Stately - a NationStates app for Android

[Greater Tern]

It'd be nice to see that newspaper feature in Stately.

If you're talking about the NS++ newspapers, I've looked into it somewhat but my concern is that the NS++ project doesn't seem well maintained at this point (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If there's a great demand for more NS++ integration, I can look into it more.

I'm glad I recommended for it to be on the Amazon Appstore.

Thanks for bringing it up! It's definitely helped some people.

[The Danish Confederacy]

It'd be nice to see that newspaper feature in Stately.

If you're talking about the NS++ newspapers, I've looked into it somewhat but my concern is that the NS++ project doesn't seem well maintained at this point (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If there's a great demand for more NS++ integration, I can look into it more.

I'm glad I recommended for it to be on the Amazon Appstore.

Thanks for bringing it up! It's definitely helped some people.

Alright, and yes, it's NS++ newspapers.

Yey. Also, ever need any animation in ProcessingJS (JavaScript), let me know.

[Greater Tern]

Stately 1.6.3 is now out on Google Play, the Amazon Appstore and GitHub! This update contains several bug fixes and improvements, such as being able to move the app to external storage. Let me know what you think!

In other news, Stately has passed 5,000 downloads on Google Play! Thank you so much to everyone for your continued support. <3

[Parhe]

Love this application, as always. I was wondering, when you do an issue on the app and it shows you the effects by category, is this for default stats or "show more stats."

EDIT: Is it possible to reach the boneyard and edit banners while on the app?

[Greater Tern]

Stately 1.7.0 is now out on Google Play, the Amazon Appstore and GitHub! This is a major update that includes a lot of long-awaited features.

• Notifications! Get notified on new issues, telegrams and more.
• Themes! Choose from five exciting options such as 'Mercantile Noir'.
• Choose between Conservative, Liberal or Neutral government categories.
• Added World section — see the latest happenings around NationStates.
• Added census rankings for regions and the World.
• Telegrams can now be read directly from the main telegrams list.
• Restored the option to read through a telegram's conversation history.
• Add/remove nations and regions on your Dossier from the Explore screen.
• Improved regional poll support: vote on polls and see who else has voted.
• Added support for opening links to old WA resolutions.
• Improved layout formatting for devices on landscape.
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

I've been working really hard on this for the past month, so please let me know what you think! Comments, suggestions, complaints, anything, I'm all ears.

Also, Stately passed 6,000 downloads this week! The traffic from Reddit and Imgur caused a spike in new users not just on NS, but on Stately as well. Thanks y'all.

Love this application, as always. I was wondering, when you do an issue on the app and it shows you the effects by category, is this for default stats or "show more stats."

EDIT: Is it possible to reach the boneyard and edit banners while on the app?

Thank you! I believe those are just the default stats, I didn't write any logic to handle data from "show more stats".

Editing banners isn't possible right now, but it's been highly requested so it's something I might look into. The Boneyard is currently not supported unfortunately.

[Enfaru]

Can you make it easier to get to the region rmb please? Currently the link to get there is quite buried.

Also, I can't seem to select words? I tried double tapping but nothing. On a mobile device I often have to change words because of autocorrect and I often do this by selecting the word and then typing what I really wanted. Also doesn't support multi-touch selection either...

[Parhe]

Oh okay. Thank you for the quick responses, Greater Tern!

[Greater Tern]

Can you make it easier to get to the region rmb please? Currently the link to get there is quite buried.

Also, I can't seem to select words? I tried double tapping but nothing. On a mobile device I often have to change words because of autocorrect and I often do this by selecting the word and then typing what I really wanted. Also doesn't support multi-touch selection either...

Would it make more sense to put it under the "Overview" tab? Maybe just under the Quick Facts card?

And yeah, sorry about the selection issue. There were some visual bugs caused by selection so I had to turn it off. I'll prioritize fixing that, thanks for the feedback.

[Enfaru]

Creating a new tab for "Region" and then having it directly under there could be one solution.

Adding a direct link in the side bar is another.

As well as adding an item under the Quick Facts card.

Any of the above really. Thanks

[Greater Tern]

Stately 1.7.1 is now out on Google Play, the Amazon Appstore and GitHub! This is a minor update that contains some important bug fixes and other improvements, such as enabling text selection. Comments, suggestions and anything else are welcome.

Creating a new tab for "Region" and then having it directly under there could be one solution.

Adding a direct link in the side bar is another.

As well as adding an item under the Quick Facts card.

Any of the above really. Thanks

I haven't forgotten about this, don't worry. I think the best solution would be to put the RMB screen in the navigation drawer. It'll probably come in the next update hopefully.

