Stately - a NationStates app for Android

[Phydios]

I've got to stop reading this post- jealousy meters are dangerously high.

I have no idea how to emulate an app, even if it's possible, I would have no idea what to do.

Now I know the admins said they wouldn't make the app, but if you (OP) had a licensing deal with Mr. Barry and whichever company of his owns the NS game, I'm certain they would pay for the Apple costs. I have a strong feeling they have enough coin to do it.

However, this is just speculation, and in no way am I a representative of either parties and I am not giving any legal or business advice.This is just constructive brainstorming to help us suffering iOS users get equality among the operating systems to appreciate this masterpiece of an app.

Definitely. I went to the hassle of running a virtual Android device on my computer and loading Stately onto it. Then I wished I could use it on a regular basis. I do wish there was some way to get it on the App Store.

[Greater Tern]

I've got to stop reading this post- jealousy meters are dangerously high.

I have no idea how to emulate an app, even if it's possible, I would have no idea what to do.

Now I know the admins said they wouldn't make the app, but if you (OP) had a licensing deal with Mr. Barry and whichever company of his owns the NS game, I'm certain they would pay for the Apple costs. I have a strong feeling they have enough coin to do it.

However, this is just speculation, and in no way am I a representative of either parties and I am not giving any legal or business advice.This is just constructive brainstorming to help us suffering iOS users get equality among the operating systems to appreciate this masterpiece of an app.

Definitely. I went to the hassle of running a virtual Android device on my computer and loading Stately onto it. Then I wished I could use it on a regular basis. I do wish there was some way to get it on the App Store.

Aww you guys

There is an alternative to paying Apple $100 a year, but it'll be a hassle for anyone who wants to use the app. They'd need to download the source code to a Mac, build it in Xcode and deploy it to their iDevice. They would have to check back manually for updates and repeat the process again if needed. Not the hardest thing, but it'll be annoying. Also, iOS users using Windows computers would be out of luck. That said, a developer would still need a Mac to make the app in the first place.

Unfortunately, I can't build an iOS app at the moment as I don't have a Mac. There's also the matter of learning Objective-C/Swift as well as iOS development patterns, which will require some time.

[Laevendell]

Very nice! Good to see another Android app.
Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss problems and solutions.

[Greater Tern]

Very nice! Good to see another Android app.
Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss problems and solutions.

Thanks! Feel free to contact me as well.

[The Constellation Islands]

Maybe some Good Samaritan will come 'round and mess about with making the source code applicable for iOS, @Greater Tern. That is beyond my league ( I can understand a few lines of Java and that's about it) so I will cross my fingers and wait earnestly.

[Zocra]

Feature suggestion: Add timer for next issue like NS does.

[Greater Tern]

Feature suggestion: Add timer for next issue like NS does.

Will do! I'll push this in the next update.

[Zocra]

Feature suggestion: Add timer for next issue like NS does.

Will do! I'll push this in the next update.

Gracias!

[Zhenya]

Great job with the app

[Greater Tern]

Great job with the app

Thanks, glad you like it!

[Laevendell]

Is the app open source?
I wanted to try it but noticed I had to input my password just to get anywhere at all, even if I'm not using logged-in features.
Having the source code available would not only allow people to confirm that their passwords are not being snatched, but could also allow for other people to help find bugs.

[Greater Tern]

Is the app open source?
I wanted to try it but noticed I had to input my password just to get anywhere at all, even if I'm not using logged-in features.
Having the source code available would not only allow people to confirm that their passwords are not being snatched, but could also allow for other people to help find bugs.

That's a really serious -- but valid -- accusation to make, which is why I've chosen to open-source Stately (GitHub repository here).

The part that handles a nation's password is at LoginActivity.java at line 224. If anyone goes over the code for this, they'll be able to verify what I said earlier about password handling:

On security, the app makes all of its requests to NationStates through HTTPS. For autologin and nation switching, Stately never stores passwords -- instead, it keeps track of a nation's autologin token (which is what the actual site uses to keep you logged in). This token expires after a month or so, or when you change passwords.

They can also verify that Stately only talks to the NationStates servers when logging in.

Another part where Stately asks for a password is for moving to locked regions, which can be found at ExploreActivity.java at line 588. In this case, Stately talks to NationStates with the password a user entered, then shows a message telling them if the move was successful or not based on NationStates's response. The password is never stored at any time.

I hope that answers your concerns about password security.

---

While we're at it, I'd like to point out that your app -- NSDroid -- does not appear to be logging in users through HTTPS -- see API.java at line 849. Anyone with a network sniffer would be able to capture a packet from NSDroid, check the header contents, and extract the password. You should probably fix that.

[Laevendell]

That's great news!
I'm sorry you took my post as an accusation, since I only meant to point out the potential insecurities of users of a closed source app and the advantages of an open source app.
Now that Stately is open source I can happily confirm that it does not use the password entered in LoginActivity.java for anything other than logging the nation in question in.

And already we see the benefits of open source at work - thanks for pointing the HTTPS problem out. I will fix this as soon as possible.
P.S. I love your ASCII art in DashHelper.java.

