Webmaker for Android | Hacker News Reader

Webmaker for Android

blog.mozilla.org

129 pointsrobin_reala30 comments

Hey all --

David Ascher here, from Mozilla.

Thanks for the interest. We'll put up a technical write-up of Webmaker soon, we've been busy getting the app ready.

As to some of the questions already asked:

This is an open source project (both the Android wrapper, the web app and the backends powering the APIs). Repos are here:

* https://github.com/mozilla/webmaker-android

* https://github.com/mozilla/webmaker-core

* https://github.com/mozilla/api.webmaker.org

When it comes to data privacy, remember that Webmaker is not a social network. It is an easy-to-use publishing platform for people whose only internet access may be from a low-end Android phone. We don't ask for or store real names to create user accounts.

All projects on the platform are publicly accessible/remixable under a CC-license (it's a free, no-ad app -- all we ask from our users is that they contribute to the commons). We currently store all user data on Amazon RDS.

You may be interested in some of the user research we did as part of this project as well:

* http://mzl.la/india

* http://mzl.la/bangladesh

* http://mzl.la/kenya

* http://mzl.la/research

I totally get it. This is why I am building Optik. Knowledge publishing should be as easy as posting to Twitter or Instagram. My personal concern is privacy and longevity. How do we ensure that information users rely on remains secure, and also accessible? That is why I believe the Web as designed is a poor interface for this data. We need a better way to navigate and trust the data.

I applaud your efforts and look forward to collaboration. As the internet grows and interfaces become more complex, it becomes harder to avoid creating multiple tiers or classes of knowledge/data access.

Very curious to see how Webmaker will approach spammers vs anonymity and security vs collaboration.

This article does suffer from assuming the reader already knows what WebMaker does.

From https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.we...

> Mozilla Webmaker transforms Web users into Web makers. You can build original content like scrapbooks, photo galleries, memes, comic strips and more. The app's unique and flexible design makes telling your story simple and intuitive. Webmaker is free, open-source and independent.

So, it's a mobile app that makes it easy for non-specialist consumers to create web content using only their mobile devices.

That was still vague to me so I downloaded the app and I tried it out.

Heavy emphasis on the non-specialist. So you have these cards that you can add text, buttons linking to another card, or an image to. You can add a card adjacent (up,dowm,left,right) to the card you're on and keep growing in any direction. The buttons can link to any card.

It reminds of a program I use on an old Macintosh back in the early early 90's where you would create a "page" and "buttons" that would link to other pages (HyperCard?), but much more basic.

You share your creation and it sends a link hosted on webmaker.org.

Here's a test: https://beta.webmaker.org/#/project?user=461534&project=8976

Mozilla should've put videos up front. Here are some I found:

https://vimeo.com/127446372

https://vimeo.com/128600026

First question everyone will ask is "What about hosting?" As best as I can tell Mozilla hosts the content at a subdomain of makes.org.

Correct. (note: I believe none of our users have asked that ;-), but I appreciate that HN cares about that.

Can someone explain where the hell the content is stored? I'm tired of chasing vapid text that explains nothing. Why can't you take 10 min before blasting the PR to setup something that explains anything at all? I mean, seriously:

https://webmaker.org/

The "Privacy" link is generic and also doesn't explain anything.

How in hell do you think you can launch a social service without answering any of these questions in this day and age? Have you learned nothing from the Hello rollout?

Maybe this could be helpful:

https://github.com/mozilla/webmaker-android

[EDIT] - Had the wrong link up before, was to the repo for the website

They're stored in a heroku app: https://webmaker-api.herokuapp.com/users/717/projects/628/

Which is open source https://github.com/mozilla/api.webmaker.org

I don't know for certain, but it feels as though the only possibility is that Mozilla is hosting the content.

It's obviously not being stored on the phone, since it's meant for other people to be able to access. It seems unlikely that it wouldn't be mentioned if it were using any non-Mozilla hosting.

It's probably stored in plaintext, unsecured with the user's Mozilla account (whose password is also used to unsecure his stored passwords and browser history, which means that if he hands his information to his buddy or secretary to enable him to update a page, he'll also be handing that buddy or secretary his entire online identity).

But maybe I'm wrong, and it's stored in an encrypted hash-addressed data store, where shared links include the necessary keys.

There are levels of security; it's fine for Webmaker not to be suitable for, e.g., human-rights activists in Burma. But it should not be possible for one data breach to reveal everyone's activity everywhere.

I think a quick 30 second or 2 minute video would go a long way towards clarifying the point of this app. I'm a big fan of Mozilla, but the communication here seems unclear. As far as I can tell, this app allows you to create a small hyperlinked mobile app/"site" with picture and text content to share with friends.

I downloaded the app, signed up and played with it. This is from the welcome email - "Welcome to Mozilla Webmaker! Thank you for joining us to discover, create and share the Web. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create."

Still not sure what it does. :-(

digital scrapbooking.

i think the only big difference from all the other scrapbooking apps, is that this one is open source, polished, and promoted with minorities to the point of being obnoxious.

It lets you design a sub-app, screen by screen. On each screen, you can put text, picture, button/links. Link destination must be within the sub-app.

Every time Mozilla gets a product out, I hope it's a privacy-aware social network, with no full-name or single-account policy, with little centralization, which doesn't require installing MongoDB (Disapora I'm looking at you), where I could share some pics. I'll have to wait for the next round ;)

Hi there. David Ascher here, from Mozilla.

* No Real Names requirement. * I think we have a single account per email address, but I don't think that's what you mean. Also, you can likely use +whatever on your email addresses if you really want to.

As to centralization -- I'm as worried about centralization of the net as Brewster Kahle, but that's as yet an unsolved problem, and not the one we're tackling with Webmaker. We're (just?) trying to make an app that makes it easy for people new to the internet to see that they can create web content, not just consume it, even if all they have is a low-end android phone and low literacy. The app storage architecture is centralized today, but I'd be happy to explore ways to federate it, once we get to the point where it we've confirmed the app is attractive to its main audience.

TLDR: Sorry, this isn't the droid you're looking for =)

Why don't you even use Persona on your own sites? :(

Why not use Pump.io? It's exactly as you describe.

You're describing Disapora exactly, except for the "no MongoDB" requirement. Why is that a requirement for you?

There's plenty of those out there, they just have the same problem as any social network ever - network effect. Diaspora is useless as long as people aren't using it.

Try GNU social, or GNU MediaGoblin for the pics.

The description of this product sounds like it was created from a buzzword startup generator, to the point that I assumed it was a parody or satire until I read the comments here. It would really benefit the article to just include a plain text description on what the app is and what it does.

I can't explain why but I like this, and I've been checking the timeline a few times today.

This might be freaking awesome, but I just don't quite understand what it does, even after installing.

I guess it creates web content (ie. a web page), judging from its name (and coming from Mozilla). But how can I find these web pages? What's the URL?

After trying it a bit, this could be very useful for quickly prototyping mobile application workflow.

Good to know that I'm not the only one that have no idea what is the problem solved by this.

I don't seem to understand, is this a blogging platform? Any video that explains this?

It's to help people whose main or only access to the web is (smart)phones to learn how to make web sites. There is a Webmaker program for desktop browser users already. A combination of tools, documentation, and curriculum as I understand it.

So is this Web Content the app helps people create accessible from a browser?

Good read! Now, we have the focus somewhere shifting towards localization of portable devices and having them available to mass audience.

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