iPhone / Android Free Forum Apps now available

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
We are pleased to announce our new free Forum apps for iPhone and Android are now available. These new free apps allow much easier use of the forum on mobile devices, as the custom apps are specifically designed for use with smaller touch screen devices.

The apps support all the main forum functionality such as reading and posting to the community forums, blogs and articles. Advanced features such as search, personal mail and profiles are also fully supported.

  • The iPhone app is compatible with iOS 3.1.3+ (iPhone 3, iPhone 4, iPod Touch, iPad) and is a free download from the app store (search ‘PICAXE Forum’)
  • The Android app is compatible with Android Operating System 1.6+ and is a free download from the marketplace (search ‘PICAXE Forum’)

Enjoy!
 

techElder

Well-known member
The iPhone app works on my iPhone, but I can't get it to Submit a reply. The button is there but nothing visibly happens.
 

Anobium

Senior Member
It's seems there is an issue posting against Technicals announcement. I believe that I can reply against other posts.

Anobium
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
That is correct, the announcements forum is 'locked' and so can't be replied to using either a browser or the app.
 

techElder

Well-known member
Now it seems too work on my iPhone without a problem. Must have had one of those fat finger moments.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Speculative guesswork is always entertaining but reality rarely pans out as predicted. Who would have guessed the plight of Symbian a decade ago ?

Well, okay; I did. In the midst of talk of IPO and soaring Smart Phones numbers I predicted Linux would become a serious competitor long term.

The problem is that no one can really tell what will catch on and what will fail ( SMS was a lucky success, W@P a largely dismal failure ), and it's still not entirely clear what people want and what can best deliver it. Those failing can resurge and those at the top can plummet. The only things one can say is that what's around now will probably be around in some form in the future, there's always latest fads, and even 10% share of billions is a pretty solid base to have.
 

techElder

Well-known member
And now they (Google) have a device manufacturer (MOT) after they've managed to damage the gadget in the market ... go figger.
 

darb1972

Senior Member
Hi Rev Ed/Technical

Thanks for this App. So far works well on my Samsung Galaxy S Android. Makes nav easier than using a browser.

Good work Gents.

PS: Any chance of getting an Android version of the program editor and VSM sometime in the future? Might be wishful thinking?
 

darb1972

Senior Member
Can I suggest an improvement for the App? When type most Apps allow me to turn my phone sideways so the keyboard is bigger. This helps my stumpy fingers to hit the right keys. Any chance you can add this feature in a future update? Thanks.
 

darb1972

Senior Member
darb1972:178927 said:
Can I suggest an improvement for the App? When type most Apps allow me to turn my phone sideways so the keyboard is bigger. This helps my stumpy fingers to hit the right keys. Any chance you can add this feature in a future update? Thanks.
Sorry, my mistake (or as the kiddies say, "my bad"). This feature works. The problem was with my phone. Sorry.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
PS: Any chance of getting an Android version of the program editor and VSM sometime in the future? Might be wishful thinking?
That could be more wishful thinking than anything likely to happen any time soon. Android uses Dalvik, a Virtual Machine which executes programs written in Java, so anything not already coded in Java would have to be rewritten from the ground up, and that would be no small undertaking.

VSM is primarily a product from Labcenter Electronics which Revolution Education partners with to provide PICAXE simulation; any Android version of VSM would have to come from Labcenter.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Thanks Rev-Ed for this.
Cant work out how to select attachments? iPhone version.

Texy
With the app you can select and add images or videos (via the appropriate buttons on the text entry screen).
Note that images can be photos that you have just taken with the mobile's camera, so that is a very useful way of quickly uploading photos of your project to the forum.

You can manage photos via the albums function (select 'Photos' from the main menu biutton).
 

Hydroid

Senior Member
iPhone/iPad app quirk?

Hi, Love the iPad app (using it right now for this message). One problem I have is when my message gets long enough to fill the text window and the text gets stuck behind the 'format' and 'smilies' black bars - hard to see what you're typing.

Just me having this issue. Is there a way around it that I'm unaware of ?

Thanks, John.

(Screen shot added as example...
 

Attachments

Buzby

Senior Member
iPod app - a 'How do I ...' question.

Hi All,

I've finally entered the iAge, with a 'hand me down' iPod from my 14 yr old son.

The app is great, so much easier than the web browser interface.

But I have some issues.

It's probably me not knowing how to drive an iThing, so maybe someone can educate me.

