Launchpad Entry: TODO
Created: 2010-03-02
Contributors: Yasumoto, jonobacon
Packages affected:
Summary
This is still in draft form.
Create an Android application which will enable Ubuntu users and LoCo teams to better interact and find each other. Users of the application will be able to locate and contact their nearest LoCo team, as well as see any nearby events taking place. Users should also able to tie into Twitter/identi.ca/FourSquare and contact publish their current location via tagged messages.
Release Note
An Android App for the Ubuntu Community.
Find your LoCo, Read News, and Locate Events, and Publish Location
Rationale
Many Ubuntu users are avid Android users, and having an application will allow them to get in touch with other members of the community with the push of a button.
User stories
Jono is out and about in a new town and would love to know what his local LoCo Team is and whether there are any meetings. He uses the Android app and based on his location tells him the nearest groups, and also lists any meetings.
- Joe would like to meet up with other Ubuntu users in his local area. Using the android app he can broadcast his location and other Ubuntu users with the app in the local area will be notified.
- Amber would like to read Ubuntu news and updates on her phone. The android app aggregates our key resources all in one place.
Assumptions
Design
Here are initial mockups:
LoCo Team
Ideally there will be a tab that lets users find the LoCo team for their area, based upon their geographic location. Also, by tying into the Events from loco.ubuntu.com, users can see if anything awesome is occurring nearby. We'll need to pull the information (preferably) from the LoCO Directory or perhaps Launchpad itself.
News
We can take the RSS feeds from Fridge and Planet, as well as another other news sources that may be of interest.
Location
Community members should be able to publish their location, utilizing messaging services such as Twitter, identi.ca, and FourSquare. To publish location, a user can send out a tweet that states: "Ubuntu Meetup at Lat: ... Long: ... #ubuntu" The app will search for tweets that are similarly tagged, and display any that are for a nearby location. We'll need to decide on a good hashtag, perhaps #locoapp and/or #ubuntu.
Implementation
Obviously we'll need to take advantage of APIs for various web services, and the format of the Publishing method will need to be formatted to create an easy way to sort out messages. We'll be using the Java Android SDK, which has excellent documentation.
Test/Demo Plan
We need to get this out into the hands of LoCos, then be ready to listen to feedback and act upon what is most helpful for the community.