(Unofficial) PreCentral App for webOS

jdforsythe · 08:13 PM

v0.4.0 - available July 13-14th via web distribution (see link below)

This app currently gives you the ability to listen to the latest 70 PalmCasts (stream or download) and to view the most recent headlines. Tapping on the headlines will now reveal the contents of the article inside the app, instead of opening a browser. It now includes a refresh button to reload the headlines instead of having to close the app. Also there's a forums button that opens the mobile forums in a new browser card (didn't use webView, as someone suggested, because there's no refresh, navigation, stop buttons by default and there's no benefit at this time).

Fixes include:
- Color scheme changed (yes, look below!)
- Weird scrolling behavior fixed
- Thumbnails in list and images in articles now shown
- Stream or download latest 70 Palmcasts (instead of only streaming latest one)
- Refresh button

The app is now and will always be free. PreCentral rocks.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Leave them below.

Download PreCentral App for your webOS device

Screenshots (v0.3.0):

Butters3605 · 06/29/2010, 04:00 PM

did you develop the first one, or is this in addition to that?

http://www.precentral.net/homebrew-a...precentral-app

Granted this is just a shortcut-link to the website.

I would like to see the ability to access the forums as well, it would be awesome to get a more friendly interface with the forums via the Pre/Pixi.

jdforsythe · 06/29/2010, 04:04 PM

No, I did not develop the first one. I will edit the first post with screenshots. I am working on some more features, but just wanted to publish what I had working thus far.

Butters3605 · 06/29/2010, 04:06 PM

Cool, thanks really hoped someone would make something better!

JohnnyPre · 06/29/2010, 05:43 PM

I do not believe there is an API for vBulletin. There are alot of really cool skins tho..

Free VBulletin Templates, Themes and Styles - themesBase.com

Greg Mair · 06/29/2010, 05:50 PM

That green backgroud looks very ugly, works on a computer but not the phone.

maybe you can work with the other guy who wrote the other App and incorporate this into 1 package cause i don't see myself wanting 2 precentral Apps that pretty pretty much do the same.

DanPLC · 06/29/2010, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Mair

That green backgroud looks very ugly, works on a computer but not the phone.

maybe you can work with the other guy who wrote the other App and incorporate this into 1 package cause i don't see myself wanting 2 precentral Apps that pretty pretty much do the same.

The other app is not a native app. It's just using a webview widget (web browser) pointing to the PreCentral mobile site.

It would be great if a fully-functional, native app was created to view the PreCentral stories and forums.

Garrett92C · 06/29/2010, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanPLC

The other app is not a native app. It's just using a webview widget (web browser) pointing to the PreCentral mobile site.

It would be great if a fully-functional, native app was created to view the PreCentral stories and forums.

Yea, it would be great. We've been asking for such an app for over a year now lol...

RUSH · 06/29/2010, 06:29 PM

The green isn't really working buddy, can't you try a different color,and we also need a thanks button too. Thanks for being concern.

JohnnyPre · 06/29/2010, 06:37 PM

We need something like ForumPilot with some other features to accommodate mobile usage. We've become so spoiled over web access the offline readers is a thing of the past. Hopefully, AT&T and Verizon's charge to take back data pricing control will change this.

Considering how much vBulletin is being used among tech sites (vbulletin is the forum software used here, xda, and a gazillion other web sites..) I am shocked the this hasn't been made already. Considering that one the app is made, the person could just change a few things and rebrand the reader to each individual site. Like a PreCentral Offline Forum Reader, or.. AndroidCentral. and so on...

hey devs... Homebrew crew... We needa PreCentral App...

Greg Mair · 06/29/2010, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanPLC

The other app is not a native app. It's just using a webview widget (web browser) pointing to the PreCentral mobile site.

It would be great if a fully-functional, native app was created to view the PreCentral stories and forums.

I use the forums and read all storeys with the other App.

Greg Mair · 06/29/2010, 07:43 PM

do you mean you just want an App that goes into the AppCat?

Arthur Thornton · 06/29/2010, 07:48 PM

I have offered to work with P|C to make an app probably 10 times now since September.

It has continually been delayed and I was recently told they're moving to another CMS. If that is the case, then we will soon have a fully official P|C app.

My ideas are to bring together the whole site (i.e. have the articles, how tos, reviews, et al from the main site; have the forums; have the store; the app gallery; and the homebrew app gallery).

