ArchWiki Viewer for Android

ioos · 2012-10-12 18:27:35

This is something I mentioned a while back and I finally put it together.

The application is very simple. Basically it grabs pages from the wiki online, then replaces the css with my own, which is used to hide parts of the page that are not essential to the content. The result is a clutter free viewer for reading and searching the contents of our beloved ArchWiki. It is a dedicated reader as the full function of the wiki (editing, viewing changes, etc) can still be accessed through the standard Android browser. For the time being, it's (mostly) English only. However, I haven't figured out how to filter other languages out of the search results.

This is my first Android application and I intend to update it based on feedback, so expect frequent updates for the time being. If you have any input, please leave it in this thread or email me at the address listed in the Play store.

The source is available on my github.

Link to Google Play.

ONJUJ.png?1 DAnKF.png?1

ZekeSulastin · 2012-10-12 18:48:38

A couple things:
1) The title bar is HUGE on a Galaxy Nexus (as is the font, comparatively - you can zoom in but not out)
2) Dark CSS theme please

Very nice app otherwise. (I'll test it on my old LG Ally if I can find the thing ...)

Last edited by ZekeSulastin (2012-10-12 19:22:13)

ewaller · 2012-10-12 23:46:28

Very well done. Thank you, the App is now a fixture on my phone.

robstwd · 2012-10-13 08:30:45

Brilliant! I have just downloaded it. Thanks ioos

satanselbow · 2012-10-13 09:12:30

Excellent tool - will be very helpful in future for those inevitable "I borked my installation cos I didn't read the wiki" moments

prazzb · 2012-10-13 12:11:16

Why isn't page formatted to the screen...... much of the page on the right side is blank...why is it so

ioos · 2012-10-13 20:12:27

ZekeSulastin wrote:

A couple things:
1) The title bar is HUGE on a Galaxy Nexus (as is the font, comparatively - you can zoom in but not out)
2) Dark CSS theme please
Very nice app otherwise. (I'll test it on my old LG Ally if I can find the thing ...)

I'll look into the title bar. It should scale to the screen size, but I can see how it might be too big on smaller screens. (Most of my testing is done on Nexus 7.)

Not allowing it to zoom out further was intentional. I don't think it would be readable if the text was any smaller. Please tell me if you feel differently.

Dark css might be something that I look into down the road, but for now I want to focus on making the core functions work before I add any "unnecessary" complexity.

prazzb wrote:

Why isn't page formatted to the screen...... much of the page on the right side is blank...why is it so

99% of the page content will be formatted to the screen size. Most pages don't have the white space on the side. The ones that do, for example the Beginner's Guide, have a portion of text formatted as "code" which never wraps the text by design. I'll play with the css to see if I can force it to wrap in a way that makes it clear that it's a continuation of the previous line. I'm not sure if it's possible though.
EDIT: Dumb. Of course this is possible.

Thanks for the compliments guys. If you like the app, please don't be afraid to leave a rating in the Play store

Last edited by ioos (2012-10-30 19:33:09)

rutgerr · 2012-10-13 20:18:55

I'm using this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta … y5BV09MIl0.

I will try yours too

Last edited by rutgerr (2012-10-13 20:22:04)

Jristz · 2012-10-14 02:22:08

Ups forget report:

Thanks for this app, it USEFULL in the good sense

Last edited by Jristz (2012-10-14 02:23:14)

ewaller · 2012-10-14 02:25:31

It was in Play Store here in the states.

FlyingHappy · 2012-10-14 03:04:43

Downloaded it on my og transformer, looks very nice. I think it will be quite useful in many situations!

prazzb · 2012-10-14 17:27:32

ioos wrote:

99% of the page content will be formatted to the screen size. Most pages don't have the white space on the side. The ones that do, for example the Beginner's Guide, have a portion of text formatted as "code" which never wraps the text by design. I'll play with the css to see if I can force it to wrap in a way that makes it clear that it's a continuation of the previous line. I'm not sure if it's possible though.

I reported it after seeing the systemd page on the app. A horizontal scroll bar for no reason.

