Category Archives: App.net Community

Photo highlights from @hand_picd

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You all continue to post fantastic photos to App.net and we have no choice but to notice. These photos were all featured on the @hand_picd ADN account over the last 10 days and we thought they deserved a little extra attention.

Inject a little beauty into your feed by following @hand_picd and see the great photos that get reposted.  We take the time to manually curate this account by searching the Explore-Photos feed on App.net and picking out the best of what we see.

Post your photos with the #hand_picd hashtag to be sure we see yours and we’ll consider highlighting them.

sandrineandrocykespacialreneschroedergu3verpalobozitronenkojotiniankathiptaylmashilityantalyacitybobo91antiheld

 

App.net Hackathon Recap

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8990464079_a447192615_oScreen Shot 2013-06-10 at 4.34.18 PM8991661756_2dc2afeaf2_o

This Saturday was the 3rd #adnhackathon, and some 60-70 developers and community members showed up to work on existing projects, start new ones, and generally move the platform forward.

It was a great day. Thanks to everyone who participated, both in-person and on the service remotely, and especially those that flew in from out of town. Developers came from all over the country and as far away as India, Spain, and France.

Below is a list of what was presented, and you can watch ustream to see a recording of the demo. Some of these projects are available now, while many more will be very soon.

@faizan and @anirudh demonstrated the App.net integration they built into their photo-sharing app Pixter. You can now login with Passport and share photos to your App.net stream.

@duerig, who makes Patter, showed off a web app called Nostalgia which is a tool that displays old App.net posts, you know, if you’re nostalgic for the early days.

Ohai

“Ohai” by @stevestreza

@stevestreza has been working on a new journaling app for iOS called Ohai, and he gave the first public presentation of its features and functionality. Ohai allows you to keep track of what you did on any given day: what photos you took, where you went, who you were with, and more. He posted the object-metadata to GitHub for other developers to start building integrations. Ohai will be available soon.

@davewood and @zedenem created a way to view ADN Stats (inspired by @ryantharp‘s stats web app) on the iPhone. It shows top posts, top hashtags, top posters, and more, over certain time periods. The plan is to incorporate it into the forthcoming iPhone app Discuss, developed by @davewood and @sabby.

crest

“Crest” by @b3ll

@b3ll integrated App.net into his iPad app Crest, which is a timeline visualizer. As soon as a new post is created that account’s profile image will descend from your screen. You can then tap the image to reveal the content. The integration is not yet available, but will be soon.

@conradstoll put together an iPad app that displays only the posts in your feed with links. Available soon.

 

 

adn-hypothesis

@tilgovi’s annotation tool

@rrbrambley and @derelk worked on several updates to their apps, Sprinter and Climber. Photos and vidoes shared with each app will now have their own stand-alone pages that show the conversation and commenting. Like this one.

@Ji worked on a way to create a post and to view your profile in Pebble.

@swhitley integrated App.net into an enterprise app that he develops called, Huddle. His users can now tie a private conversation on App.net to a business process on Huddle.

@tilgovi created a way to use App.net annotations to annotate a web page you were reading. You can create a posts and replies that show up both in your stream and on the original web page you were reading.

 

 

favd

“Favd” by @isaiah and @samleegray

@isaiah showed off the new photo app, Favd, which he and @samleegray have been building. It’s still in progress, but you can view photos from your stream, view the @hand_picd stream, as well as take pictures, add filters, and share them. Their demo was a sneak peek, and it will be available soon.

@smallsharptools wrote an ADN Activity Collection library to make it easier to share content from other iOS services into App.net.

@problem and @birada demoed Lenses, a new photo app that displays photos in your stream and takes and posts pictures. The app is not yet available.

@lewisjellis built a sandbox that lets users write scripts in Lua and map them to URL endpoints (inspired by webscript.io). Plugins exposed additional functionality like reading JSON and sending SMS messages. He plans to integrate apppy by @mlv  as a plugin to make the ADN API available to Lua. Because things run in a server-side sandbox, developers can safely use their client secret to make authenticated API calls.

