if I may jump in here... I read AO3 almost exclusively on my phone. I have a site skin that makes the page more accessible to me for what I need on mobile: increase the font size, white on black, etc. And still, there are menus and buttons and fields that seem tiny for my big fingers. the desktop/website style is not ideal for touch screens.
Also I agree 100% on it being overwhelming. Those navigation options are just cluttering up the screen. Even modern websites hide theirs behind burger menus or cogwheel icons. Because most of the time, the AO3 users just wants to find a specific fandom/pairing/freeform tag and open the work.
So even I - old enough to understand all those visual cues you mentioned - would love an app, hoping that it would simplify the interaction on the main usage paths: find a tag, filter works in it, open a work from the list. Fewer visible options, fingertip-sized interactive elements, maybe even auto-filtering certain things (I'd love to never ever see WIPs and Mpreg), getting more than 20 favorite links, ...
An app would definitely make AO3 easier to access for a lot of people - but how would that app be developed and maintained by an entirely volunteer workforce? Not to mention that it wouldn't be one app, it would be at least two. One for Android and one for iPhone. And then you bring the app stores into it and the apps would be taken down in fairly short order because of the content that AO3 allows.
I don't personally see a way to make an AO3 app a viable option without a public API, and they can't release that until the Archive is at least at a 1.0 release and out of beta.
I completely agree that it's unfeasible, just lamenting the fact that we can't have it *pouts* XD The other thing that AO3 could look into is providing a skin that looks more like an app...a web-app. Some websites display quite nicely and interact well on mobile.
Thanks for the tip, I'll try to find that specific one... (I just found the ao3_skins comm on DW \o/)
We're just back to a great entrance barrier for people who don't understand skins. It requires realizing skins are an option, creating an account, finding one you like, finding the tutorial, doing the work,... a lot of effort and some technical know-how, especially when you want desktop and mobile views to differ.
It would be cool if the standard mobile skin were even more mobile friendly :) And some things you can't do with skins alone. Although CSS has come a long way.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
memorizingthedigitsofpi) wrote2021-06-17 11:10 pm
no subject
Also I agree 100% on it being overwhelming. Those navigation options are just cluttering up the screen. Even modern websites hide theirs behind burger menus or cogwheel icons. Because most of the time, the AO3 users just wants to find a specific fandom/pairing/freeform tag and open the work.
So even I - old enough to understand all those visual cues you mentioned - would love an app, hoping that it would simplify the interaction on the main usage paths: find a tag, filter works in it, open a work from the list.
Fewer visible options, fingertip-sized interactive elements, maybe even auto-filtering certain things (I'd love to never ever see WIPs and Mpreg), getting more than 20 favorite links, ...
no subject
I don't personally see a way to make an AO3 app a viable option without a public API, and they can't release that until the Archive is at least at a 1.0 release and out of beta.
no subject
The other thing that AO3 could look into is providing a skin that looks more like an app...a web-app. Some websites display quite nicely and interact well on mobile.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2021-06-19 06:58 am (UTC)(link)there actually are a couple of basically browser skin style apps out there. Archive Track Reader is the only name I can remember.
They're made by independent fans, not anyone connected to the OTW so be careful on that score, but I've heard good things from people who use them?
no subject
Thanks for the tip, I'll try to find that specific one... (I just found the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ao3_skins comm on DW \o/)
We're just back to a great entrance barrier for people who don't understand skins. It requires realizing skins are an option, creating an account, finding one you like, finding the tutorial, doing the work,... a lot of effort and some technical know-how, especially when you want desktop and mobile views to differ. It would be cool if the standard mobile skin were even more mobile friendly :) And some things you can't do with skins alone. Although CSS has come a long way.