Re: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?

[Derk-Jan Hartman]

You can actually release a total different app under the same version based on 
device and OS criteria with Play Store.
http://developer.android.com/google/play/publishing/multiple-apks.html

So you could split the Android app into a full and a Lite version, and just 
serve up the Lite version to 2.3 and below devices automatically. 

Note that this creates significant overhead in the release process however. 
Store releases always are a expensive piece of overhead, making more of them or 
more complicated ones should not be underestimated (but is usually quite 
constant).

DJ


> On 1 feb. 2015, at 23:48, Toby Negrin  wrote:
> 
> Dan -- can you please limit the scope to sizing the android app? I think 
> that's more relevant to reaching people in the developing world.
> 
> Also, can you see what percent of our GS traffic uses 2.3? Google has it at 
> about 10% globally but we need to understand our target market better. You 
> might also want to check in with your new contact at App Annie to see if they 
> have useful GS data.
> 
> -Toby
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 11:15 AM, Carolynne Schloeder 
> mailto:cschloe...@wikimedia.org>> wrote:
> Creating a separate app to optimize sounds like a good idea. We will check 
> the market stats on Android versions, and I'll get the scoop from Facebook on 
> their learning. 
> 
> I was somewhat surprised that most OEM's we've talked to are shipping Android 
> 4.x even on low-priced models targeted for developing markets. But I'll 
> clarify what's happening and circle back with Dan on the distribution plan 
> (preload vs. appstores). I'll also catch up with Kim. 
> 
> I do love to see this attention given to our lower end handset users, thank 
> you!
> 
> Carolynne
> 
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 9:30 AM, Lila Tretikov  > wrote:
> Dan,
> 
> I think this is really important and thank you for highlighting this. 
> 
> Could you do rough sizing on what it would take to get something like this 
> out? What if we did this with a pre-load?
> 
> Carolynne -- I recommend you start reaching out to Kim as you re-formulate 
> your W0 strategy. 
> 
> Lila
> 
> On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Florian Schmidt 
>  > wrote:
> +1 for this idea. I still have an Android 2.3 device, but the Wikipedia app 
> (and others too) is very slow and becomes more and more unusable, while it's 
> agreat user experience on my Android 4.4 device.
> 
> If dropping 2.3 support means a faster development of the main Wikipedia app 
> and the <2.3 users still have access to Wikipedia through a lite app (which 
> will be faster and more usable) i would say: do it, it has advantages for 
> both sides :)
> 
> Florian
> 
> Gesendet mit meinem HTC
> 
> - Reply message -
> Von: "Dan Garry" mailto:dga...@wikimedia.org>>
> An: "mobile-l"  >, "Carolynne Schloeder" 
> mailto:cschloe...@wikimedia.org>>, "Toby Negrin" 
> mailto:tneg...@wikimedia.org>>, "Lila Tretikov" 
> mailto:l...@wikimedia.org>>
> Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?
> Datum: Sa., Jan. 31, 2015 06:45
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Those of you who were at the Mobile quarterly review heard me mention 
> Facebook Lite, an app that's designed especially for the developing world.
> 
> Notably, their app has a lot of optimisations which make it good for users in 
> developing world:
> It's only 252kB, good for limited data plans.
> It supports down to Android 2.2, good for older devices.
> It's data-efficient, good for 2G connections and for people on limited data 
> plans.
> From a development perspective, some advantages are:
> You no longer have to support older versions of Android in your main app.
> You can tailor the performance of the lite app to the older devices so it's 
> faster.
> You can tailor the features of the lite app to the developing market.
> So obviously there are a lot of advantages for our users if we do this. And, 
> selfishly, I can't stress enough how much dropping Android 2.3 from our 
> current app would speed up development. As an example, almost all of the edge 
> cases with lead images occurred on 2.3 devices, and they required quite a lot 
> of investigation and hacking to fix them up. Obviously we've not dropped 2.3 
> so far because it's a very strategically important part of our user base, 
> which I'm sure Carolynne can attest to!
> 
> I'd say that we should put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer to 
> have a Wikipedia Lite app for the developing world, rather than our current 
> "one app to rule them all".
> 
> Comments? Questions?
> 
> Dan
> 
> -- 
> Dan Garry
> Associate Product Manager, Mobile Apps
> Wikimedia Foundation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Carolynne Schloeder
> Director Global Mobile Partnerships
> Wikimedia Foundation
> +14154077071 
> skype: cschloeder
> 
> ___
> Mobile-l mailing list
> Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.w

Re: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?

