Create a Loomio App for Android

I don't know what to say. We want to make Loomio good. Right now we're focusing on the decisions and integrating them into other tools.

We want people to have a good time using Loomio with their phones, but we can't spend much in that area this quarter. To deliver a good mobile experience means using a fast software stack. I personally believe that can be a web based stack, but we know users expect apps in app stores so we need to be able to deliver that.

We want bug reports written up in the normal way, but I can't promise to address the bigger problem at play here, if those reports are about the app being sluggish on mobile.

From what @koy said in the comment I was responding to it sounds like there are mobile bugs unrelated to it being sluggish. This is what I was suggesting detailed bug reports on, so it seems like this was the right advice to give, but now I'm unsure.

BTW Robert I tagged you in because I was looking for official comment from the Loomio crew to make sure I'm not giving people a bum steer. You are under no obligation to comment on these kinds of discussions if they frustrate you, as the tone of your comments suggests that they do. If you feel like you'd rather be using your time elsewhere, it's probably better all round if you honour that feeling :)

My general response to all the people calling for native apps for mobile is to ask them to really sit down and think about the quality of engagement on their Loomio groups. If people were able to hammer out comments or take positions on their mobile when they have a few seconds between other things , it might well increase the volume of participation, but it might also decrease quality of participation.

Decision-making is not social media (try a GNU Social or Mastodon mobile app), and it's not realtime chat (try an XMPP or Mumble app). It requires focus, and often some very delicate diplomacy, especially in an online platform that lacks all the subtle subverbal feedback available in face-to-face meetings. This is probably best done when you have time to sit down in front of a desktop or laptop.

If you really need to do something on Loomio on the run, it is available in mobile web browsers. It's a web app. That's the best place to use it, and the best place for the developers to focus their work on improving UX. The Signal text+voice chat app used to struggle along with push notifications relied on Google Play Services (on Android), and similar proprietary dependencies on iOS, but they are moving towards using WebRTC and other newer tech to improve the UX of their native apps. Maybe the Loomio team can look into borrowing some tricks from them to improve their web app UX?

One more thing, I've seen people claim that owning a desktop or laptop is a privilege. This just isn't true, or at least it doesn't need to be. Even the cheapest new mobile costs more than $100. I struggle to give away working 2nd hand desktops, and decent 2nd hand laptops can be bought as cheap as $50, both of which provide for a much greater range of uses than even an expensive mobile.

Also, desktops can be easily repaired by anyone who can use a screwdriver, and parts can be replaced cheap or free (by ripping working parts out of dead boxes), allowing them to last an average of 5-10 years with a regular oil change. The same is roughly true for laptops, although the hardware is much fiddlier to work on. Mobiles are doing well if they last a couple of years before needing to be replaced, and if you add up the cost of a new one every 2 years over a 10 year period, and compared it to the cost of 2 second hand laptops...

Sorry. Yes we want bug reports about mobile experiences. github issues is the right place for that.

Offical Loomio stance on mobile is that we want it to be great but know we've got a lot of work to do..