[Navaronia]

I just recently saw this read and read through it, made me really glad. I applaud you and your hard work and dedication! I downloaded the app and I'm using it constantly, looking forward for the future!

[Greater Tern]

I just recently saw this read and read through it, made me really glad. I applaud you and your hard work and dedication! I downloaded the app and I'm using it constantly, looking forward for the future!

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

[Stellonia]

Would an iOS version be feasible?

[Imperium Anglorum]

Would an iOS version be feasible?

A number of issues:

1. Android apps are written in Java. This would have to rewritten entirely in Swift or Objective-C for iOS.
2. iOS apps require an Apple developer pass, which costs 99 dollars annually.

[Greater Tern]

Would an iOS version be feasible?

A number of issues:

1. Android apps are written in Java. This would have to rewritten entirely in Swift or Objective-C for iOS.
2. iOS apps require an Apple developer pass, which costs 99 dollars annually.

IA is right about the issues facing a possible iOS app. It's something to consider in the future though.

[Stellonia]

A number of issues:

1. Android apps are written in Java. This would have to rewritten entirely in Swift or Objective-C for iOS.
2. iOS apps require an Apple developer pass, which costs 99 dollars annually.

IA is right about the issues facing a possible iOS app. It's something to consider in the future though.

Given that you would have learn two new programming languages and pay $99/year to publish material on the App Store, I would recommend that you make a bit of money by selling ad space in Stately.

[Enfaru]

IA is right about the issues facing a possible iOS app. It's something to consider in the future though.

Given that you would have learn two new programming languages and pay $99/year to publish material on the App Store, I would recommend that you make a bit of money by selling ad space in Stately.

I would recommend against that. If anyone wishes to make money out of my content, they're going to have to pay me for it. I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

[Greater Tern]

Given that you would have learn two new programming languages and pay $99/year to publish material on the App Store, I would recommend that you make a bit of money by selling ad space in Stately.

Stately had ads once upon a time, but I removed them as soon as it was pointed out that it was against NS rules (which I'm fine with, since the ads degraded the user experience quite a bit). I think there's a better way to go about developing an iOS version, but that's still far out in the future so things are still up in the air.

I would recommend against that. If anyone wishes to make money out of my content, they're going to have to pay me for it. I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

That's not exactly true. NS has rights to distribute all user content, and Stately accesses these via the public NS API (instead of storing and retrieving them in some third party server). Think of it like the many Reddit clients on Android.

It's really NS's prerogative to determine what can be done with any of the site's content. Fortunately there is a 'no monetization' rule in place.

[LollerLand]

Given that you would have learn two new programming languages and pay $99/year to publish material on the App Store, I would recommend that you make a bit of money by selling ad space in Stately.

Stately had ads once upon a time, but I removed them as soon as it was pointed out that it was against NS rules (which I'm fine with, since the ads degraded the user experience quite a bit). I think there's a better way to go about developing an iOS version, but that's still far out in the future so things are still up in the air.

I would recommend against that. If anyone wishes to make money out of my content, they're going to have to pay me for it. I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

That's not exactly true. NS has rights to distribute all user content, and Stately accesses these via the public NS API (instead of storing and retrieving them in some third party server). Think of it like the many Reddit clients on Android.

It's really NS's prerogative to determine what can be done with any of the site's content. Fortunately there is a 'no monetization' rule in place.

Well then start taking donations then?

[[violet]]

I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

Stately lets people connect to NS servers and formats the data we send. It isn't a publisher. What you're suggesting is akin to asking Google to pay you for the privilege of having Chrome display your web pages.

[Enfaru]

I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

Stately lets people connect to NS servers and formats the data we send. It isn't a publisher. What you're suggesting is akin to asking Google to pay you for the privilege of having Chrome display your web pages.

Actually, google allows me to remove information. It's kind of an index first ask questions later. They cannot produce a description of my website or link to it if I opt out (you won't find any of my websites listed on Google, I have anti-google thing) further you can have your content removed from their indexes pretty easily.

I can also ban users of certain web browsers from accessing my content by invoking a script. Do you mean to say that you are extending the rights that I have given to you, to everyone else? To republish or redistribute as they wish without paying me for my time and trouble in creating content?

If "Chrome" started charging people to use their web browser to see my content. I would of course be demanding payment otherwise I would invoke the anti-chrome script (unfortunately, I can't opt out of things like Stately). My content is free to consume for non-profit and I allow Nationstates full rights to redistribute it as it sees fit with no limitation on time limits or methods (in line with the TOS).