Not a bug however. Does exactly what it says. Nice

SS4 · 2012-10-14 18:18:55

Good work! And thank you for keeping the permissions light. Something like this could easily request phone state and sd write.

ioos · 2012-10-15 05:14:36

Updated. I made the title bar smaller and fixed most of the text that wouldn't wrap before. On really small screens it will be difficult to avoid scrolling on certain pages.

satanselbow · 2012-10-16 08:35:38

rutgerr wrote:

I'm using this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta … y5BV09MIl0.
I will try yours too

Saw that one a little while ago too - but bawked at the 11M install size (full offline dl of wiki? ). That would lead to a rapidly out of date local app given the living breathing nature of the Archwiki with an 11M dl over 3G at every update? No thanks - and I'm on a generous data plan.

Also, the formatting / typography is not in keeping with the wiki style and pretty damned ugly (IMHO).

rutgerr · 2012-10-16 22:15:26

satanselbow wrote:

rutgerr wrote:
I'm using this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta … y5BV09MIl0.
I will try yours too
Saw that one a little while ago too - but bawked at the 11M install size (full offline dl of wiki? ). That would lead to a rapidly out of date local app given the living breathing nature of the Archwiki with an 11M dl over 3G at every update? No thanks - and I'm on a generous data plan.
Also, the formatting / typography is not in keeping with the wiki style and pretty damned ugly (IMHO).

Agree i changed, really better than previous in many points, five stars.

securitybreach · 2012-10-17 04:13:33

Thanks a lot for the app!!!!!

ioos · 2012-11-01 01:17:26

App updated again. I made quite a few changes, so let me know if you have any feedback. I tried to add some of the requested features that made sense to me. I also merged the custom CSS with the actual CSS from the Wiki. Pages should have a much more familiar look now. (The screen-shots haven't been updated yet.)

zAo · 2012-11-08 07:21:11

Thanks, works great on my Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7!

Schoewilliam · 2012-11-19 05:41:40

This app has already been quite useful a few times now. Why not a functionality such as saving favorite pages ? just a proposal

ioos · 2012-11-21 01:06:53

Schoewilliam wrote:

This app has already been quite useful a few times now. Why not a functionality such as saving favorite pages ? just a proposal

That is the next planned feature. I think it will be a "Favorites" list where those pages are stored offline. Is anyone aware of an application with a similar feature? I'd like to get some ideas of how to implement it. (Not the code, but the GUI for the menus and layouts and such.)

What do people think of the mixed language search results? I'm trying to figure out how to return one language at a time, but having some difficulty. If I can get it to work, my plan is for an "English Only" menu option. Then it would be either just English or all languages. Would international users find that acceptable? Making each language individually selectable would require a lot of work in languages that I don't speak. For example, the start page is local. I'd have to recreate it for each language.

FreeTheBee · 2012-11-21 08:14:14

Thanks for this app, it looks very good.

ioos · 2013-03-02 00:50:46

Update coming soon for the second ever crash report I received. They are very helpful. Please hit the "Send Report" option if the application crashes (and you're given the option).

thesilentboatman · 2013-03-13 21:53:44

Great! This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

trollger · 2013-03-14 05:25:24

Very nice app it works great on my LG Optimus V, it only has a 3.2" screen so I think it should be compatable with anything... but you probably already knew that...

The one feature that I think would be aswome wouold be the ability to dowload pages of the Wiki, ya know for when you arent connected to wifi.

Otherwise five stars from me.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-10-12 18:27:35

ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#2 2012-10-12 18:48:38

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#3 2012-10-12 23:46:28

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#4 2012-10-13 08:30:45

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#5 2012-10-13 09:12:30

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#6 2012-10-13 12:11:16

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#7 2012-10-13 20:12:27

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#8 2012-10-13 20:18:55

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#9 2012-10-14 02:22:08

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#10 2012-10-14 02:25:31

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#11 2012-10-14 03:04:43

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#12 2012-10-14 17:27:32

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#13 2012-10-14 18:18:55

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#14 2012-10-15 05:14:36

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#15 2012-10-16 08:35:38

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#16 2012-10-16 22:15:26

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#17 2012-10-17 04:13:33

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#18 2012-11-01 01:17:26

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#19 2012-11-08 07:21:11

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#20 2012-11-19 05:41:40

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#21 2012-11-21 01:06:53

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#22 2012-11-21 08:14:14

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#23 2013-03-02 00:50:46

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#24 2013-03-13 21:53:44

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

#25 2013-03-14 05:25:24

Re: ArchWiki Viewer for Android

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