@neonacho built a tool called FeedMe that gives you one restaurant recommendation based on your current location. You can then check-in and create a post. Available soon.

 

 

 

 

8990466255_1443f9a4f0_o8991663184_6c2c04605e_o8991664582_cb50ec3616_oScreen Shot 2013-06-10 at 4.48.56 PMIMG_7733IMG_77362013-06-08 21.25.53      2013-06-08 21.22.22      2013-06-08 21.14.12      2013-06-08 21.01.492013-06-08 21.08.15    2013-06-08 20.54.46    2013-06-08 20.58.59IMG_7742IMG_7745IMG_7755IMG_7799IMG_77388990463613_6b8a5752b0_o

 

photos by @darius, @berg, and @ben

 

Photo highlights from @hand_picd

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We’re back with another roundup of beautiful photos to share with you all.  These photos were all featured on the @hand_picd ADN account over the last week or so but we thought that they deserved further highlighting.

If you want to inject a little beauty into your ADN feed follow @hand_picd and we got you covered.

If you’re a taker of photos and want us to see your pics post them with a #hand_picd hashtag and we’ll be sure to consider them.

ccpco_danlarnabyteorderhekaumurrkrossgu3vermkdi76matsimpskhappybuddha

App.net Passport for iOS is now available

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blog-passportWe are excited to announce that App.net Passport for iOS is now available (download link). Passport is the easiest way for iPhone users to browse the App.net directory, find their friends, and to manage or create an App.net account.

Our mission has always been to support developers and to give members more choice. At its core, Passport is our directory app: an easy way for iPhone users to find and install other App.net iPhone apps, and for iOS developers to connect more directly with new users.

Here’s what you can do with Passport:

  • Create an App.net account
  • Find and follow other App.net members
  • Download and discover App.net iPhone apps
  • Update your bio, profile photo, and cover image

Notably (and quite intentionally), the Passport app does not have posting or messaging features. As always, we encourage App.net members to use 3rd-party apps. An additional benefit of the Passport app for 3rd-party developers is a new Authentication SDK which makes it easy to seamlessly integrate App.net login/signup functionality into any app.

 

image_2  image_3image_4  image_1 invite image

It’s also worth noting that anyone who downloads Passport will be able to create a free-tier App.net account. Like everything we do, this is an experiment, and we will be watching the data closely to see what we learn and its impact on the community. To set expectations: we may decide to turn off open signup via the app at any point.

Non-iPhone users: we haven’t forgotten about you. We plan on taking our learnings from the iOS Passport app and applying them to other platforms.

Thanks!

The App.net team 

Seven Questions with Developers: @boxenjim

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This is the latest in our series Seven Questions for Developers on App.net, where we ask  developers the same set of questions to learn a bit more about their apps and the stories behind them.

IMG_2829Our next developer is @boxenjim, who makes Patter for iOS. @boxenjim lives in a small town in northern Utah, almost in Idaho. He lives with his wife and son (and dog) in a little house with a yard and a garage and “a little patch a dirt to grow stuff in.” Apparently no picket fence though.

Tell us about your App.net app. What are you looking to accomplish with it?

Patter for iOS is a messaging application that lets people chat with friends privately or in public chat rooms. As the name implies it is the iOS version of the Patter web application built by @duerig.

The primary goal for my app is to support, promote, and enhance the Patter web application…the mothership as it were. Some secondary goals for me are to learn the App.net API better and to be more involved in the community. I also hope it can be an example of an interesting way to build on top of the API.

Currently, the app is more tailored to somebody that has already used Patter but I hope to make it clearer for those who have little or no exposure to Patter or even, for that matter, to App.net.

All files are hosted in your personal App.net file storage, so we don’t keep your content on our servers.

What qualities make a great app?

I like apps that are immediately obvious how to use and are uncluttered in appearance. I like apps that have a bit of personality and character embedded throughout their interface. I want to be able to get a laugh or two or see something unexpected.