[Toby Negrin]

Dan -- can you please limit the scope to sizing the android app? I think
that's more relevant to reaching people in the developing world.

Also, can you see what percent of our GS traffic uses 2.3? Google has it at
about 10% globally but we need to understand our target market better. You
might also want to check in with your new contact at App Annie to see if
they have useful GS data.

-Toby



On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 11:15 AM, Carolynne Schloeder <
cschloe...@wikimedia.org> wrote:

> Creating a separate app to optimize sounds like a good idea. We will check
> the market stats on Android versions, and I'll get the scoop from Facebook
> on their learning.
>
> I was somewhat surprised that most OEM's we've talked to are shipping
> Android 4.x even on low-priced models targeted for developing markets. But
> I'll clarify what's happening and circle back with Dan on the distribution
> plan (preload vs. appstores). I'll also catch up with Kim.
>
> I do love to see this attention given to our lower end handset users,
> thank you!
>
> Carolynne
>
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 9:30 AM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:
>
>> Dan,
>>
>> I think this is really important and thank you for highlighting this.
>>
>> Could you do rough sizing on what it would take to get something like
>> this out? What if we did this with a pre-load?
>>
>> Carolynne -- I recommend you start reaching out to Kim as you
>> re-formulate your W0 strategy.
>>
>> Lila
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Florian Schmidt <
>> florian.schmidt.wel...@t-online.de> wrote:
>>
>>> +1 for this idea. I still have an Android 2.3 device, but the Wikipedia
>>> app (and others too) is very slow and becomes more and more unusable, while
>>> it's agreat user experience on my Android 4.4 device.
>>>
>>> If dropping 2.3 support means a faster development of the main Wikipedia
>>> app and the <2.3 users still have access to Wikipedia through a lite app
>>> (which will be faster and more usable) i would say: do it, it has
>>> advantages for both sides :)
>>>
>>> Florian
>>>
>>> Gesendet mit meinem HTC
>>>
>>> - Reply message -
>>> Von: "Dan Garry" 
>>> An: "mobile-l" , "Carolynne Schloeder" <
>>> cschloe...@wikimedia.org>, "Toby Negrin" , "Lila
>>> Tretikov" 
>>> Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?
>>> Datum: Sa., Jan. 31, 2015 06:45
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> Those of you who were at the Mobile quarterly review heard me mention
>>> Facebook Lite, an app that's designed especially for the developing world.
>>>
>>> Notably, their app has a lot of optimisations which make it good for
>>> users in developing world:
>>>
>>>- It's only 252kB, good for limited data plans.
>>>- It supports down to Android 2.2, good for older devices.
>>>- It's data-efficient, good for 2G connections and for people on
>>>limited data plans.
>>>
>>> From a development perspective, some advantages are:
>>>
>>>- You no longer have to support older versions of Android in your
>>>main app.
>>>- You can tailor the performance of the lite app to the older
>>>devices so it's faster.
>>>- You can tailor the features of the lite app to the developing
>>>market.
>>>
>>> So obviously there are a lot of advantages for our users if we do this.
>>> And, selfishly, I can't stress enough how much dropping Android 2.3 from
>>> our current app would speed up development. As an example, almost all of
>>> the edge cases with lead images occurred on 2.3 devices, and they required
>>> quite a lot of investigation and hacking to fix them up. Obviously we've
>>> not dropped 2.3 so far because it's a very strategically important part of
>>> our user base, which I'm sure Carolynne can attest to!
>>>
>>> I'd say that we should put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer
>>> to have a Wikipedia Lite app for the developing world, rather than our
>>> current "one app to rule them all".
>>>
>>> Comments? Questions?
>>>
>>> Dan
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dan Garry
>>> Associate Product Manager, Mobile Apps
>>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Carolynne Schloeder
> Director Global Mobile Partnerships
> Wikimedia Foundation
> +14154077071
> skype: cschloeder
>
___
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Re: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?

