[Commotion-dev] SPAN Apps Published to Google Play

[Paul Gardner-Stephen]

Hello,

On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 7:36 AM, stoker <mistr.stoker at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> We look forward to trying out the Serval Mesh app update. The current
> app supports a number of features, including text chat, placing calls,
> sharing files, and mapping. Does your team have plans to separate each
> of those features out into separate app? I believe that will make
> matters simpler from a developer's as well as from a user's
> perspective.

Maps is already a separate app for this reason.  However, the calling,
text messaging and file exchange are all based on the core Serval
protocols, and past experience has shown that having (at least the
core function of) those in separate apps that require installation is
disadvantageous, because they are naturally closely coupled, calls and
MeshMS in particular.  The Rhizome protocol that facilitates the file
sharing is used under the hood to power MeshMS and software updates as
well as regular file exchange.

> Thanks for pointing us to your handset detection and support code.
> Since both of our projects are using the edify approach, I believe it
> won't be difficult to integrate our code. However, I believe that it
> would be best for the Commotion team to integrate all of our
> mesh-enabling code into their Mesh Tether app.
>
> As I see it, there are three kinds of devices that the teams are
> primarily targeting:
> - devices which support wext and can be put into ad-hoc mode without
> kernel mods (Serval)
> - devices which don't support wext and can be put into ad-hoc mode
> without kernel mods (Commotion)
> - devices which require kernel mods (SPAN)
>
> I believe we'd all like to see one app which can support all three. I
> believe that the Commotion team is best suited for the task
> considering their focus and large developer base. More developers
> means a wider array of devices to test on and more long-term support.

I totally agree. We would love to see a single app that just provides
ad-hoc wifi and the related functions, and has wide support as you
envisage.

Paul.

> - stoker
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 3:44 PM, Paul Gardner-Stephen
> <paul at servalproject.org> wrote:
>> Hi Stoker,
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 8:39 AM, stoker <mistr.stoker at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> For those who want to get geeky, I just posted three apps to Google
>>> Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=stoker
>>>
>>> Try 'em out.
>>>
>>> Both the Manet Visualizer and Manet Voice Chat apps make use of a
>>> common API for interacting with the Manet Service that comes bundled
>>> with the Manet Manager app. I believe that the idea of a common API
>>> for making use of the mesh platform may be one of the aspects that
>>> sets SPAN apart from other projects.
>>
>> This is great.
>>
>> The Serval Mesh app (which is about to get a HEAVY update) also offers
>> some APIs, but probably mostly in complementary areas to your Manet
>> Manager.  We will endeavour to take a look at your apps soon.
>>
>> With regard to handset support, it might be worth taking a look at our
>> handset detection and support code
>> (https://github.com/servalproject/batphone), as we have already built
>> support for a number of other handsets, and an automatic guessing
>> engine that can build support scripts for some new handsets it
>> encounters.  It's not perfect, but it may be useful to incorporate
>> into Manet Manager.
>>
>> Paul.
>>
>>> - stoker
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Commotion-dev mailing list
>>> Commotion-dev at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/commotion-dev
>>>