With just about every app I’ve made I try to add in a few little Easter eggs just for fun. With Patter for iOS I decided early on to add something fun or unexpected with every release. I’m trying to do it in such a way that if you aren’t really looking you’ll never notice or be bothered by them, but, if you dig around a little, you will be able to find this whole other world inside the app that you never noticed before.

 

IMG_2830What tools are important to you as a developer?

A super amazing, super beautiful and supportive wife, a little boy that needs me to bring home the bacon and be a good dad, a whiteboard, a pencil and paper, a quiet place to work, adequate sleep and lots of reference materials. I also have a unicorn and a few other mythical creatures on standby.

As far as a list of hardware/software, I use a 2010 13″ MacBook Pro and I have an iPhone 4S, an iPad 2 and an iPhone 3GS for testing. I regularly use the following apps/services: Xcode, Tower, GitHub, TotalTerminal, Droplr, Dropbox, Soulver, 1Password.

I also have some super awesome beta testers that are exceptionally good at finding all my screw ups and helping me squash bugs. I guess a little bit of imagination and curiosity can’t hurt too.

Why did you decide to build something on App.net?

I was drawn to App.net pretty much immediately after seeing its core values. I joined early on in the original campaign. I had dabbled here and there on the API and had worked on a really simple implementation of App.net for my previous job.

I really just woke up one day with a determination to get more involved on a personal level and to try to build something awesome. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do since.

IMG_2827

What got you started writing code? 

To be totally honest, I intentionally avoided it for a really long time. I was born into a family of nerds and actually pushed back against my nerdy heritage, but it finally caught up to me. I didn’t really do any actual programming till my mid 20s.

Eventually, after working for a while as an IT/business manager, I decided to back to school. During my first semester, I took a computer science course as an elective and quickly got hooked. I started teaching myself iOS development and within a few months found a “real” job building iOS apps.

I’ve been programming on the iOS platform for something like 3 years and and also did a little web development for about 5-7 years.

Any advice for aspiring developers (all the young coders out there)?

Just go build something. All you really need is a desire to do it and a little initiative. It doesn’t matter much how much you know or don’t know. Just put yourself out there and try stuff out and after a while, work will just come. Just take it a day at a time and a line of code at a time. A lot of the apps I’ve built I did it just to build them.

When you’re not coding you’re…

Um, probably thinking about coding, sleeping or spending time with my family or a combination of all three. I enjoy cycling, photography, metal working, wood working, yard working, camping/fishing/outdoorsy stuff, rifle/pistol shooting, jeeping, fixing stuff like cars and lawn mowers and 4 wheelers, and basically anything I can turn a wrench on. I find that unless I balance the mental activities with some sort of physical activity, I’m just not quite whole as a person. I need to get out and get my hands dirty and calloused and cut up from time to time.

What is Orbit?

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App.net is a platform for social applications – a network of independently developed apps – that members can choose between. Depending on your preferred method of connecting to App.net, there is an app for you. This series will showcase the variety of apps you can use.

orbitOrbit, developed by @joeldev and @lavoy, is a new file sharing and file manager app that sits in your Mac menubar. It’s a simple, focused app that demonstrates how you can integrate App.net into your regular workflow.

When you drag a file on to the icon in your menubar, it gets uploaded and a public URL for the file is saved on your clipboard. The file is stored in your App.net file storage.

Orbit also displays files you’ve uploaded from other apps (so long as they also use the App.net file API). Say, for example, you share a photo with Robin or a video with Climber, those files are instantly viewable in Orbit. You can then download them to your desktop or generate a public or private url to share elsewhere.

 

@samuelgoodwin
samuelgoodwin What did I do last week? Oh I was just on stage with some dudes in Ireland: http://orbt.io/OLFX.jpg
16. April 2013 via Wedge

 

Additionally, you can set an Orbit default to automatically upload screenshots to your file storage, which in turn seamlessly generates a public url to share.

Orbit is the latest project to emerge from the last App.net hackathon. The next one is slated for Saturday, June 8, in San Francisco.