Greg Mair · 06/29/2010, 10:01 PM

Me personally am fine with the mobile site but I see how this could easily become my fav app.

This would give access to all Palm phones which is nice cause only 10% of Pre owners have homebrew I would think

JohnnyPre · 06/30/2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arthurthornton

It has continually been delayed and I was recently told they're moving to another CMS. If that is the case, then we will soon have a fully official P|C app.

CMS??

Garrett92C · 06/30/2010, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyPre

CMS??

Content Management System

jdforsythe · 06/30/2010, 08:18 AM

Obviously the UI is not complete. It was thrown together pretty quickly. I have only incorporated two things from the site, the Palmcast and the news feed, and wanted to get it out there to see the interest. Now that I see people are pretty interested, I will continue working on the other features. As I add things, I will update the app and also the UI. Sure, it's ugly - it's about the ugliest green I have ever seen - but I didn't pick the color

As far as incorporating the homebrew app, what is the point? It is basically just a link to the mobile site. This app will be much more when it is completed. Unfortunately, the forums will probably be the last thing I can incorporate because of the fact stated above, that there is no API for the forum software. Scraping the pages to display the forums is an involved enough task, but then you'll all want to be able to log in and post things, too.

What parts of the site do you guys want incorporated first?

jdforsythe · 06/30/2010, 06:31 PM

The update should be available soon. The app will check for updates when it is opened (but a maximum of one check per 6 hours) or just check manually. Finished uploading it about 5 minutes ago.

JohnnyPre · 06/30/2010, 06:35 PM

vBulletin API

what is this???

magistus · 06/30/2010, 06:47 PM

I rather have a white background than the green, or orange.

06/29/2010, 03:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
jdforsythe Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 115 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 7 Thanked 24 Times in 17 Posts	(Unofficial) PreCentral App for webOS v0.4.0 - available July 13-14th via web distribution (see link below) This app currently gives you the ability to listen to the latest 70 PalmCasts (stream or download) and to view the most recent headlines. Tapping on the headlines will now reveal the contents of the article inside the app, instead of opening a browser. It now includes a refresh button to reload the headlines instead of having to close the app. Also there's a forums button that opens the mobile forums in a new browser card (didn't use webView, as someone suggested, because there's no refresh, navigation, stop buttons by default and there's no benefit at this time). Fixes include: - Color scheme changed (yes, look below!) - Weird scrolling behavior fixed - Thumbnails in list and images in articles now shown - Stream or download latest 70 Palmcasts (instead of only streaming latest one) - Refresh button The app is now and will always be free. PreCentral rocks. Questions, comments, suggestions? Leave them below. Download PreCentral App for your webOS device Screenshots (v0.3.0): Last edited by jdforsythe; 07/13/2010 at 08:13 PM.
	Liked by Thanked by Butters3605, netwrkr9, not-yet-pre, rush, STBXXL

