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Oh this is promising! FacePlant App for the iPhone4....

Looks interesting. I have no idea how it would know when you've joined a wifi network if it's closed though.
 
moussekateer said:
Looks interesting. I have no idea how it would know when you've joined a wifi network if it's closed though.
Click to expand...

backgrounding? I guess people run the app when they are on wifi like logging into an instant messenger app and then log out when they aren't

good question - how passive or proactive do you have to be
 
samcraig said:
backgrounding? I guess people run the app when they are on wifi like logging into an instant messenger app and then log out when they aren't

good question - how passive or proactive do you have to be
Click to expand...

Backgrounding only gives apps 10 minutes to finish a task once you close them. After that it's completely closed, no code is running. It really sounds like you have to open the app everytime you want people to know you're available, which would suck.
 
about FacePlant

Hey,

I'm with the FacePlant team and I'd love to answer some of your questions. The app doesn't require any user intervention after you've completed the initial setup. You give us your phone number and a name, the app launches and syncs up your contacts, and then that's it. We use iOS 4's backgrounding and some special tech we've written to do the rest.

As for private WiFi networks.. the app doesn't care about that. As long as it detects that you are connected to a WiFi network and have internet access (same as you would need to make a FaceTime call), we consider you "online".

If there's anything else I can help answer, don't hesitate to e-mail us - facetime@rallyapp.com

Thanks!
 
MrMinor said:
That is not true. If it were then things like Pandora would only work for 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

That's because Pandora uses the background audio API, which allows for audio to continue playing after the app is closed. However, for things other than location and audio, apps only have 10 minutes to finish their task. Then they are shut down.
 
MrMinor said:
That is not true. If it were then things like Pandora would only work for 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

That's different. There's an API for playing audio when an app is closed. There is also an API for getting your location in the background, which is how GPS apps work in the background. That's pretty much it, apps can't do anything else in the background (after 10 mins).
 
macbookairman said:
That's because Pandora uses the background audio API, which allows for audio to continue playing after the app is closed. However, for things other than location and audio, apps only have 10 minutes to finish their task. Then they are shut down.
Click to expand...
Please see the post above from the member of the FacePlant team who says that they do in fact use backgrounding.
 
idunno011 said:
Hey,

I'm with the FacePlant team and I'd love to answer some of your questions. The app doesn't require any user intervention after you've completed the initial setup. You give us your phone number and a name, the app launches and syncs up your contacts, and then that's it. We use iOS 4's backgrounding and some special tech we've written to do the rest.

As for private WiFi networks.. the app doesn't care about that. As long as it detects that you are connected to a WiFi network and have internet access (same as you would need to make a FaceTime call), we consider you "online".

If there's anything else I can help answer, don't hesitate to e-mail us - facetime@rallyapp.com

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding. I'm still very curious to how you've got round the 10 minute task completion limit though. Fair enough if it's a secret.

Now I think about it, it could be done if the app used the background location API to keep the app alive but that would be a waste of battery? Just thinking out loud
 
kind of a side topic, but doesnt location based api turn off after 10 minutes too? like navigon? tia.
 
moussekateer said:
Backgrounding only gives apps 10 minutes to finish a task once you close them. After that it's completely closed, no code is running. It really sounds like you have to open the app everytime you want people to know you're available, which would suck.
Click to expand...

apparently thats only the task completion api
 
idunno011 said:
Hey,

I'm with the FacePlant team and I'd love to answer some of your questions. The app doesn't require any user intervention after you've completed the initial setup. You give us your phone number and a name, the app launches and syncs up your contacts, and then that's it. We use iOS 4's backgrounding and some special tech we've written to do the rest.

As for private WiFi networks.. the app doesn't care about that. As long as it detects that you are connected to a WiFi network and have internet access (same as you would need to make a FaceTime call), we consider you "online".

If there's anything else I can help answer, don't hesitate to e-mail us - facetime@rallyapp.com

Thanks!
Click to expand...

ETA for launch?

And as for the tech involved - if AIM can keep you signed in, I am sure this app can do the same.
 
moussekateer said:
Backgrounding only gives apps 10 minutes to finish a task once you close them. After that it's completely closed, no code is running. It really sounds like you have to open the app everytime you want people to know you're available, which would suck.
Click to expand...

They could use a "ping" type of backgrounding app that is always there, pinging to see if an active WiFi connection is established. If it finds one, your flag is set to "Facetime me." If not, you aren't available to Facetime.
 
MrMinor said:
Please see the post above from the member of the FacePlant team who says that they do in fact use backgrounding.
Click to expand...

If they use it for more than 10 minutes, then they are using Custom API's, and they'll receive a rejection letter from Apple.

But my guess is they aren't. The dev mentioned that they use "some special tech" in addition to background API's. Or it could be what ReallyBigFeet said above ^^
 
ReallyBigFeet said:
They could use a "ping" type of backgrounding app that is always there, pinging to see if an active WiFi connection is established. If it finds one, your flag is set to "Facetime me." If not, you aren't available to Facetime.
Click to expand...

No that isn't possible either. Once you press the home button to close the app it only has 10 minutes to finish what it's doing and then it will be forcefully closed by the OS.

It seems I'm now more interested in the implementation of this app than the app itself haha
 
samcraig said:
ETA for launch?

And as for the tech involved - if AIM can keep you signed in, I am sure this app can do the same.
Click to expand...

it doesnt keep you signed in on the phone tho, not for more than 10 mins at least. It's their servers that keep you signed in
 
If this works with older iPhones, and could be made to work with android devices, think this would be awesome!
 
It's possible using the given background APIs, but not exactly as they're intended. Any implementation that I can think of involves abusing the APIs in some way, and if that's the case, Apple may very well reject it... :(
 
I'm not so sure I like the idea of ALL my contacts knowing my WiFi status without friending. I guess it isn't a big deal.
 
samcraig said:
so that couldn't work here?
Click to expand...

No it can't. When you open your IM app you'll notice a slight delay in refreshing your friends list as the app reconnects to the IM server. When your app is closed your friends are just sending messages to their IM server which holds them until you open the app on your phone and download them. This gives you the illusion the app is always running, when in reality you could uninstall the app and your friends would still see you online
 
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