The discussion is about converting a Discourse forum into an iOS and Android app. The original poster, nexo, is looking for a developer to do this and is offering a budget of $100. However, itsbhanusharma and Jordan_Lewallen point out that this budget is too low for the amount of work required, with Jordan_Lewallen mentioning that a native app developer would charge a couple of thousand dollars.
nexo clarifies that the task is not to develop a native app but to follow the official instructions to create an app, which is a simpler task. Hanzo1 shares their experience of using a webview to create an iOS and Android app for their forum, which took only 30 minutes to set up, but notes that the signing process for iOS can take hours.
Some users, including waffleslop, are interested in the webview solution and would be willing to pay a higher price. pacharanero asks Hanzo1 to write a tutorial on how to create a webview app, which would be helpful for other users.
What would you like done?
I want somebody to make my Discourse forum into an iOS and Android app as demonstrated here: Whitelisted Discourse app with Push Notifications via OneSignal - #8 by WorldIsMine
I can’t wrap my head around it, it’s just too advanced for me. I need a trustworthy developer/team to do this for me.
When do you need it done?
A week.
What is your budget, in $ USD that you can offer for this task?
$100.
Your budget is too low for the amount of work required. If You’re up for negotiations, I am available on bhanu@orng.co
If you can develop some plugin to do so, the cost can be divided among many users.
One is me.
I would also like this done. I can provide all necessary credentials but do not have access to a Mac to compile. I’ll pay $200.
FYI a native app developer worth his/her salt would charge a couple thousand for an app that isn’t just a webview of the forum!
To clarify, it’s just hiring somebody to do the instructions for you - there is a official topic here on how to make your forum into an app, and not everybody can do it.
For a simple webview, search for PWA.
Otherwise I‘d like to quote Businessinsider:
On average, across both iOS and Android, an app that takes eight weeks to develop from beginning to end will cost roughly $48,000 in the US.
It depends on your requirements…
There’s no need to do this, as Discourse looks fine on mobile. Recreating the app entirely to provide a native app experience would be reinventing the wheel for the sake of doing so.
I believe @nexo and @waffleslop were inquiring basically about a fullscreen webview.
Note that FULLSCREEN flags aren’t possible with Discourse; it breaks the reply system. I inquired in a separate thread, and was told off, saying my idea was stupid. A week after release, hovering at nearly 50k downloads.
I currently have my forum on an iOS and Android app, and used a Webview and WK WebView in Android/iOS respectively.
iOS is a complete mess to deal with, Android was seamless. Both apps together, took about 30 minutes to convert into WebViews.
I did this to create a premium experience for my users, even if it is just tapping a button and opening what is essentially a browser window without a URL bar, it offers a better experience, which is what I wanted.
If anyone is looking for some help DM me, I’ll let you know how I did it.
The app itself (programming) takes 30 minutes tops, the signing for iOS takes hours. Android takes about 15 minutes from scratch.
Would you by any chance be up for writing this up in Meta? My users would be very much up for a webview app. I take on board the points people make about Discourse being a near-app experience anyway, but you are right that some users just can’t conceive of the idea of an ‘app’ unless they have downloaded it from the app store.
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