Retrieve/store photos locally

[sancarder]

How will retreiving and storing of photos work? As I understand it, the idea is to pull photos from an account somewhere (Facebook, Flickr, Picasa...). But will it be possible to just open up e.g. the iPad photo album and use a photo from there? Or similarly, a file on the computer? And then store the retrieved photos on the logged in account on the server, so they will be there next time the app opens up?

We see a problem with only having photos from a server. For carers that might have multiple users, it will be an extra step to keep track of different users' image accounts - and a probable scenario is that there will rise a need for taking a photo 'in the moment' to be able to talk about it (e.g. using the device's camera and putting the photo in the app). Ideally would be if the app could support taking a picture directly and just putting it there, but I suppose this could be hard when it's not an app on the system, and will support different platforms?

[SteveALee]

Initially The plan is server access only but local file access is a longer term goal. Maavis was required to have local file access and that forced the technology that was used. However Web browsers are starting to support new standards that allow both local file access and also completely offline use. Access to local devices like cameras is also becoming available. Access to local files will require an extra upload step until local file access is available

In summary we can enjoy these features now through a number of technical solutions.

1. restrict use of these features to browsers that support the required standards (eg webcam and file. As these features get wider adoption the code will work in more browsers.
2. Use technology like PhoneGap or Windows Apps that wrap a HTML app in a platform specific shell that give full access to the device and a more native app experience.

I plan option 1 one as this creates a widely usable WebApp rather than a platform specifc (native) app. One advantage sited for the later is easy access from an app store but we would then need to manage several variants. Also it appears app stores have problems. Google (and Mozilla) are promoting so called progressive web apps that give a similar experience for users. In any event our initial UX is a full screen pre-installed app.

[SteveALee]

Tangential Breaking news: Chrome also support MediaRecorder so can record webcam video and audio

[sancarder]

I agree, Steve, let's not make several variants of apps, but rather a web app. I think restricting the use of functions to browsers that support it is a good way to go. I think the extra upload step would be preferable for many users/carers compared to managing another account. Is this doable already now?

[SteveALee]

Is this doable already now?

when we have the code it will be :)

[sancarder]

awesome :-)