One of the important things when running a website like eBrandon that so many people rely on to stay connected is that you need to make it as easy as possible for people to stay in touch no matter where they are or what they're doing. For a few years we've had a stripped down mobile version of the eBrandon website, but its become more and more apparent over the last year that Western Manitobans have vastly increased how much they use iOS-based devices to access this site while on the go. With that in mind, after several weeks of development and a couple more of testing version 1.0 of the eBrandon App for iPhone and iPod Touch is now available as a free download in the Apple App Store.  
 
The focus of the app to start is on three sections:  
- discussions  
- classifieds  
- photos  
 
For discussions you can browse and read existing threads as well as use your member account to start new threads and reply to existing ones. There's also a search built in that lets you quickly find a thread  
 
For classifieds, you can browse ads by category, search ads and reply to ads. The other feature and one of the main reasons that I ended up building the app is that you can now quickly and easily post ads complete with a picture. All you have to do is navigate to the category you'd like to place it in and click on the plus sign in the top-right corner.  
 
Because of the phone's camera capabilities, the photos tab was a natural to include in an app. You can browse some of the more recently submitted pictures and search the archive of pics… but more importantly you can now also quickly and easily add photos taken with your phone or iPod. While testing the app I've already found this to be a really handy thing to be able to do while out and about in the city and noticing something discussion-worthy or something related to a current thread thats taking place (there's also a button right in each thread that lets you add a picture directly to that particular discussion). Basically with this option, the community can see anything you see within a few seconds.  
 
For any feature that requires logging in such as replying to a post or uploading a photo, you will be asked to login with a popup window. If you'd like to avoid this popup window, simply put your email address and password under the settings tab and the site will use the info you've placed in that tab to automatically log you in every time and save you the typing.  
 
As far as requirements, you'll have to have the latest version of iOS installed which means that you have to have at minimum an iPhone 3GS or iPod touch 3rd generation. It will also install run on iPad complete with camera functionality, but is designed for the Phone and Touch screen size.  
 
All that said, its important to stress that this wasn't designed to be a full-out replacement for eBrandon… but as a mobile companion to the site that can be quickly and easily used to stay connected to the community while on the go. I already have some great suggestions and ideas for future versions to make the mobile experience even better and look forward to evolving this as a tool and extension of this website.  
 
You can find it for download by doing an App Store search for "eBrandon"... or the direct download link is:  
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebrandon/id533940920?ls=1&mt=8  
 
A big thanks to everyone that helped with testing and to everyone especially over the past several months that asked me "Why doesn't eBrandon have an iPhone app yet?" (you know who you are Pizza Hotline dude ).  
 
Side note for Android folks. You might've read in some of the posts in the thread a couple weeks ago that there aren't any immediate plans for an app for that platform as there just aren't enough people in Westman that use it yet. As time goes on I'd expect that to change and suspect that I will eventually be porting this same app over to it.

Posted from the app  

Thought there would be more demand for it. I for one have an Android phone and would like an Android version. Maybe a thread or poll needs to be created for Android users to see the actual number in Westman.  
 
With the number of Android phones now available, there must be enough Android eBrandon users.

Trevor B said "Thought there would be more demand for it. I for one have an Android phone and would like an Android version. Maybe a thread or poll needs to be created for Android users to see the actual number in Westman.     With the number of Android phones now available, there must be enough Android eBrandon users. "

Site stats show 5x more traffic on iOS devices. Just can't justify it right now, but if more people keep buying Android phones I'll definitely look at it. I respect how much Android folks love their devices and it might be worth another thread rather than this one going too far down that road......... even if to just generally get a sense for who's out there in the local Android community. Right now the numbers speak for themselves though.  
 
Edited by Adam, 2012-06-14 19:58:25

Hey Adam good job on new iPhone app!  

Way to go Adam. Keep up the great work!

Adam said "    Trevor B said "Thought there would be more demand for it. I for one have an Android phone and would like an Android version. Maybe a thread or poll needs to be created for Android users to see the actual number in Westman.     With the number of Android phones now available, there must be enough Android eBrandon users. " Site stats show 5x more traffic on iOS devices. Just can't justify it right now, but if more people keep buying Android phones I'll definitely look at it. I respect how much Android folks love their devices and it might be worth another thread rather than this one going too far down that road......... even if to just generally get a sense for who's out there in the local Android community. Right now the numbers speak for themselves though.     Edited by Adam, 2012-06-14 19:58:25"

5x more iOS traffic, didn't think it was that much currently.

Does it log you out on your computer when you log in on the app? and vice versa?

Nope... It'll remember both your iOS and standard computer login sessions without booting you out of the other.  
 
Trevor: I'm sure it's closer than that worldwide, but locally for eBrandon those are the numbers for the past 30 days

Pretty pumped about this app. Quite a bit easier for my many quick snoops during the day. Thanks.  

Thanks Adam. I will get it then and check it out.

Safari will not let me log into my ebrandon account and neither will the app. Both just refresh every time I submit my email and password info.

Great work, and GREAT idea Adam!! 2 thumbs up!!

This is much better Adam!! Great job!  

Posted from the app.  
 
Then edited from my PC. Pretty neat feature.  
 
Krunch  
 
Edited by krunch, 2012-06-14 20:28:12

Have an Android phone and a 2gen iPod. My brother downloaded it on his iPhone 3GS.

Thanks for the early feedback everyone  
 
Je Suis: please send me a pm or contact form submission. If its happening on both it'll be something to do with your account that we'll figure out.

LOVE the app Adam! Great job!

Test  

Test again

Love it!

:-) Okay, I love the new toy ;-)  

Luv the new app!! Thanx Adam

Hey Adam! Not sure if this is possible, but if anyone can make it possible, it's you! Anyway you can make some sort of feature that notify's you when an item your after comes on sale? Or maybe a discussion your waiting for to happen! Some sort of keyword trigger? THAT would be cool! Just a thought, you do amazing work!  

Definitely like the idea of some type of use of the push notification system that's built into iOS. I'm sure as a few glitches are found and ironed out I'll put out minor updates but will have to see what's involved in setting up notifications when I do the next major update.

App was quick to download and user friendly great job! Look forward to watching it evolve.

 
 
Edited by farm_boi, 2012-06-14 23:07:18

Quick download and easy to use!! Great job!  

Waiting for Android version of it.

Finally