[Dmitry Brant]

A definite +1 for the idea of having a separate "Lite" app where we focus
on optimizing for size and network usage for the developing world.

However, I'm afraid that having a Lite app would not automatically allow us
to drop support for Android 2.3 in the "main" app. I'll be the first to
attest to the number of headaches that supporting 2.3 has caused, but
unfortunately this is just a routine part of Android development.  Even if
we drop support for 2.3, we would still need to use the Support (AppCompat)
library which, for all its flaws, provides fairly great compatibility with
versions all the way down to 2.1, practically for free.

After all, the Facebook app (the "full" version) is still very much
available on Android 2.3, and provides an experience that's fully
consistent with the experience on my 4.4 device.

By the same token, there are plenty of 2.3 devices that are still quite
powerful even by today's standards, and surely deserve the experience of
the full Wikipedia app.

So then, I agree with all the other motivations for splitting off a Lite
app, but as much as it pains me to say this, dropping support for Android
2.3 shouldn't necessarily be one of them.

-Dmitry


On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Carolynne Schloeder <
cschloe...@wikimedia.org> wrote:

> Creating a separate app to optimize sounds like a good idea. We will check
> the market stats on Android versions, and I'll get the scoop from Facebook
> on their learning.
>
> I was somewhat surprised that most OEM's we've talked to are shipping
> Android 4.x even on low-priced models targeted for developing markets. But
> I'll clarify what's happening and circle back with Dan on the distribution
> plan (preload vs. appstores). I'll also catch up with Kim.
>
> I do love to see this attention given to our lower end handset users,
> thank you!
>
> Carolynne
>
> On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 9:30 AM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:
>
>> Dan,
>>
>> I think this is really important and thank you for highlighting this.
>>
>> Could you do rough sizing on what it would take to get something like
>> this out? What if we did this with a pre-load?
>>
>> Carolynne -- I recommend you start reaching out to Kim as you
>> re-formulate your W0 strategy.
>>
>> Lila
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Florian Schmidt <
>> florian.schmidt.wel...@t-online.de> wrote:
>>
>>> +1 for this idea. I still have an Android 2.3 device, but the Wikipedia
>>> app (and others too) is very slow and becomes more and more unusable, while
>>> it's agreat user experience on my Android 4.4 device.
>>>
>>> If dropping 2.3 support means a faster development of the main Wikipedia
>>> app and the <2.3 users still have access to Wikipedia through a lite app
>>> (which will be faster and more usable) i would say: do it, it has
>>> advantages for both sides :)
>>>
>>> Florian
>>>
>>> Gesendet mit meinem HTC
>>>
>>> - Reply message -
>>> Von: "Dan Garry" 
>>> An: "mobile-l" , "Carolynne Schloeder" <
>>> cschloe...@wikimedia.org>, "Toby Negrin" , "Lila
>>> Tretikov" 
>>> Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?
>>> Datum: Sa., Jan. 31, 2015 06:45
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> Those of you who were at the Mobile quarterly review heard me mention
>>> Facebook Lite, an app that's designed especially for the developing world.
>>>
>>> Notably, their app has a lot of optimisations which make it good for
>>> users in developing world:
>>>
>>>- It's only 252kB, good for limited data plans.
>>>- It supports down to Android 2.2, good for older devices.
>>>- It's data-efficient, good for 2G connections and for people on
>>>limited data plans.
>>>
>>> From a development perspective, some advantages are:
>>>
>>>- You no longer have to support older versions of Android in your
>>>main app.
>>>- You can tailor the performance of the lite app to the older
>>>devices so it's faster.
>>>- You can tailor the features of the lite app to the developing
>>>market.
>>>
>>> So obviously there are a lot of advantages for our users if we do this.
>>> And, selfishly, I can't stress enough how much dropping Android 2.3 from
>>> our current app would speed up development. As an example, almost all of
>>> the edge cases with lead images occurred on 2.3 devices, and they required
>>> quite a lot of investigation and hacking to fix them up. Obviously we've
>>> not dropped 2.3 so far because it's a very strategically important part of
>>> our user base, which I'm sure Carolynne can attest to!
>>>
>>> I'd say that we should put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer
>>> to have a Wikipedia Lite app for the developing world, rather than our
>>> current "one app to rule them all".
>>>
>>> Comments? Questions?
>>>
>>> Dan
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dan Garry
>>> Associate Product Manager, Mobile Apps
>>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Carolynne Schloeder
> Director Global Mobile Partnerships
> Wikimedia Foundation
> +14154077071
> skype: cschloeder
>
> 