 

Screen Shot 2013-04-16 at 3.20.05 PM  Screen Shot 2013-04-16 at 1.59.58 PM

 

What is Patter for iOS?

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App.net is a platform for social applications – a network of independently developed apps – that members can choose between. Depending on your preferred method of connecting to App.net, there is an app for you. This series will showcase the variety of apps you can use.

patteripad1 patteripad2 patteripad3

 

Patter for iOS, developed by @boxenjim, brings the functionality (and fun) of Patter to iPhone and iPad. Now, iOS users have a simple and elegant way to access their group chats, private messages, and favorite Patter rooms.

Patter, developed originally by @duerig, is a group chat application for the web — IRC for App.net. Patter for iOS retains the ability to participate in multi-person chat rooms, create your own rooms (public or private), or just do private messages. It’s available now in the app store and costs $2.99.

The project started at a meetup in Salt Lake City and developed at our last hackathon in San Francisco.

@boxenjim writes in his blog post detailing its origins that “I asked @duerig about it and he agreed it could be kind of nice to have a dedicated client for Patter. Thankfully he was willing to let me try my hand at a client.”

 

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image photophoto (8)

 

The most accessible App.net clients by @marcozehe

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This is a guest post, part of a series where members of the App.net community share stories about how they use the service, which apps they use, and how App.net fits into their lives. The latest is by @marcozehe.

appetizerI work at Mozilla as the QA engineer for all things accessibility, which includes the browser Firefox on both desktop and mobile platforms, as well as various other user-facing products.

My goal is to help people with varying disabilities participate in the web, engage in professional or leisure activities, and be both social and productive.

When I first read about App.net‘s attempt to fund the first $500,000, and I read up on what @dalton had to say, I was immediately excited. Finally, there was an effort to establish a social network that would not be driven by advertising sales people, but by user contribution and the money from people who actually wanted to use it. I also was excited about the prospect of the developer API and the signs that this would be a developer-focused effort.

Knowing that a good API inspires a lot of great ideas in a lot of great developers, I decided to back the project myself as a user and help crowd-fund it.

A few weeks later, I had my own account and immediately started playing with Alpha, an easy-to-use web site which was accessible to me as a blind screen reader user.

Accessible Apps

It did not take long before apps surfaced. The very first one I used, and still use to this day because there is nothing comparable on the Mac yet, is Appetizer by @terhechte. The developer was very responsive to suggestions to improve support for the VoiceOver screen reader.

c330000000000000Other apps began to surface for other platforms, like iOS and Android. The first Android client to be accessible was Dash, then named Hooha.

On iOS, the early apps that came out actually did not work at all or not very well with VoiceOver. @tonymillion and @billkunz, makers of the Rivr and Felix apps respectively, were the most responsive to my accessibility requests. @tonymillion actually managed to get the first VoiceOver accessible app out onto the App store, with Felix close behind.

Other app developers started contacting me, and two more projects on iOS are going strong to this day: hAppy by @dasdom and Riposte by the Riposte team @jaredsinclair and @jaminguy, along with Watercooler and Twiggy.

More recently, Robin for Android was released, and @scruffyfox worked to improve its accessibility. The version currently in Google Play is fully useable by TalkBack screen reader users on Android.

I was also privileged to beta test some of the above mentioned apps and directly help them to become more accessible to blind and visually impaired users, thereby help them participate in ADN activities.

Screen Shot 2013-04-02 at 4.57.29 PMOn the web, both the teams that develop Alpha and Omega, as well as @ednapiranha who develops NoodleApp, have incorporated suggestions to improve accessibility in their markup.

All in all, it can be said that App.net is a very accessible platform. The web interface and many clients on all major platforms offer support for assistive technologies for people with disabilities. Developers were, and still are, generally very open to a dialog about this topic.

Nowadays, I have the best conversations on ADN compared to other social networks I use. I also am certain about the future of it, because the team around @dalton has proven again and again that they put users and developers first in their thinking.