day -23+22: frustration > success
Daily stories from the ambadoo team, behind the scenes, dev-stats and other random stuff.
The end of last week was like climbing a steep & tiny mountain. We thought the change of the Facebook authentication would be rather easy and that we had it going, but it proved to be more difficult than what we hoped for.
Cookies
It seemed fine on the iPhone but when we tried to do the same thing on the web-app we realized it needed to be tweaked to get working. After hard work from Daniel & some changes by Magnus in the backend, setting the cookie right and sending the right parameters to the web-app we got it up running again. That was required to move on, on what will become the mobile web version of ambadoo.
m.ambadoo.com
This will be the home for mobile web access of your contacts, and your profile. It doesn’t matter where you are, if you’ve forgot your phone at home or you run out of battery. You should always have access to what’s most important, contact information to your beloved ones.
The majority of the functions in version 1.0 is there, and we’ll work on this in parallel with the iPhone app for everyone that’s not an iPhone user. You are as important to us, so you know. We have as a mission to deliver a truly cross-platform & universal system and there’s no more true platform than the web for this. With the arrival of HTML5 & CSS3 the game is different and we can build rich application right on the web. For now we’ll keep it simple.
battery dead
based on a true story
Sometimes I wonder what the bartender, waiter and restaurant owner think of me when I, with sorrow in my look, ask them: Excuse me but do you have an iPhone charger? All of them, so far, very understandingly reply: No problem, we’ve got one. I think we all know how it feels. To be cut off, from our social network. Think if somebody calls us, if we miss that party or the times when you decide a time and place to meet up with someone and you all of a sudden can’t reach them, or can’t be reached.
It’s happened me countless times. Raise a hand if it’s never happened to you, then I really want to know how you do it.
We’ve totally changed our behavior since the arrival of the mobile phone. Less planning, more spontaneous meet-ups and changes of plans. Moreover, we barely know one single phone number to our friends these days, since we never call them. The numbers. We call a person, a friend, not a phone number.
What’s interesting though is that everyone I’ve talked to remember their childhood home number without doubt.Not only that, but the numbers to the childhood friends, cousins and grandparents. It’s so deeply rooted, that even though it’s 15 years ago or more we used them, they’re still memorized. But new numbers, they don’t even stick the time you switch apps.
And to be honest, you shouldn’t have to remember silly combinations of numbers to call a friend. But more importantly, you shouldn’t be cut off from your friends, your life, just because your mobile decide to run out of battery.
No matter what happens to your phone, you should always have your contacts accessible. Along with the iPhone App we’re also developing a Web App that make this real. On any phone with a web browser you will be able to log in to access your contacts and get in touch. It’s not rocket science, but where’s that function today?
So now, all it takes is for you to find a kind soul, asking not if they have a charger but if you can use their phone for a minute and let that friend know that you’re all ok, and that your poor phone is recovering from dead mode.