Re: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?

[Carolynne Schloeder]

Creating a separate app to optimize sounds like a good idea. We will check
the market stats on Android versions, and I'll get the scoop from Facebook
on their learning.

I was somewhat surprised that most OEM's we've talked to are shipping
Android 4.x even on low-priced models targeted for developing markets. But
I'll clarify what's happening and circle back with Dan on the distribution
plan (preload vs. appstores). I'll also catch up with Kim.

I do love to see this attention given to our lower end handset users, thank
you!

Carolynne

On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 9:30 AM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Dan,
>
> I think this is really important and thank you for highlighting this.
>
> Could you do rough sizing on what it would take to get something like this
> out? What if we did this with a pre-load?
>
> Carolynne -- I recommend you start reaching out to Kim as you re-formulate
> your W0 strategy.
>
> Lila
>
> On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Florian Schmidt <
> florian.schmidt.wel...@t-online.de> wrote:
>
>> +1 for this idea. I still have an Android 2.3 device, but the Wikipedia
>> app (and others too) is very slow and becomes more and more unusable, while
>> it's agreat user experience on my Android 4.4 device.
>>
>> If dropping 2.3 support means a faster development of the main Wikipedia
>> app and the <2.3 users still have access to Wikipedia through a lite app
>> (which will be faster and more usable) i would say: do it, it has
>> advantages for both sides :)
>>
>> Florian
>>
>> Gesendet mit meinem HTC
>>
>> - Reply message -
>> Von: "Dan Garry" 
>> An: "mobile-l" , "Carolynne Schloeder" <
>> cschloe...@wikimedia.org>, "Toby Negrin" , "Lila
>> Tretikov" 
>> Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?
>> Datum: Sa., Jan. 31, 2015 06:45
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Those of you who were at the Mobile quarterly review heard me mention
>> Facebook Lite, an app that's designed especially for the developing world.
>>
>> Notably, their app has a lot of optimisations which make it good for
>> users in developing world:
>>
>>- It's only 252kB, good for limited data plans.
>>- It supports down to Android 2.2, good for older devices.
>>- It's data-efficient, good for 2G connections and for people on
>>limited data plans.
>>
>> From a development perspective, some advantages are:
>>
>>- You no longer have to support older versions of Android in your
>>main app.
>>- You can tailor the performance of the lite app to the older devices
>>so it's faster.
>>- You can tailor the features of the lite app to the developing
>>market.
>>
>> So obviously there are a lot of advantages for our users if we do this.
>> And, selfishly, I can't stress enough how much dropping Android 2.3 from
>> our current app would speed up development. As an example, almost all of
>> the edge cases with lead images occurred on 2.3 devices, and they required
>> quite a lot of investigation and hacking to fix them up. Obviously we've
>> not dropped 2.3 so far because it's a very strategically important part of
>> our user base, which I'm sure Carolynne can attest to!
>>
>> I'd say that we should put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer
>> to have a Wikipedia Lite app for the developing world, rather than our
>> current "one app to rule them all".
>>
>> Comments? Questions?
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> --
>> Dan Garry
>> Associate Product Manager, Mobile Apps
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>
>


-- 
Carolynne Schloeder
Director Global Mobile Partnerships
Wikimedia Foundation
+14154077071
skype: cschloeder
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Re: [WikimediaMobile] Hooking into Google Now's Cards

[Amir E. Aharoni]

+1 to show Wikipedia.

