Coding Smackdown

So as it was with Twitter, I’ve now gotten the FriendFeed bug. I’m constantly checking a constant stream of data that my social networking friends are pumping into the ether. What I really like about FriendFeed is the way it aggregates a person’s various blogs and social networking statuses into a single stream of near-real time information.

As with Twitter, once you get addicted to having this data pumping through your veins on a daily basis, its hard to be without it. To address this craving the development team from FriendFeed has created fftogo, a mobile website which allows you take FriendFeed with you anywhere you want. Although fftogo doesn’t provide you with 100% of the functionality of the full website, it does let you check feeds, post messages and perform several other FriendFeed functions.

For me, having fftogo was not the neatest thing, it was that the FriendFeed team made public their FriendFeed API which allows you to build third party applications that consume the steady stream of data!

And, sure enough, not long after there was an app for the iPhone released. So, being the Windows Mobile neophyte that I am, I went looking for a Windows Mobile version so I could carry FriendFeed with me where ever I went. But alas! to my surprise no one had written one yet!

What was I going to do! Here I was faced with heading out of town and being away from my computers for a entire week with only my mobile browser to satisfy my cravings for senseless chatter and insane links from all my social networking buds! How could I survive! Where would I get my needs fulfilled!

Well, being the coding guru I am, I sat down the night before my flight and over four hours time I built a small Windows Mobile app that I could use to keep my cravings at bay. It worked great! I was able to see what everyone was chatting about, I could browse to the websites they were pointing out to me, I could even send simple posts if was so inclined. My needs has been met, my cravings held at bay and I was amenable to all those on the trip with me. I even had a great time!

After I returned, I decided to build that little app into a full fledge FriendFeed client with all the bells and whistles. So, I tore it down, I re-architected it a little bit here, I refactored it a little more over there and I’ve been able to add enough functionality, that I think will help to satisfy the cravings of the other FriendFeed junkies just like me.

To date, I’ve spent about 20 hours putting together what I’d call an Alpha quality application, which I’m ready to share with others for testing purposes and get feed back on how I can make it even better. Not all of the features are there yet, but there is enough that I think will be useful.

The current version is designed to run on Windows Mobile 6 Professional devices, such as the HTC Diamond and Touch, but I’d like to get a good cross section of devices to make sure everyone can run it. So, if you’re interested in being an early adopter and don’t mind things that go bump in the night, leave me a comment below that includes your Windows Mobile device type, carrier and why you think you’d be a good Alpha Tester and I’ll give 20 lucky people access to the bits.

Just to give everyone a quick tour of what FriendFeed for WinMo looks like, I’ve recorded a 15 minute demo that you can watch. I’d love to get you feedback!

Update: 6/1/2009

I’ve released a new Alpha Version of FriendFeed for WinMo.

New in this release:
1. Comments are now active.
2. You can post comments to an entry and it will show up at the end of the comment list.
3. You can refresh an entry while on the comments screen so you can keep up with discussions in real-time.
4. Media is now active. Still needs more work to correctly display images in the correct aspect ratio.
5. If you click on an image it will launch the browser so you can save it.
6. If you click on a friend name it will load their feed so you can go through their past posts.

Fixed in this release:
1. Network communications have been greatly improved, much, much fewer failures when retrieving feeds.
2. Moved retrieval of friend icon images to a background thread, so they are pulled down based on the subscription list instead of the post.
3. Branded the application with FriendFeed Logo.

Next Features for Implementation:
1. Ability to add images to posts.
2. Auto refresh of Entry after you press the refresh button for the first time. Hit it again and the auto refresh stops.
3. Auto refresh of a feed after you press the refresh button for the first time on the main screen. Hit it again and the auto refresh stops.

 FriendFeed for WinMo Demonstration: Download