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IPad app for Stack Overflow

stacktraceapp.com

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31–39 of 39 posts

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#31

Post by jpdoctor »

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.

> From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense

Why is the browser insufficient?

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#32

Post by zoul »

jpdoctor wrote: post #31
zoul wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense Why is the browser insufficient?

The app’s UI is tailored for the device and therefore more convenient, if just by a small margin. I’m happy to pay €4 for that.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#33

Post by falling »

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…

off topic, but you are missing an important step in your workflow: verify solution found on stackoverflow. some of the answers there are terrible, even among the highly voted ones (remember that many of the people upvoting something may not know the answer themselves, they are learning it right there).

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#34

Post by richbradshaw »

thelbane wrote: post #27
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 g…

Ah, see what you mean about the details. The questions and tags would really make this app brilliant - I was surprised when I first used it that they weren't there.

Good luck with this - it's filling a niche that really needs filling!

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#36

Post by thelbane »

e-dard wrote: post #23
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.

Unfortunately correct until SE adds write support to the API, which we're told is in the works. For now, we provide a simple way to open questions in Mobile Safari which of course doesn't have this restriction.

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#37

Post by thelbane »

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…

Brian, one of our co-founders, wrote a short tumblr post about why we built the StackTrace app.

http://bigbigbomb.tumblr.com/post/17252346935/learning-from-...

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#38

Post by BenBBB »

e-dard wrote: post #23
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.

Here's a post about it from Kevin Montrose (API dev @ SE): http://kevinmontrose.com/2012/02/01/stack-exchange-api-v2-0-...

Re: IPad app for Stack Overflow

#39

Post by owenfi »

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 bought this the day it came out and have been using it occasionally for a couple weeks.

It has boosted my engagement because I enjoy browsing questions and tend to find ones I'm able to answer more readily. It's a joy to browse questions while sitting in a comfy chair but I usually switch to a computer to answer them (maybe that was just issues with finding my old account and logging in).

I still don't turn to it if I'm trying to solve a problem I'm facing.

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