[Idea] Android/iOS mobile app

omarkohl commented 1 year ago

Rationale

Most people carry a smartphone around with them
It's ideal for making quick things right when you think of them e.g. create a new forecast that just popped into your head
Having a desktop application you need to start when booting your PC is much more cumbersome
The need to make forecasts quickly on the go is the most frequent piece of feedback I have been getting from people having a look at Cleodora.

Plan for 1.0

Right now the idea is to have a web application that people can run on their PC, their home server or on some private server in the cloud. This web application can then be accessed with any browser, including one on your smartphone. The Web UI must be mobile friendly.

Problems

Starting the (single binary) web application on the PC and opening localhost:N is already somewhat challenging for many people. Running the application as a service, with a fixed IP etc. to be able to access it on the go will not be an option for many users.
If the mobile device has no internet connection or is not in the same network as the web application server then it can't be used

Possible Solutions

Batch Import

Implement an easy batch import function in the web UI e.g. to import a simple CSV, for example:

Will I get a promotion in 3 months?;40%;2023-03-01
Will the price of gas drop to 1.50 € tomorrow?;5%;2022-11-14

Then it would be possible to create forecasts by writing into a text file on the phone or any other device. When having access to the Web UI just copy paste into it.

Simple Mobile 'Creator' App

A simple app that just allows recording new forecasts and creates them in the Cleodora app server when a "Sync" button is pressed. Then the forecasts disappear. It's only for creating forecasts on the go and pushing them to the server when you get home and start the PC.

Full Blown Mobile App

Completely separate code base that has at least the most important features of the Cleodora web application. Probably some sync functionality needed to synchronize phone with desktop to leverage the power of the web application version.

omarkohl commented 1 year ago

One potential user reported being happy with just the "Simple Mobile Creator App" for now, but that the ability to create forecasts on the go is a must.

omarkohl commented 1 year ago

A PWA (Progressive Web App) with local storage when offline could be a first step. When connecting in the local network the data is synced, otherwise it is just stored locally.

omarkohl commented 11 months ago

I have decided to proceed on this with an Android "Simple Mobile 'Creator' App" because of the usefulness of being able to make forecasts on the go.

cleodora-forecasting / cleodora