Community Wishlist Survey 2017/Mobile and apps/Mobile app for sister projects

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Mobile app for sister projects

  • Problem: Now exists Wikipedia mobile application (Android). But all links to sister projects like Wikiquote, Wikisource or Wiktionary must be opened using browser.
  • Who would benefit: All mobile users
  • Proposed solution: Rewrite current app or make new one which will support other Wikimedia projects too.
  • More comments:
  • Phabricator tickets:

Discussion[edit]

  • I wonder whether it would be a better investment to concentrate on making MediaWiki more functional in mobile web browsers than on making apps for different platforms. Anomie (talk) 13:11, 7 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Great idea with supporting more platforms. I feel the new Iphone for Wikimedia app that now supports Forced touch or 3D touch is an argument for native applications. I can see this Forced touch as a new possibility to navigate a link and have more targets that would open up new very interesting possibilities that current mobile web browser cant. As more and more people use smartphones and the smartphone also makes it much more important to getting relevant information based on the users current location I think native apps are prefered as long as the mobile web interface has less functionality... - Salgo60 (talk) 10:52, 17 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • This may be out of the Community team's ability to deliver, given that app development is a specialized skillset. I'd look to the Commons app on Android as a the best example of how to make this happen. That project is volunteer owned, with support from a Foundation grant, and occasional consultation with the Foundation's Android team. --JMinor (WMF) (talk) 18:57, 20 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I verry much understand and agree to JMinors concerns. Instead the MobileFrontend for mobile view should be further developed and optimized for all projects (e. g. making Categories accessible in the sister projects, making accessible Wikitext syntax highlighting to the same time as in the desktop version, highlighting unseen changes in the watchlist, etc.). Such improvements would be accessible from all devices so anyone could benefit form them and the mobile solution of wikimedia would behave similar on diffrent devices/OS. The development of excellent and fullscale open platform solutions should be priorititzed to walled garden applications by wikimedia staff. Of course volunteer projects are always welcome. --X:: black ::X (talk) 14:13, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Voting[edit]