[The Snazzylands]

Is there an app like this for iPhone?

Nationstates works just fine on Safari in my experience.

[Phydios]

Is there an app like this for iPhone?

Nationstates works just fine on Safari in my experience.

If the mobile site satisfied GB, I don't think they'd be asking about this app, do you?

[Greater Tern]

That's great news!
I'm sorry you took my post as an accusation, since I only meant to point out the potential insecurities of users of a closed source app and the advantages of an open source app.
Now that Stately is open source I can happily confirm that it does not use the password entered in LoginActivity.java for anything other than logging the nation in question in.

And already we see the benefits of open source at work - thanks for pointing the HTTPS problem out. I will fix this as soon as possible.
P.S. I love your ASCII art in DashHelper.java.

My apologies as well -- looking back, my post does sound a bit harsh. I definitely understand your concerns about security, and I probably would've asked the same questions for another app. I hope we'll be able to help each other moving forward.

[Laevendell]

My apologies as well -- looking back, my post does sound a bit harsh. I definitely understand your concerns about security, and I probably would've asked the same questions for another app. I hope we'll be able to help each other moving forward.

I'm sure we will be able to help each other and I'm open to discussing ideas and solutions to potential problems. We're now also two who can remind [violet] about implementing a logged-in API, to avoid scraping web pages.
Also, the app looks great!

[Greater Tern]

New update! Stately 1.3.4 is now up, with the following changes:

• Time to next issue is now shown in the Issues screen.
• WA category descriptions are now available in the Nation > People screen.
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

Comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.

[Pikachu01]

Hi,

Is it an API issue that sometimes the Stately app will error out into the login form? It says Cannot connect to Nationstates as well.

[Greater Tern]

Hi,

Is it an API issue that sometimes the Stately app will error out into the login form? It says Cannot connect to Nationstates as well.

Stately only shows that message if it can't establish a connection to the site for some reason. I've noticed it happens sometimes, but if the app is showing that all the time, that would be unusual. Are you having issues getting past the login screen?

EDIT: Logins are working for me using the latest version (1.3.4).

[Greater Tern]

Stately 1.4.0 is now out! This update adds telegram support to Stately -- read, compose and reply to telegrams! Thanks to [violet] and her team for approving my proposal to add telegrams into the app.

This update also increases the app's network timeout settings, which should reduce "Couldn't connect to NationStates" errors, along with other bug fixes and improvements.

Comments and suggestions are welcome as usual.

[Pokken-Land]

Hi,

Is it an API issue that sometimes the Stately app will error out into the login form? It says Cannot connect to Nationstates as well.

Stately only shows that message if it can't establish a connection to the site for some reason. I've noticed it happens sometimes, but if the app is showing that all the time, that would be unusual. Are you having issues getting past the login screen?

EDIT: Logins are working for me using the latest version (1.3.4).

Logins worked fine. Just that the timeout is too short. I see that it's been fixed in the newer version.

Thanks!

[Parhe]

I love this app so far. The screenshots look great and all, but it's nothing compared to seeing it "in person."

I had of one question-suggestion. I noticed that "People" only shows the ways of death that actually occur in your nation and are visible on the pie chart while "Government" and "Economy" show all possible expenditures and contribution to economy, respectively, even if they don't apply (for instance, my nation has no "State-Owned" but it shows up under the chart). I just pointed it out as it appeared inconsistent and so possibly unintended.

I had a suggestion, about that. It is nice seeing all the possibilities, but it can be confusing, since some of the colors are similar. Perhaps some expenditures that the government does not spend on under "Government" can be grayed. And the same for "Economy" and, if changed, "People." Of course, just suggestion. I love this app!

[Nationalist Gold Union]

Are there push notifications for this app?

[Greater Tern]

I love this app so far. The screenshots look great and all, but it's nothing compared to seeing it "in person."

I had of one question-suggestion. I noticed that "People" only shows the ways of death that actually occur in your nation and are visible on the pie chart while "Government" and "Economy" show all possible expenditures and contribution to economy, respectively, even if they don't apply (for instance, my nation has no "State-Owned" but it shows up under the chart). I just pointed it out as it appeared inconsistent and so possibly unintended.

I had a suggestion, about that. It is nice seeing all the possibilities, but it can be confusing, since some of the colors are similar. Perhaps some expenditures that the government does not spend on under "Government" can be grayed. And the same for "Economy" and, if changed, "People." Of course, just suggestion. I love this app!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

That's actually a result of how the NationStates API returns data -- mortality only contains data on causes that exist in your nation, while government spending and the economic sectors return data on every possible option. I can look into simplifying this in the next update. Thanks for the suggestion.

Are there push notifications for this app?

Nope, sorry. I don't think NationStates supports actual push notifications, where the server itself pushes (sends) notification data to devices connected to it. For notifications in general, it's on my to-do list, but I'm not sure when it'll go live. In this case, the app will have to check the server for new data every so often, which could potentially increase server load.