Orienteering events IPhone app

[SeanC]

One of our club members has written an IPhone app to list UK orienteering events.

It basically calls the BO events list and displays just the events (no activities). The app can be configured to display events of clubs and or regions you are interested in, and links to club websites when you want more information about the events.

It's just a beta version, not available for general use yet, basically written initially to help the author view events, as the BO events site doesn't work that well on a phone display.

Has anyone else produced a similar app?

IPhone users - would you use it if it were made public?

Apparently 52% of global web traffic is now via a mobile phone

[Big Jon]

I'd use it if it were released.

[DM]

Surely it would be better to improve the BOF listing to be more useable on the technology that people use now.

Personally I rarely look at the BOF fixtures list. Too many boxes to pick from and fiddly

[Tatty]

I use Oli O'Brien's list!

[Nimby]

There's also http://oevents.info/

[ricardito]

There's also http://oevents.info/

My go-to event list!

That said, it has crossed my mind to make an iPhone version, partly (let's be honest) as an interesting coding project, but also because it may be easier to do certain things with a native app than with a web site - adding events to one's calendar, for example, or location aware searches (not that event locations are always right on the BOF list), favourite search list, maybe other things...

Of course, getting the data is the challenge. Ideally you would want an API rather than screen scraping, but I've not heard of one. Maybe the author of oevents could comment if a member here?

[SeanC]

Integration with the IPhone calendar was a chief reason for doing this I believe. The app displays brief details of the event, and you can select to add it to the phone calendar.

I know that clubs and regions get the event data via an API. I'm pretty sure it's an API not just screen scraping, but whether BO would tell everyone if their suppliers made a change to the API I'm not sure.

[ricardito]

Getting back to the point yes, I would be interested to use such an app, or indeed collaborate on development if the circumstances are right. Please PM me if the developer is interested in such an arrangement (can't promise to respond rapidly in the next few days as I'm currently on honeymoon )

[oo_wrong_way]

Just to say that oevents.info already offers a host of calendar files (iCal format) that can be synchronised to Apple calendar, Google calendar or Outlook. Calendars are provided for each level of event, UK wide, by region and by club. There is also a calendar for each club showing all that club's events and activities. Instructions are here: http://oevents.info/index.php/subscribe-to-calendars/