I am working on a native Android tabbed rivers client

[Dody Gunawinata]

Hi all,

Greetings from Cairo.

A developer only (for now) version of Android Rivers is available in source code format at https://github.com/dodyg/AndroidRivers. It's developed using Kotlin programming language and will run on Android 2.2 and above.

It discovers the list of rivers on opml list (right now it's still fixed to (http://hobieu.apphb.com/api/1/default/riverssubscription) that points to RiverJS format. As usual there still plenty to be done (check out the screenshots of the running application on my Galaxy S attached).

I'd give it two or three weeks more development/testing before it's good enough to be deployed on Google Play. I still have to catch up learning on Android APIs myself.

Regards,

Dody Gunawinata

[Michael Hellesen]

I have a Nexus 7 and would be happy to help test things if you need it. Sadly I can't code.

Mike

[Dody Gunawinata]

Awesome. I will post an apk this Tuesday here. 

[Dody Gunawinata]

Hi folks,

I am progressing faster than I thought, so here's a usable Android Rivers http://goo.gl/dxK5w. Make sure you check "allow installation of non-Market applications" settings in your Android. This app is target for Android 2.2 and above. It's only been tested on a Galaxy I phone.

The initial river list comes from http://hobieu.apphb.com/api/1/default/riverssubscription. They are primarily Dave's rivers plus No Agenda and one programming rivers of mine. I will add a preference to choose a subscription list of your own choice later this week.

Please try it out whenever you have a chance and let me know if it's useful for you. I've been using this app for the past three days and I changed my way of consuming news even at this very early stage.

Dody G.

[Adam Curry]

Worked as advertised on my note.
Thanks for putting the no agenda river in there as well!

AC

[Dody Gunawinata]

Wonderful. Thanks for trying it out. Once I figure out how to do proper file download on Android, I'll add support for enclosure download as well so we'll have podcasting support.

[Dave Winer]

Dody, this is very good. 

I can't try it out myself because I'm in between Android phones at this moment, but that's going to be remedied soon. :-(

Is this a river displayer or is it more? Does it have an aggregator built in?

I've been pointing to your posts on this mail lists. At some point it would be good to have a home page for the app to point people to. 

Dave

[Michael Hellesen]

Dody

Thanks for putting up the apk.

I'm running into odd behavior here. Let me try to describe it as I would for Dave and see if that helps.

FIrst off I'm testing this on a Stock Nexus 7 with no software modifications running Android 4.2.

After I open the app I pick the the Apple news River by tapping on it. The River opens as expected and displays correctly.

When I try to scroll down on the RIver to read more stories the display gets jumbled as though it's having a hard time rendering at the correct speed. I'm assuming the normal behavior is a smooth scroll. It is happening on all of the Rivers I try. I've attached a screen shot of what it looks like. 

It is reproducible. I've restarted the tablet multiple times and it has done it every time. If it would help I can take a video of it. If there's any more info that would be helpful please let me know and I'll be happy to try to give it to you. 

Mike

[Mike Hellesen]

I also just tested it on my Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1.1 stock from Google and am running into the same behavior. The display issues are more pronounced when scrolling quickly.

Mike

[Dody Gunawinata]

Right now it's just a river displayer. Once this part is rock solid, I'll add more features.

[Dody Gunawinata]

OK, I'll try it out tomorrow on an Android 4.0 tablet. Thanks for the report.

[Dody Gunawinata]

Hi Dave,

This is what I have in mind for the road map:

1. Discover more river sources via opml list that can points to rivers or more subscription list.

2. Support enclosure for podcast/image downloads.

3. A share/publishing functionality although I am reluctant to support share on Twitter/Facebook at this point. 

What specific case do you have in mind for a built in RSS aggregator in a phone/tablet?

Dody G.

On Sunday, November 25, 2012 6:55:54 PM UTC+2, Dave Winer wrote:

[Dave Winer]

I don't see that as being a good use of an android device. 

Look at all the problems apple has been having with bandwidth for iPad users (AC has been pointing to some panic posts on apple support boards).

I misunderstood what you meant by supporting OPML. I get it now. :-)

Dave

[Paul Clark]

Dody,

I also had screen artifacts when fast scrolling in your app. I have a Nexus 4 running Jelly Bean 4.2.

Paul

[Dody Gunawinata]

Sorry for that.

Please download the latest version of the app here http://goo.gl/dxK5w. This version will fix the scrolling artifacts. 

