Hi all,
Version 2.10 of the Commons Android app has just been released to
production on the Google Play Store[1] (also downloadable on F-Droid[2]).
The update contains:
New features:
- Users can search for (and upload pictures for) places that need pictures
in any location, not just their current location
- Current ongoing campaigns, if any, are displayed on the main screen
- "Retry" button to easily re-upload failed uploads
Fixes:
- Optimized Nearby map loading time
- Fixed various bugs and crashes, including errors with "image taken" date
We're excited to announce that we've also had our recent Project Grant
proposal[3] approved. :) This means there will be lots of improvements
coming up in 2019, with focus on improving stability and the upload
experience for users.
Our first priority will be rewriting the legacy backend code to adhere to
modern standards and reduce complexity (especially the network layer, which
currently uses a deprecated API). This is aimed at resolving a few major
lingering bugs (especially upload failures for a few users), as well as
creating a solid technical foundation to base future improvements on.
Several new features are slated for release after that, including filters
and bookmarks for the "Nearby places that needs pictures" feature, a pause
and resume function for uploads, and a "limited connection" mode.
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us thus far, especially in
the last rocky year! :) At the conclusion of this grant, we hope to deliver
a much better app to you.
Best regards,
Josephine / @misaochan (project maintainer)
[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons
[2]: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=fr.free.nrw.commons
[3]:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Commons_app/Commons_Android_…
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I do not see what community this is being controlled
by;
1. there is no notice boards, or request for administrators,
etc..
2. there is no arbitration committee to go to,
etc..
3. there are no open rules on who may be
blocked.
4. there is no unblocking feature, and yet there is a
review page.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Category:Requests_for_unblock
5. there is nothing in place to review an
administrators abuse of there blocking powers etc..
6. for
newbies there is no active user talk page to request an
unblock.
I do not see what community this is being controlled by;
1. there is no notice boards, or request for administrators, etc..
2. there is no arbitration commity to go to, etc..
3. there are no rules on who may be blocked.
4. there is no unblocking feature, and yet there is a review page.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Category:Requests_for_unblock
5. there is nothing in place to punish administrators that abuse there
blocking powers etc..
6. there is no active user talk page to request an
unblock.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi folks,
Hope you've all been well! :) We (the Commons app team) are applying for a
Project Grant[1] to fund the development of v3.0 of the Commons Android
app[2]. At the moment, we're approaching completion of our 2nd Individual
Engagement Grant, having implemented several major new features, e.g. a
revamped map of "nearby places that need photos" with direct uploads and
Wikidata integration, user talk notifications, browsing of other Commons
pictures, with focus on featured images, and 2FA logins. We currently have
4000+ active installs, and 15,000+ distinct images uploaded via our app
have been used in Wikimedia articles. In the last 6 months alone, 21,241
files were uploaded via our app, and only 1738 (8.2%) of those files
required deletion. We are also proud to report that we have a vibrant,
diverse community of volunteers on our GitHub repository[3], and that we
have increased our global user coverage since our first grant.
It has been a rocky road this year, however. One of the major issues we
faced was that a large portion of our codebase is based on
sparsely-documented legacy code from the very first incarnation of the app
5 years ago (a long time in the Android development world), leading to
unpredictable behavior and bugs. We eventually found ourselves in a
position where new features built on top of legacy code were causing other
features to not work correctly, and even fixes to those problems sometimes
had side effects that caused other problems. (My sincerest apologies to
users for the inconveniences that they were caused!)
In view of that, our Project Grant proposal focuses on these areas:
- Increasing app stability and code quality: We plan to overhaul our legacy
backend to adhere to modern best practices, reduce complexity and
dependencies in our codebase, and introduce test-driven development for the
first time.
- Targeted acquisition of photos for places that need them: The "Nearby
places that need photos" feature has come a long way, but there is still
plenty of room for improvement. We plan to introduce new quality-of-life
features (e.g. by implementing filters and bookmarks) and fix a few
outstanding bugs to make it more user-friendly and convenient to use. We
will also complete the final link in the chain of collecting photos for
Wikipedia articles that lack them by prompting users to add their
recently-uploaded photo to the relevant Wikipedia article.
- Increasing user acquisition in the Global South: We plan to implement a
"limited connectivity" mode, allow pausing and resuming of uploads, and put
more time and effort into outreach and socializing the app, especially to
underrepresented communities.
- We also wish to continue to assist the Commons community to reduce
vandalism and improve usability of images uploaded. This will be done by
implementing selfie detection, and a "to-do" system that reminds users if
an image lacks a description/categories.
