IPad app for Stack Overflow | Hacker News Reader

IPad app for Stack Overflow

stacktraceapp.com

61 pointsbrainless37 comments

Interestingly, this seems like one of those concepts that just doesn't make sense as an app. Perhaps I'm missing a use case, but personally, all of my coding is done at a computer... with a web browser... where Stack Overflow already exists, just milliseconds away. I couldn't see myself using this app as an effective replacement.

My workflow goes like this:

code > hit a problem > google it > open first result (usually SO) > learn (and possibly copy chunk of code) > return to text editor

Where does the app fit into this workflow? How does the app improve my workflow?

Genuinely curious how this would benefit anyone. Is it meant to sit next to a monitor? Is it meant for those who use an iPad as a coding device? Is it meant for casual browsing of Stack Overflow?

Totally agree with that. The only time I would use an app to interact with SO is when I go out on weekend or vacation and I just want to check if someone answer a question I left there or to check if someone reply to an answer/comment I left.

Agreed. However the biggest pain point is copying code between workstation and another device. (This is an issue for those who work in offices where sites like SE are locked down.) If this app can make it easier, then great.

What kind of stupid office has developers writing code and blocks StackOverflow?

The same offices that live in fear about data security and therefore block absolutely everything.

The few individuals that can access anything don't have a need for it.

Replying and helping people from your couch :)

It appears to be a read-only experience application. Plus, writing code on iPad would be awful whether from a couch or not.

x 2

Have to agree with you on this one. Some portal's should not be ported to an app. This is one of them.

I cannot see the use case.

I like to browse some of the Stack Exchange sites simply to educate myself. From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense, although I would welcome a write API, too.

Agreed - I usually hit SO in the morning to keep fresh on problems and solutions. It's part of my daily reading.

> From this viewpoint an iPad app makes sense

Why is the browser insufficient?

The app’s UI is tailored for the device and therefore more convenient, if just by a small margin. I’m happy to pay €4 for that.

off topic, but you are missing an important step in your workflow: verify solution found on stackoverflow. some of the answers there are terrible, even among the highly voted ones (remember that many of the people upvoting something may not know the answer themselves, they are learning it right there).

Brian, one of our co-founders, wrote a short tumblr post about why we built the StackTrace app.

http://bigbigbomb.tumblr.com/post/17252346935/learning-from-...

I bought this the day it came out and have been using it occasionally for a couple weeks.

It has boosted my engagement because I enjoy browsing questions and tend to find ones I'm able to answer more readily. It's a joy to browse questions while sitting in a comfy chair but I usually switch to a computer to answer them (maybe that was just issues with finding my old account and logging in).

I still don't turn to it if I'm trying to solve a problem I'm facing.

Overall, it's lovely, but a few small things would improve it massively:

1. Be able to see all the questions I've asked - I often ask something hard, and later need to reference the answers. It would be much easier to use if this info was easy to access.

2. Be able to see all questions from my tags in one view - I usually view SO in that way, scroll around till I find questions that interest me and either read the answers or ask something.

3. Be able to sort by date/most voted/ etc - sometimes I just want to learn - high rated questions are usually of interest. Other times I want to answer questions, so sorting by date/low votes is useful too!

Shame the API doesn't allow write access, maybe one day!

You provided great arguments for 1 and 2. Adding a "my questions" view and an "all my tags" view are certainly worth considering and wouldn't be difficult to implement. Number 3 is actually implemented already. Once you select a tag or view all questions, pull the detail view down to reveal search and sort controls. We're considering showing these controls by default as users are not finding them.

Thank you for the great feedback and we're glad you're enjoying consuming SO content in a new way!

EDIT: Also, as soon as the Stack Exchange API supports write access, we'll be all over that.

Ah, see what you mean about the details. The questions and tags would really make this app brilliant - I was surprised when I first used it that they weren't there.

Good luck with this - it's filling a niche that really needs filling!

It took me a while to realize title isn't speaking about some IP-related app. HN's automatic title capitalization really isn't a good idea.

Nice looking UI.

I think it's interesting and fairly ironic that using stock UI widgets in an iOS app is becoming more and more the mark of the amateur.

Which is very unfortunate. A common set of UI widgets, used for within the right context, are what I like about iOS. I don't want to re-learn how a widget works with every new app.

The fact that users tolerate and even encourage of flashy but inconsistent and impractical UI design says a lot about just how important most mobile apps are to their users.

Congratulations, this is a very nice app. Finally somebody did more than just an ugly barebones iOS wrapper on top of the API. I just wish I had a similar app for the whole Stack Exchange.

@zoul I'm a creator of StackReader for iPad ( http://stackreaderapp.com/) with all SE sites. It'll be in App Store soon, if you can't wait, feel free to sign up for beta testing ;-)

Can you show us some screenshots?

I'm glad to hear you like our little app. As for access to the rest of the SE sites... (drumroll please)

Screenshot: http://stacktraceapp.com/images/topics.png

It's currently in private beta and should get submitted to the app store in the next couple weeks. This will be released as an update, so current users will gain access to the full SE network. :)

Is it just me, or is using a proportional font for the code snippets not ideal?

Personally, I can't stand writing/reading code displayed in a proportional font.

The design on this is gorgeous, but it really needs some screenshots of the biggest concern: the writing screen.

Are there Markdown buttons available, or am I going to play finger Twister to reach the backticks, brackets, and asterisks?

The SO API is read-only, so I assume this app won't allow you to submit questions/answers/comments etc.

Unfortunately correct until SE adds write support to the API, which we're told is in the works. For now, we provide a simple way to open questions in Mobile Safari which of course doesn't have this restriction.

Here's a post about it from Kevin Montrose (API dev @ SE): http://kevinmontrose.com/2012/02/01/stack-exchange-api-v2-0-...

Personally, I'd prefer SO update to a responsive layout and leave 3rd party apps out of it. I wouldn't mind paying SO directly for an app, but not a 3rd party.

Nice UI but the Slab Serif typeface is not suitable for reading large chunks of text IMO.

Isn't that called a web browser?

App all the websites!

Website all the apps!

For $5? I think not.

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