The problem existed because I am such a newbie to Android so I missed the part where one need to do some UI caching. The artifact also wasn't so obvious in Android 2.2 so I missed that the first time.

[Dody Gunawinata]

1. I think I use the word podcasting support incorrectly.  When an enclosure element exists in a river, user should be able to download it. They wont' subscribe to a specific podcasting feed and have the device download it automatically. The latter will create bandwidth issue for phone users.

2. The OPML parsing code is already there (although I have to check for recursive support). I will support the opml source element in riverjs. I have the sample data of riverjs with opml up at http://hobieu.apphb.com/api/1/samples/riverjswithopml

3. The consuming part of the feed is the 'easy one'. I see though that the writing part posses a  great potential. It should be easy for user to click on an item and share it on her link blog. Her link blog can decide whether to make another post to Twitter or whatnot. For this scenario to happen,  this app will need:

- An easy way for people to create a brand new link blog from this app.

- An easy way for people to connect their existing link blog to this app.

I think there's already an API to do this on Radio2. 

4. Eventually user should be able to post opml comment easily.

5. One of my pet feature is to implement a live feed support both from the consuming side and the posting side. Live feed would be a short lived feed that gets updated frequently for a specific purpose, such as documenting a demonstration (which happens very frequently in Cairo nowadays) or a sports match. The feed would open and close within a day after creation. The app will check the feed update automatically every 15 seconds or so and updates the display of the app incrementally. 

[Paul Clark]

Dody,

Still getting some artifacts in 4.2 on the Nexus 4. Sorry that I can't be more help; I don't have experience with Android development. Screen shot attached.

Paul

Dody Gunawinata <empire...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry for that.

Please download the latest version of the app here http://goo.gl/dxK5w. This version will fix the scrolling artifacts. 

The problem existed because I am such a newbie to Android so I missed the part where one need to do some UI caching. The artifact also wasn't so obvious in Android 2.2 so I missed that the first time.

On Sunday, November 25, 2012 11:37:32 PM UTC+2, Paul wrote:

Dody,

I also had screen artifacts when fast scrolling in your app. I have a Nexus 4 running Jelly Bean 4.2.

Paul

[Dody Gunawinata]

So these artifacts only appear on fast scrolling right?

--
Dody Gunawinata
Chief Software Architect
SilverKey Technologies, LLC
Mobile: +20 0163058559
Skype: dodygunawinata
http://www.silverkeytech.com/

[Dody Gunawinata]

Hi Paul,

Can you please remove the existing app and try to reinstall with the androidrivers-2.apk at  http://goo.gl/dxK5w? I wonder if the older version wasn't replaced properly with the new binary. I just want to make sure. 

Thanks for assisting.

Dody G.

[Paul Clark]

Yes but it doesn't have to be a long fast scroll. They appear if I just quickly jiggle the list up and down as well.

[Paul Clark]

I did that originally. The first apk was uninstalled before installing the second apk.

Dody Gunawinata <do...@silverkeytech.com> wrote:

Hi Paul,

Can you please remove the existing app and try to reinstall with the androidrivers-2.apk at  http://goo.gl/dxK5w? I wonder if the older version wasn't replaced properly with the new binary. I just want to make sure. 

Thanks for assisting.

Dody G.

[Dody Gunawinata]

Thanks for the info. Let me find a way to replicate it here locally.

[Dody Gunawinata]

I manage to replicate the problem on a Samsung tablet with Jelly Bean. It creates an effect of broken TV.

[Dody Gunawinata]

androidrivers-3.apk is now available at http://goo.gl/dxK5w. You can just download and install it. It will replace your current version. I tested this on Galaxy S Android 2.2 and Samsung Android 4.2.

The problem was a misconfiguration on the list on my part that make the ghost lines/text to appear on 4.2.

I will try to upgrade the interface this week to use ActionBar so app can be up to par to modern Android UI design. 

[Paul Clark]

Dody,

I'll test the v3 when I get home this evening. Looking forward to seeing where this app goes...

Paul

[Mike Hellesen]

Working great on my Galaxy Nexus running 4.1.1 that previously had the problem. Seems like you got it this time. Will test on my Nexus 7 when I get home.  Great work!

Mike

[Paul Clark]

Dody,

Version 3 is looking good on Jelly Bean 4.2 on the Nexus 4.

Paul

[Dody Gunawinata]

Great. 

By any chance, does anyone have any favorite rivers that I can include on the initial list?