This would be an Android app that allows you to read and post on the forums without having to use a browser.
It will make buttons bigger, making it easier to post on a small screen

the forms are supposed to be obscure

TOLoRS wrote:

9.1 Bring back the “Discuss” tab
The Discuss tab was removed for reasons that may not be 100% clear to some users, but it will not be coming back. In general, the forums are not as restricted as the main website is, in terms of post content. For instance, users can post images on the forums, write Scratch blocks on the forums, and write and edit posts of up to 200,000 characters, none of which is possible on the main website. These options allow for more spam and misuse, especially for new forum users who are not aware of how the forums work. It is suggested that Scratchers learn of the forums through other Scratchers, who direct them to the correct forums as needed.

an app would cause the same problem as the discuss tab did.

Catscratcher07 wrote:

the forms are supposed to be obscure

[…]

an app would cause the same problem as the discuss tab did.

I don't think so. The forums are not “supposed” to be obscure (or else there wouldn't be a link in the footer of the website). I don't think an app is out of the question — I'd argue the Discuss tab would be more visible/prevalent than an app.

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:

teamsonic2011 wrote:

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:
-images-

I thought you can press home button or swipe up
to leave the app without a in-app exit button

gdfsgdfsgdfg wrote:

teamsonic2011 wrote:

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:
-images-

I thought you can press home button or swipe up
to leave the app without a in-app exit button

Some apps have an exit button in them

Scratch is supposed to be for educational purposes, this puts too much focus on the social aspect.

petstra wrote:

Scratch is supposed to be for educational purposes, this puts too much focus on the social aspect.

Could you maybe elaborate on this?

In my opinion, this could increase the educational purpose. People can ask questions, get help with scripts, and collaborate on making bigger projects with an easier to access forum app.

You can instal website as app in some browsers.

The forums… in an app? Now that would be awesome to have! I don’t mean to let your hopes down however, but I’m not sure how all of this would or could work in an app itself. Could you possibly explain more (or someone else) on how this will benefit the community? Other than it being cool.

teamsonic2011 wrote:

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:

Those images aren’t supported on iOS. Maybe put them in a project?

PaperMarioFan2022 wrote:

teamsonic2011 wrote:

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:

Those images aren’t supported on iOS. Maybe put them in a project?

I'm not on ios and they don't work, most likely the image host is down.

Catscratcher07 wrote:

PaperMarioFan2022 wrote:

teamsonic2011 wrote:

Here are some concepts for the app and icon:

Those images aren’t supported on iOS. Maybe put them in a project?

I'm not on ios and they don't work, most likely the image host is down.

Oh, okay. That makes sense.
Edit: They work now. Nvm.

Bump (because this topic is relevant, it’s consistent, and it explains well).

Would it be seperate from the Scratch Website, with it's own moderation and rules? Because if so, we might see a Scratch Reeddit in a few years, and I would really not like that.
Also, not all parent trust apps to be safe, as they have direct access to your device. Websites are no problem for them though…

I don't think the Scratch Team is going to put time, effort, and money into the development of an app that only serves a small amount of users and doesn't really fulfill Scratch's goals of programming that much. That would mean more wasted donation money that is being put into unrelated stuff. If I really needed to interact with the forums, I would use the discussion forums website, not download an app onto my phone.

If they were to put time into the forums, they would probably just make the forums website more responsive and optimized to make it more mobile friendly, not making another app entirely. For example:


Please excuse the quality of this mockup - I found a draft of this and I just modified it quickly for this topic

petstra wrote:

Scratch is supposed to be for educational purposes, this puts too much focus on the social aspect.

Good point. A forum app would be complete social media.
I would rather a mobile forums be made on the website (like in @SidewaysCoder's mockup).
And I agree with @The_Blue_J as well - the Scratch Team would have trouble moderating an app separate from the website.

ilovestories wrote:

~snip~
the Scratch Team would have trouble moderating an app separate from the website.

It is assumed that this app would just be accessing the same forums that are on the website, not a separate forum.

Catscratcher07 wrote:

ilovestories wrote:

~snip~
the Scratch Team would have trouble moderating an app separate from the website.

It is assumed that this app would just be accessing the same forums that are on the website, not a separate forum.

That's what it is

SidewaysCoder wrote:

I don't think the Scratch Team is going to put time, effort, and money into the development of an app that only serves a small amount of users and doesn't really fulfill Scratch's goals of programming that much. That would mean more wasted donation money that is being put into unrelated stuff. If I really needed to interact with the forums, I would use the discussion forums website, not download an app onto my phone.

If they were to put time into the forums, they would probably just make the forums website more responsive and optimized to make it more mobile friendly, not making another app entirely. For example:

-snip-
Please excuse the quality of this mockup - I found a draft of this and I just modified it quickly for this topic

The forums could work on an app though, and parents aren’t all “up to date with apps”, that’s just the world that we live in today. Apps cannot be on a store if they are a virus or Trojan, so I don’t see any risk of this getting on an App Store like Apples’.

In addition to that, the forums are made to be obscure on the website and to be made hidden so that random people can’t find it so easily, which just makes things very inconvenient and difficult to use the forums on Scratch.