Can we have a mobile App for the community?

I would love to be able to use the community on my mobile device (not just through the browser.. way too slow). one day soon my boss will catch me spending all day on the internet!

is it a possibility one day?

Blackberry?

iPhone?

Android?

i use the site on my mobile (HTC desire HD) & i find it no slower than when i'm logged on through the pc....

                                               paul & jo

I have an iphone, I can view the forum and read posts with ease, however, I cannot post a reply, or type anywhere.

I have an iPhone which I am using to type this. It is tricky but doable. I type in document writer app the paste into forum reply box. You can get the paste option to appear but I sometimes get it straight away and sometimes I'm tapping for a while

An app would be great

Sarah

just checked on mine, when it opens up on the mobile if i scroll to the bottom of the page it gives me 2 options on how to view the site...

1= mobile , which has limited functions

2=classic , which is exactly the same as how i view & use the site on my pc..........

simples...... ;-)

                                                paul & jo

If they go ahead with this, I would love to see a mobile identifier :) not just access to the web one, but one where you could record sound into and get closest matches too. Just like the kind of apps where you point it at the radio and it identifies the song, I'm sure there would be a market for an iphone/android/Blackberry app like that :)

Hi

I use a Blackberry and I can log into the sight at about the same speed as my PC, I can also answer directly through the mobile albeit not as fast as typing on a keyboard. I do like mpiekp's idea I for one would purchase that app, it would be great to guess at the identity of what singing and then varify it with the app.

Shane

hold on peoples... lets walk before we can run here

I'd much prefer them to concentrate on getting the format of the forum correct and then see what they can do about mobile devices... hopefully they'll use XML when they are developing so mobile content will be easier to facilitate. Simplicity is key. 

Ideally this would have been thought about in the planning stages, heres hoping. 

mpiekp

If they go ahead with this, I would love to see a mobile identifier :) not just access to the web one, but one where you could record sound into and get closest matches too. Just like the kind of apps where you point it at the radio and it identifies the song, I'm sure there would be a market for an iphone/android/Blackberry app like that :)

what a money spinner that could be for the rspb brill idea mpiekp, i get really annoyed when im hearing a song or churp and have no idea what type of bird it is ...10% cut to mpiekp    lol

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
The software that sits behind the community is an off-the-shelf product.  Unfortunately, we're not able to add functionality and features at will.  Following our hardware upgrade before Christmas we're working hard towards upgrading that software to the latest version in Spring/Summer 2011.  As well as some of the performance improvements we're all keen to see, we're assured that the latest version of the software will handle basic functionality (posting in forums and blogs, etc) more reliably from mobile browsers.
 
However, the company that provides this software to us (and a number of customers much larger than us), don't provide native apps for the various mobile platforms (iPhone, android, blackberry, windows mobile, etc).  I guess in theory it would be possible to, but I'm glad they'd rather focus on improving the core web-based product, and doing that in a way that works with all modern web browsers regardless of whether they are on a desktop pc or your mobile phone.  It would simply be too costly for the RSPB to develop, support and maintain bespoke mobile applications for the various platforms just to replicate functionality that should (and I appreciate it's not there currently) work as standard on the site, however you access it.
 
As far as performance of the community via a mobile is concerned, there's not much that can be done other than improving the overall performance of the site.  It should be possible to provide mobile-specific views of the community pages, with less graphics and a more appropriate/flexible layout for a smaller screen and we'll investigate this after the upgrade.  However, last year less than 2% of the number of visits to the whole of the RSPB's website were from a mobile device, and we have to prioritise our effort across all of the important conservation, campaigning, and communication tasks at hand.  
 
We're really mindful of increasing use of mobile devices and we're doing our best to make sure the RSPB's website works for as many people as possible.

Cheers,

RSPB Mods

Brilliant, thanks for the reply Tom

I understand the reasoning but I think you over looking a fund raiser. On android market there is an ibird app for north america that retails at £7 and seem quite popular (it does almost everything I listed in my suggestion).  You don't neccessarily have to pay a developer to build an app, I'm sure that amongst our numbers in this diverse community there are probably a few that have some or all of the skills needed.

I for one would have been playing with the android dev kit lately and its not overly difficult. With consent I could try and cobble something together, possibly using some of the images, info and clips from here but only with permission. (May still look elsewhere for data anyway, but am offering first refusal here)

I would happily give my time about at no cost for a whorthwhile cause (which fundraising is)and if you like the app you can do as you please with it. The good thing about the latest wave of smart devices is they have embraced an open community so the likelyhood of a good app getting ported to the other platforms is very high.

RSPB iPhone apps

As many of you have suggested, the RSPB is shortly to release two iPhone apps!

RSPB loveNature is filled with images and detailed information about all of our beautifully-maintained reserves that are bristling with wildlife along with thousands of other great places you can visit and engage with nature.

RSPB lovebirds is a groundbreaking tool designed to help you keep abreast of the very latest and most exciting bird sightings across the UK, based on BirdTrack’s 5,000 daily updated reports.

It’s all still hush hush but as valued members of the RSPB Community, we welcome your thoughts and input. As such, we’d like to invite a couple of you to help us test the apps. The fairest way for us to do this is to give this opportunity to the first two people to reply to this thread.

So, if you have an iPhone and would like to help us test the functionality (I’m afraid this isn’t a chance to design the way it works, only that it does), leave a comment on the thread and we will get back to you. First two replies will be picked.

Thank you on behalf of the RSPB

If you decide to do an android one, I'll put my name in now. Iphone no can do, disagree with apple's lockdown mentality.

Hi

I was just looking on the site to see if I could find any info on my ipad not working to post pictures or comments.  I love this site and I think I would certainly comment more if my ipad worked.  I would love to try out the new app for the RSPB.  For me to write this comment I have to leave safari and the open up notes and then copy and paste back in to safari.  Alass my laptop is on its last life and I find the RSPB site works far quicker on my ipad.

Hope no one gets upset but maybe a small fee for the app on itunes will allow you to design a brilliant app.  I certainly would not mind paying.  A lot of free apps are so basic.

Best wishes

Lolly