Articles to read near your location is an obvious and easy first step,
although the same card probably shouldn't be shown twice, and in places
with a lot of landmarks not too many should be shown at once.

Suggesting to upload missing images is something that we've been dreaming
about for over three years, even if the experiments around this have been
flaky till now.

All that said, till now I had Google Now disabled, as it never did anything
really useful to me. I don't like a lot of notifications, and the only
thing in Google Now that was remotely useful to me is the time until
getting home, but always popped up at the wrong circumstances, and I
preferred checking it manually when needed. I guess that I'll try the new
setup.


--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
‪“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore‬

2015-01-31 5:56 GMT-08:00 Jeff Hobson :

> +1, many android users (myself included) have Google Now right on their
> home screen, so this is a great way to engage readers and editors. Ideas
> off the top of my head: suggested articles on the morning/evening commute,
> micro-edits (or at least suggested edits), location-based suggestions,
> updates to watched pages, etc.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff Hobson
> On Jan 30, 2015 11:24 PM, "Yuvi Panda"  wrote:
>
>>
>> http://insidesearch.blogspot.in/2015/01/google-app-update-get-now-cards-from.html
>>
>> Suggestions for articles to edit / read / follow / whatever, and
>> plenty of other things to do! :)
>>
>> --
>> Yuvi Panda T
>> http://yuvi.in/blog
>>
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>
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Re: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?

[Lila Tretikov]

Dan,

I think this is really important and thank you for highlighting this.

Could you do rough sizing on what it would take to get something like this
out? What if we did this with a pre-load?

Carolynne -- I recommend you start reaching out to Kim as you re-formulate
your W0 strategy.

Lila

On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 2:36 AM, Florian Schmidt <
florian.schmidt.wel...@t-online.de> wrote:

> +1 for this idea. I still have an Android 2.3 device, but the Wikipedia
> app (and others too) is very slow and becomes more and more unusable, while
> it's agreat user experience on my Android 4.4 device.
>
> If dropping 2.3 support means a faster development of the main Wikipedia
> app and the <2.3 users still have access to Wikipedia through a lite app
> (which will be faster and more usable) i would say: do it, it has
> advantages for both sides :)
>
> Florian
>
> Gesendet mit meinem HTC
>
> - Reply message -
> Von: "Dan Garry" 
> An: "mobile-l" , "Carolynne Schloeder" <
> cschloe...@wikimedia.org>, "Toby Negrin" , "Lila
> Tretikov" 
> Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] [Apps] Wikipedia Lite app?
> Datum: Sa., Jan. 31, 2015 06:45
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Those of you who were at the Mobile quarterly review heard me mention
> Facebook Lite, an app that's designed especially for the developing world.
>
> Notably, their app has a lot of optimisations which make it good for users
> in developing world:
>
>- It's only 252kB, good for limited data plans.
>- It supports down to Android 2.2, good for older devices.
>- It's data-efficient, good for 2G connections and for people on
>limited data plans.
>
> From a development perspective, some advantages are:
>
>- You no longer have to support older versions of Android in your main
>app.
>- You can tailor the performance of the lite app to the older devices
>so it's faster.
>- You can tailor the features of the lite app to the developing market.
>
> So obviously there are a lot of advantages for our users if we do this.
> And, selfishly, I can't stress enough how much dropping Android 2.3 from
> our current app would speed up development. As an example, almost all of
> the edge cases with lead images occurred on 2.3 devices, and they required
> quite a lot of investigation and hacking to fix them up. Obviously we've
> not dropped 2.3 so far because it's a very strategically important part of
> our user base, which I'm sure Carolynne can attest to!
>
> I'd say that we should put some serious thought into whether we'd prefer
> to have a Wikipedia Lite app for the developing world, rather than our
> current "one app to rule them all".
>
> Comments? Questions?
>
> Dan
>
> --
> Dan Garry
> Associate Product Manager, Mobile Apps
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
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