Suffice to say, that Stately is literally a publisher. It takes content, reformats it and shows it to a lot of people. The TOS (in theory) suggests that only Nationstates are given the right to show the information through their services whatever they might be. Not to then be rejigged and reshown by a third party for the purposes of their own pocket.

Just to be clear Greater Tern, provided the app remains free I have no issues, just when people start charging for access to other peoples work that is otherwise available freely.

[Enfaru]

Given that you would have learn two new programming languages and pay $99/year to publish material on the App Store, I would recommend that you make a bit of money by selling ad space in Stately.

Stately had ads once upon a time, but I removed them as soon as it was pointed out that it was against NS rules (which I'm fine with, since the ads degraded the user experience quite a bit). I think there's a better way to go about developing an iOS version, but that's still far out in the future so things are still up in the air.

I would recommend against that. If anyone wishes to make money out of my content, they're going to have to pay me for it. I haven't given Stately a right to re-distribute my content but I'm willing to let it slide on a non-profit basis. The moment money starts getting involved, is the moment I'll start charging or start enforcing my copyrights.

That's not exactly true. NS has rights to distribute all user content, and Stately accesses these via the public NS API (instead of storing and retrieving them in some third party server). Think of it like the many Reddit clients on Android.

It's really NS's prerogative to determine what can be done with any of the site's content. Fortunately there is a 'no monetization' rule in place.

I didn't see this before responding to violet.

First of all, ads out woo.

Secondly, NS has the rights to distribute all user content to end users at least that's the implication. Of which I am fine with. What I am not fine with, is people taking my content without prior agreement and charging to access it (or at least attempting to). NS has the right to distribute my content. Stately has it too (it's free to use so I've no objection) but this is no guarantee that other third parties should in any way presume that they can re-distribute my content for profit.

Those many reddit clients... that I've found are free.

While it's NS's prerogative to determine what can and cannot be done with site content, it's not their prerogative to determine what can be done with my content beyond the https://nationstates.net domain. Specifically my written works, my art work, my nation's name, associated characters etcetera.

Edit:

I would advise taking donations. I have no objection to you getting money in return for your work.

[USS Monitor]

Soliciting donations is still using the app to generate profit, and the app would still be dependent on NS. I don't see how that's functionally different from running ads.

(This is just my point of view, not an official statement speaking for all NS staff.)

[Greater Tern]

Those many reddit clients... that I've found are free.

Free and supported by ads, yes. And there's usually a paid 'Pro' version that gets rid of ads. Do you have an issue with them showing NS content as well?

While it's NS's prerogative to determine what can and cannot be done with site content, it's not their prerogative to determine what can be done with my content beyond the https://nationstates.net domain. Specifically my written works, my art work, my nation's name, associated characters etcetera.

That's the thing, when you open Stately, it's not getting its data from some third party site like statelyserver.com, you're still within the nationstates.net domain. Stately gets all of its content directly from nationstates.net. If the site went down or the admins decide to start blocking traffic from Stately, the app would simply stop working.

As [violet] pointed out, this would be like asking Google to pay up for showing any of your NS content on Chrome (and let's face it, Chrome generates revenue one way or another).

I would advise taking donations. I have no objection to you getting money in return for your work.

As USS Monitor pointed out, donations fall under the 'profit' umbrella as well. Going back to the original question, for an iOS version it's not just about the money (though it's a big factor), there's a lot of other factors as well. There's a better way of going about it I think, but in any event that will not be happening for a while anyway.

[Enfaru]

I have no issue with them showing NS content one way or the other. That's nothing to do with me as I am not the rights holder.

I can on my own websites, block users of chrome if I so wished. However chrome does not get money that way, as far as I am aware it is completely free and does not come with any advertising whatsoever. It is funded in house by Alphabet. It has a further spin off called Chromium which is FOSS. There's a reason why the vast majority of the most popular browsers are free for users and do not come with advertising.

@USS Monitor, from my perspective, as long as it is otherwise provided freely. Much like how tv shows are *ahem* redistributed then I have no problem so long as the content remains freely available. Sure, I can still get ticked off by Adverts but then, there are tools that users can use to ignore those entirely (of which I make extensive use). The problem is potentially putting my content behind a paywall misleading users into thinking that they cannot get the same content elsewhere for free, especially when I'm not getting a cut.

I often support charities and those that work for free with no presumption of income Stately would be no different.

Edit: Greater Tern, if I'm not accessing http://www.nationstates.net myself then it is not within the NS domain. Stately provides another layer that makes use of NS API content.