06/29/2010, 04:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
Butters3605 Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Puyallup,Wa Posts: 766 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 613 Thanked 200 Times in 147 Posts	did you develop the first one, or is this in addition to that? http://www.precentral.net/homebrew-a...precentral-app Granted this is just a shortcut-link to the website. I would like to see the ability to access the forums as well, it would be awesome to get a more friendly interface with the forums via the Pre/Pixi. __________________ Sprint Pre- Meta-Doctor 2.1.0 w/Flash Everything is Amazing & Nobody is Happy, "People with their mobile phones, "uh... oh... it won't..."... GIVE IT A SECOND... IT'S GOING TO SPACE!" Louis C.K.
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 04:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
jdforsythe Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 115 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 7 Thanked 24 Times in 17 Posts	No, I did not develop the first one. I will edit the first post with screenshots. I am working on some more features, but just wanted to publish what I had working thus far.
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 04:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
Butters3605 Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Puyallup,Wa Posts: 766 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 613 Thanked 200 Times in 147 Posts	Cool, thanks really hoped someone would make something better! __________________ Sprint Pre- Meta-Doctor 2.1.0 w/Flash Everything is Amazing & Nobody is Happy, "People with their mobile phones, "uh... oh... it won't..."... GIVE IT A SECOND... IT'S GOING TO SPACE!" Louis C.K.
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 05:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
JohnnyPre Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 920 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 16 Thanked 91 Times in 78 Posts	I do not believe there is an API for vBulletin. There are alot of really cool skins tho.. Free VBulletin Templates, Themes and Styles - themesBase.com
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 05:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
Greg Mair Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 677 Likes Received: 24 Thanks: 80 Thanked 88 Times in 62 Posts	That green backgroud looks very ugly, works on a computer but not the phone. maybe you can work with the other guy who wrote the other App and incorporate this into 1 package cause i don't see myself wanting 2 precentral Apps that pretty pretty much do the same.
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 06:29 PM	#9 (permalink)
RUSH Banned Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Oceanside, California. Posts: 3,265 Likes Received: 1 Thanks: 433 Thanked 967 Times in 782 Posts	The green isn't really working buddy, can't you try a different color,and we also need a thanks button too. Thanks for being concern.
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 06:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
JohnnyPre Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 920 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 16 Thanked 91 Times in 78 Posts	We need something like ForumPilot with some other features to accommodate mobile usage. We've become so spoiled over web access the offline readers is a thing of the past. Hopefully, AT&T and Verizon's charge to take back data pricing control will change this. Considering how much vBulletin is being used among tech sites (vbulletin is the forum software used here, xda, and a gazillion other web sites..) I am shocked the this hasn't been made already. Considering that one the app is made, the person could just change a few things and rebrand the reader to each individual site. Like a PreCentral Offline Forum Reader, or.. AndroidCentral. and so on... hey devs... Homebrew crew... We needa PreCentral App...
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 07:43 PM	#12 (permalink)
Greg Mair Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 677 Likes Received: 24 Thanks: 80 Thanked 88 Times in 62 Posts	do you mean you just want an App that goes into the AppCat?
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 07:48 PM	#13 (permalink)
Arthur Thornton Homebrew Developer Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Midlothian, VA Posts: 1,218 Likes Received: 8 Thanks: 1,046 Thanked 485 Times in 260 Posts	I have offered to work with P\|C to make an app probably 10 times now since September. It has continually been delayed and I was recently told they're moving to another CMS. If that is the case, then we will soon have a fully official P\|C app. My ideas are to bring together the whole site (i.e. have the articles, how tos, reviews, et al from the main site; have the forums; have the store; the app gallery; and the homebrew app gallery). __________________ Arthur Thornton webOS Application Engineer, Appstuh Writer, webOS Nation My Websites: http://www.arthurthornton.net My apps: Sparrow for Twitter Voice Memos
	Liked by

06/29/2010, 10:01 PM	#14 (permalink)
Greg Mair Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 677 Likes Received: 24 Thanks: 80 Thanked 88 Times in 62 Posts	Me personally am fine with the mobile site but I see how this could easily become my fav app. This would give access to all Palm phones which is nice cause only 10% of Pre owners have homebrew I would think
	Liked by

06/30/2010, 08:18 AM	#17 (permalink)
jdforsythe Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 115 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 7 Thanked 24 Times in 17 Posts	Obviously the UI is not complete. It was thrown together pretty quickly. I have only incorporated two things from the site, the Palmcast and the news feed, and wanted to get it out there to see the interest. Now that I see people are pretty interested, I will continue working on the other features. As I add things, I will update the app and also the UI. Sure, it's ugly - it's about the ugliest green I have ever seen - but I didn't pick the color As far as incorporating the homebrew app, what is the point? It is basically just a link to the mobile site. This app will be much more when it is completed. Unfortunately, the forums will probably be the last thing I can incorporate because of the fact stated above, that there is no API for the forum software. Scraping the pages to display the forums is an involved enough task, but then you'll all want to be able to log in and post things, too. What parts of the site do you guys want incorporated first?
	Liked by

06/30/2010, 06:31 PM	#18 (permalink)
jdforsythe Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 115 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 7 Thanked 24 Times in 17 Posts	The update should be available soon. The app will check for updates when it is opened (but a maximum of one check per 6 hours) or just check manually. Finished uploading it about 5 minutes ago.
	Liked by

06/30/2010, 06:35 PM	#19 (permalink)
JohnnyPre Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Posts: 920 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 16 Thanked 91 Times in 78 Posts	vBulletin API what is this???
	Liked by

06/30/2010, 06:47 PM	#20 (permalink)
magistus Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 129 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	I rather have a white background than the green, or orange.
	Liked by

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