When I've opened an attachement from a posting, I don't know how to return to the posting.
I always seem to close the app, and have to start again.

Also, I can't get it to do the 'turn on side' behaviour for reading posts, but it does it with attachments.

Cheers,

Buzby
 

BrAtKo

New Member
Hello Ive seen the app but I was sad that only iPhone edition and not universal one to support iPad as well. Anyway the support of most used forum system Tapatalk would be welcome a lot instead developing own app. Tapatalk client exists on every platfrom and I have already lot of forums mapped in. Do you have plan to enable your forum to Tapatalk too ? Thank you.
 

westaust55

Moderator
While this suggestion may be genuine, it Seems a little strange that a member who has just joined the forum is seeking to recommend this plugin??? Self promotion???

Such a feature may be useful for those on social media who skip back and forth between multiple various chat rooms, however for those accessing a technical forum IMHO those accessing the PiCAXE and similar forums are/should be concentrating on the forum, what they are writing/reading, and solving their problems, not chatting to social friends between each sentence on this forum.

What extra benefits does Tapatalk bring to the technical side if this forum
Members here need the ability to post code (often out of the PE from their PC), add schematics as well as photos of their projects.

I'm not sure about Rev Eds position and can not speak directly for them but, if I were in charge of their forum, I would not want to install any 3rd party software if at all possible. Some reasons include:
1. this plugin costs real money for the features Rev Ed would need.
2. anything you add potentially causes problems with support and forum reliability, certainly adds to the maintenance overhead costs.
There would have to be a large portion of the active membership clamoring for this feature before I'd spend much time looking into it.

There seems to be some linkage between Tapatalk and "Google Play" so are users being tracked by Google?

Tapatalk seems to promote the idea that you can promote your forum at other sites. The PiCAXE forum is a technical forum and I doubt that the average Facebook or similar user who does not own a PICAXE chip is likely to actually visit the PICAXE forum.
 
Last edited:

BrAtKo

New Member
Hello westaust, hello all (you scared me with your tone) :) Let me introduce, Im not a bot im not a promoter, im a beginner. Im here because Ive just bought picaxe kit (thanks rev eds for package Ive received yesterday) and Id like to read the forum in very comfortable form like I do with most of the forums Im member of. Yes Im using Tapatalk heavily on iPad like thousands other users because it is very usefull tool, but you should test it first by yourself. The plugin DOES NOT COST money, it is free, it cost about 10 minutes of time to configure it. The lot of readings is the start point of beginner like me. Thank you for understanding me.
PS i have installed picaxe forum app as well but it is for iphone only, on ipad it is in terrible screen resolution
 
Last edited:

Hemi345

Senior Member
FYI, don't try to edit a blog entry with the Android forum app if you have any links, images or font decoration. It will munge all the bb-specific tags by turning them into regular html markup.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
iPhone app gone (again), no colour syntax in code for Android

No one seems to have posted about the mobile apps recently and it's almost the third anniversary of the last update to the PICAXE Forum app for Android!

A lot has changed in that time, not least the current editor's Copy for Forum option now featuring colour syntax highlighting, which does not get parsed in the app and shows all the tags.

picaxe android.png

Other issues include the low resolution of the on screen buttons (even though 720p screens were starting to appear back then) and when reading blogs, the blog itself gets little over 50% of the screen area.

The iPhone app is gone but apparently still available in the Kenyan app store. Not the first time it's disappeared.

picaxe ios.PNG

iPhone screenshot courtesy of Kailesh
 

rs2845

Senior Member
You guys know that this forum does have a mobile optimised theme built in? so much better than the iOS and android apps. It hasn't been updated for a long time.

To use the mobile theme, in the bottom-left corner you'll see a drop down (the one to the left of the language selector) and choose "Default Mobile Style".

You get access to the full user control panel and far more superior searching capabilities that work properly.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
You guys know that this forum does have a mobile optimised theme built in? so much better than the iOS and android apps. It hasn't been updated for a long time.

To use the mobile theme, in the bottom-left corner you'll see a drop down (the one to the left of the language selector) and choose "Default Mobile Style".

You get access to the full user control panel and far more superior searching capabilities that work properly.
Yes but the massive Download the free forum app banner is still at the top of the page on the desktop version so it still looks like they're recommending it.
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
I'll let those who deal with the mobile app know about the reported issues.
 
Top