them all rather than an app per forum which requires the owner to become a developer. I would like that app to have a function to search ALL Xenforo forums that opt in - I assume forums have in general a limit to their potential membership so why not share those members?

This level of functionality puts Invision firmly where a modern forum should be and leaves the rest behind. To be fair vBulletin took a stab at it but failed due in part to the reasons outlined in the announcement...

'We’ve taken this approach because the app stores have clamped down on ‘template’ apps, and the cost involved in building and maintaining a separate app per-community won’t be an option for many of our customers.'

R0binHood it is indeed fantastic news for 'IPS users' because in my experience it is users who are desperate for app driven technology while forum developers and to some extent owners and admins are generally still stuck with a PC mentality.

Congratulations to Invision for having their finger on the pulse and for delivering in a format easily manageable by owners and admins

 

[haqzore]

Wools. Goofy article system.

I'll repost my comment here....


Wooooo hoo!

Once again, IPS pushing boundaries and forging ahead new territory.

Great news for admins as a whole

 

[doubt]

This level of functionality puts Invision firmly where a modern forum should be and leaves the rest behind.

Seems they listen what their customers want.
Some other companies cannot even dream about to develop such functionality without sufficient manpower.
Congrats Invision.

 

[fixer]

and.... Checkmate

 

[fixer]

xf devs be like...

 

[R0binHood]

Just downloaded the iOS app through testflight, very nice guys, looks promising.

 

[R0binHood]

I think it could benefit from a global new post button though so you don’t have to navigate to the forum you want to post in to find the new thread button.

Kind of like reddit



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