Your feedback is important to us! Please do take a look at our proposal[1],
and feel free to let us know what you think on the Discussion page, and/or
endorse the proposal if you see fit. If you would like to be part of the
project, new volunteers and additions to our diverse team are always
welcome - please visit our GitHub repository[3] and say "Hi". :)
Also, we have just released v2.9 for beta testing on the Play Store! \o/
v2.9 features a new main screen UI, a new upload UI with multiple uploads
enabled, and major bugfixes for image dates and the Nearby map default zoom
level. More information and screenshots can be found on our blog[4]. If you
would like to help test the new release, you can sign up for beta testing
here[5].
Finally, we want to thank everyone who has cheered us on and supported us
throughout the years. As a community-maintained app, we wouldn't be here
without you.
Best regards,
Josephine (User:Misaochan), Commons app project maintainer
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Commons_app/Commons_Android_…
[2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons
[3] https://github.com/commons-app/apps-android-commons
[4] https://cookiesandcodeblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/28/version-2-9-beta/
[5] https://play.google.com/apps/testing/fr.free.nrw.commons
Hi all,
We've just released version 2.8.3 of the Commons Android app to all users.
:) The new version is available for download on the Google Play Store[1] as
well as F-Droid[2].
The update includes fixes for most of the high-priority bugs in the app,
including failed uploads and overwrites. Additionally, we have several new
features, notably:
- When you upload an image to an item on the map of "Nearby places that
need pictures", the image will be automatically added to that Wikidata item
- Browse other images on Commons via the new "Explore" feature
- View your achievements and upload statistics (by tapping on the trophy
icon next to your username)
We are aware that there are a few recent issues that need resolving, namely
crashes for users on Android 8.1 and above, and issues with date templates.
Those will be fixed ASAP in v2.9.
Thank you all for your patience as we work on these! More details and
screenshots can be found in my blog post[3]. Feedback, bug reports, and
suggestions are always welcome on our GitHub page[4].
Best regards,
Josephine / misaochan (project maintainer)
[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons
[2]: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=fr.free.nrw.commons
[3]:
https://cookiesandcodeblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/10/commons-app-version-2-8…
[4]: https://github.com/commons-app/apps-android-commons/issues
Hi all,
We've just released version 2.7 of the Commons Android app ! \o/ The new
version is available for download on the Google Play Store[1] as well as
F-Droid[2].
This update includes several new features:
- New "Nearby places that need pictures" UI with direct uploads (and
associated category suggestions) - Two-factor authentication login -
Notifications activity to display Commons user talk messages - Real-time
location tracking in Nearby - Improvements to UI of navigation drawer,
tutorial, media details view, login and settings - Option to nominate
picture for deletion in media details view
We are also thrilled to be mentoring two new contributors for this year's
GSoC - Tanvi Dadu and Ujjwal Agrawal. :)
Thank you all for your support and encouragement thus far! More details and
screenshots can be found in my blog post[3]. Feedback, bug reports, and
suggestions are always welcome on our GitHub page[4].
Best regards,
Josephine (project maintainer)
[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons
[2]: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=fr.free.nrw.commons
[3]:
https://cookiesandcodeblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/21/commons-app-version-2-7…
[4]: https://github.com/commons-app/apps-android-commons/issues
Hi all,
We are delighted to announce that our IEG renewal application for the Commons
app <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons>[1] has
been approved! Thank you so much to everyone who supported us – reading
all of the wonderful comments on our proposal has been extremely meaningful
and encouraging for us.
We have been hard at work getting version 2.6 of the app out; there was a
bit of a rocky start with the first few beta iterations, but we finally
have v2.6.5 in production. \o/
Several UI improvements have been made in the current version:
- New login screen
- New design for the list of nearby places that need pictures
- New navigation drawer design with username displayed
- The upload screen has been remodeled to include tooltips for title and
description fields, as well as an explicit copyright declaration and a link
to Commons policies
- Improved media details view with links to the selected license,
categories and image coordinates
Other improvements include:
- Category search - fixed major bugs, improved ordering and filter for
categories
- The "nearby places that need pictures" feature has improved GPS and
refresh handling
- Several privacy improvements - new privacy policy, switched to using
Wikimedia maps server instead of Mapbox, and removed event logging
- Reduced memory leaks and battery usage; fixed multiple other crashes and
bugs
- Various improvements to navigation flow and backstack
- Added option for users to send logs to developers (has to be manually
activated by user)
For more information on the new version, recent screenshots, and
upload/deletion statistics for 2017, please see this blog post
<https://cookiesandcodeblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/commons-app-update-vers…>[2].
Feedback, bug reports, and suggestions are always welcome on our GitHub page
<https://github.com/commons-app/apps-android-commons>[3].
Cheers, and happy holidays. :)
Best regards,
Josephine (@misaochan)
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons
[2]
https://cookiesandcodeblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/commons-app-update-vers…
[3] https://github.com/commons-app/apps-android-commons