- App
- WoltLab Suite Core
Request
Can we have a full smartphone app that is accessible via Android and IOS app stores, please?
Explanation:
Ok, I've gone through 15 pages of suggestions and have not seen this one made, so I'll make it just on the minor chance it is at all possible. It is "The Daddy" of all suggestions.
Facebook and Twitter are killing forums, but there is a related reason for the death of forums and that is a lack of a native app to use forums on mobile devices. And yes, I know that Facebook and Twitter are platforms whereas forums are individually run using different software. However, this conversation convinced me of a need to find a way for forums to fight back against social media:
Three days I was speaking to my nine year old nephew who is into gadgets and technology. I explained to him that I don't have a smartphone and he looked at me as if I was from the planet Mars and he asked me how do I use the "apps." He meant, how do I access the internet, I think. I explained to him that I access the internet on my home computer via my web browser. He was totally confused...
To cut a long story short, the "internet" to him means the apps he can access on his smartphone and he explained that he has never used a browser and doesn't know what a forum is. He knows what Facebook is though.... and explained how easy it was to access it, as the app was on his phone's home screen. One tap of the app and he was in. He showed me the other apps on his home screen and to him that IS the internet, the apps that Android and/or IOS make available to him. Even though he is underage, he is already a "customer" of Facebook.
A couple of weeks ago, Facebook presented their latest financial results and they stated that 80-90% of their revenues come from mobile apps. Many people access the internet through a mobile device and when it comes to young people, they ALL do.
Unless forum software can adapt to this new world, there will be no forums in the future. Perhaps we all need to give up our little "kingdoms" and join together on a shared platform to make it happen. I don't know, but to many youngsters, Firefox, Chrome etc are things that they will never come across and if they don't, how can they ever discover and use our forums?
Thank you
Horizon