IPad app for Stack Overflow • Hacker News Board

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#21

Post by kmfrk » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 12:31 PM UTC

The design on this is gorgeous, but it really needs some screenshots of the biggest concern: the writing screen.

Are there Markdown buttons available, or am I going to play finger Twister to reach the backticks, brackets, and asterisks?

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#22

Post by e-dard » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 12:32 PM UTC

Is it just me, or is using a proportional font for the code snippets not ideal?

Personally, I can't stand writing/reading code displayed in a proportional font.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#23

Post by e-dard » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 12:33 PM UTC

kmfrk wrote: post #21

The design on this is gorgeous, but it really needs some screenshots of the biggest concern: the writing screen. Are there Markdown buttons available, or am I going to play finger Twister to reach the backticks, brackets, and asterisks?

The SO API is read-only, so I assume this app won't allow you to submit questions/answers/comments etc.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#24

Post by cheshire137 » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:00 PM UTC

For $5? I think not.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#25

Post by reyan » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:17 PM UTC

Nice UI but the Slab Serif typeface is not suitable for reading large chunks of text IMO.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#26

Post by cageface » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:24 PM UTC

_gfrc wrote: post #20

cageface wrote: post #12

Nice looking UI. I think it's interesting and fairly ironic that using stock UI widgets in an iOS app is becoming more and more the mark of the amateur.

Which is very unfortunate. A common set of UI widgets, used for within the right context, are what I like about iOS. I don't want to re-learn how a widget works with every new app.

The fact that users tolerate and even encourage of flashy but inconsistent and impractical UI design says a lot about just how important most mobile apps are to their users.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#27

Post by thelbane » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:30 PM UTC

richbradshaw wrote: post #9

Overall, it's lovely, but a few small things would improve it massively: 1. Be able to see all the questions I've asked - I often ask something hard, and later need to reference the answers. It would be much easier to use if this info was easy to access. 2. Be able to see all questions from my tags in one view - I usually view SO in that way, scroll around till I find questions that interest me and either read the an…

You provided great arguments for 1 and 2. Adding a "my questions" view and an "all my tags" view are certainly worth considering and wouldn't be difficult to implement. Number 3 is actually implemented already. Once you select a tag or view all questions, pull the detail view down to reveal search and sort controls. We're considering showing these controls by default as users are not finding them.

Thank you for the great feedback and we're glad you're enjoying consuming SO content in a new way!

EDIT: Also, as soon as the Stack Exchange API supports write access, we'll be all over that.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#28

Post by zoul » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:38 PM UTC

guynamedloren wrote: post #10

Interestingly, this seems like one of those concepts that just doesn't make sense as an app. Perhaps I'm missing a use case, but personally, all of my coding is done at a computer... with a web browser... where Stack Overflow already exists, just milliseconds away. I couldn't see myself using this app as an effective replacement. My workflow goes like this: code > hit a problem > google it > open first result (usuall…

I like to browse some of the Stack Exchange sites simply to educate myself. From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense, although I would welcome a write API, too.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#29

Post by thelbane » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 1:55 PM UTC

zoul wrote: post #2

Congratulations, this is a very nice app. Finally somebody did more than just an ugly barebones iOS wrapper on top of the API. I just wish I had a similar app for the whole Stack Exchange.

I'm glad to hear you like our little app. As for access to the rest of the SE sites... (drumroll please)

Screenshot: http://stacktraceapp.com/images/topics.png

It's currently in private beta and should get submitted to the app store in the next couple weeks. This will be released as an update, so current users will gain access to the full SE network. :)

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#30

Post by notjustanymike » Mon, Apr 30, 2012, 2:50 PM UTC

zoul wrote: post #28

guynamedloren wrote: post #10

Interestingly, this seems like one of those concepts that just doesn't make sense as an app. Perhaps I'm missing a use case, but personally, all of my coding is done at a computer... with a web browser... where Stack Overflow already exists, just milliseconds away. I couldn't see myself using this app as an effective replacement. My workflow goes like this: code > hit a problem > google it > open first result (usuall…

I like to browse some of the Stack Exchange sites simply to educate myself. From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense, although I would welcome a write API, too.

Agreed - I usually hit SO in the morning to keep fresh on problems and solutions. It's part of my daily reading.