[New App] Mango - *free* OneManga comic/manga reader for BlackBerry

[Andiamo]

Originally Posted by kmflame

You should do an IRC for the Storm

Not a bad idea actually, though I'm sure there have to be 5 million free IRC clients for BlackBerry.... it's pretty easy to write one. I'll take a look and possibly add it to my to-do list if I think there's a void of good IRC clients for BlackBerry.

EDIT: I just found one, BBirc, which costs $8.99. What is with BlackBerry developers and price gouging? -___-

[kmflame]

Originally Posted by Andiamo

Not a bad idea actually, though I'm sure there have to be 5 million free IRC clients for BlackBerry.... it's pretty easy to write one. I'll take a look and possibly add it to my to-do list if I think there's a void of good IRC clients for BlackBerry.

EDIT: I just found one, BBirc, which costs $8.99. What is with BlackBerry developers and price gouging? -___-

Just checked and it is actually a bad app, it has not been updated in ages and as I can see it is not suited for Blackberry Storm.

Same with Jmirc I used this one with compability mode but had no options . I think that is a good idea, that you can create one specially for the storm, if you search in the forums it is requested a lot.

[Andiamo]

I'll see what I can do then. Writing a program to work with the IRC protocol is not difficult, in fact I've done it in Visual Basic 6.0 a couple years ago. The challenging part is making it more than just a simple IRC app, and adding features to improve usability and convenience on a mobile device. Thanks for the suggestion.

In other news, Mango just recently broke 5,000,000 pages viewed! Well actually it's over 46 thousand past that but it goes up so fast I just noticed it now. Plus the number of Storm connections is 50,002, and the total number of requests will probably hit 500,000 tomorrow. I was a little sad last week because usage seemed to have dropped off quite a bit but it's returning to normal levels again! Awwwwesome. ^__^

[ortizm74]

Andiamo, gotta tell you man, this is one of if not THE best app out there for my Storm. You are probably close to one of the top 3 reasons I have not left my Storm. Now, if you make the app available on Android, well, we'll talk then. Just wanted to thank you for all the work you put into this thing. And I can tell you if you release another version, I will definitely pay whatever the cost. It will be well worth the price. Take care.

[Andiamo]

Originally Posted by ortizm74

Andiamo, gotta tell you man, this is one of if not THE best app out there for my Storm. You are probably close to one of the top 3 reasons I have not left my Storm. Now, if you make the app available on Android, well, we'll talk then. Just wanted to thank you for all the work you put into this thing. And I can tell you if you release another version, I will definitely pay whatever the cost. It will be well worth the price. Take care.

Wow... don't know what to say except that I'm really happy you're enjoying Mango so much that you'll even endure a Storm for it instead of jumping ship to Android I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words... thanks a whole lot!!

Hopefully, however, you won't have to wait too long for an Android version if that's what you're really after. As early as a month ago I would've dismissed Android as a small platform with only a few phones to show for and a small-ish userbase, but it has turned into a MAJOR player in the smartphone OS battle practically overnight, especially with the release of the Droid. As such I've reevaluated my stance on the platform, and I may even release an Android version of Mango before the WinMo port that's already in progress.

Also, I know that some people tend to switch phones pretty often, and the registration system I have in mind for Mango Bankai takes this into account. I obviously won't force users to buy a Mango Bankai upgrade a second time if they get a new phone, and nor will it be some long, drawn out process where you have to email me and have me transfer it manually. Instead, you'll be able to just log into a page at leetsoft.net and change your registered PIN number from that of your old phone to your new one. Simple as that.

Anyway, I appreciate your post, and I just wanted to say thanks for saying thanks! :P Keep on enjoying Mango!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[AltiVQStorm]

That last post made me happy. I switched to the droid and so far I've been loving it but I do miss Mango, a lot. The Manga reader on the android right now sucks. I can not wait for Mango to make its appearance on Android. Make sure you make it DROID compatible

[Andiamo]

Well I kinda hit a wall today while added a new feature to Mango 2.0 and I just got tired/bored of fighting with it so I decided to start porting over parts of the app to Android so I can cool down for a little while. It's actually going to be easier and faster to make an Android port of Mango than a Windows Mobile port, since both BlackBerry and Android use the same programming language, whereas WinMo uses a slightly different one.

I've been checking the download stats for Manga Droid and I see it's been downloaded a LOT more than Mango has, so I'm actually pretty excited about Android now! Makes sense that it has a much larger manga reading population than BlackBerry (which, historically, has been targeted to business users).

Edit: And just for fun, since I was getting tired of seeing Lelouch's face I changed my avatar to Horo and Lawrence (Spice and Wolf; read it on Mango!). Maybe I'll make Horo the mascot for Mango Android, since she's one of my favorite characters.

[AltiVQStorm]

So when will it be in the Marketplace????

[Andiamo]

In the marketplace, probably not for a while. I'm not going to pay the $25 registration fee and upload it to there until the app is completely done (this means that everything in the BlackBerry version of Mango 2.0 is also in the Android version). But I will release some betas once the app is usable. I'm not sure where I'll post them yet, probably on some forums similar to CrackBerry but for Android.

I'll likely also post a message in this thread saying an Android beta is available, but remember, this is a thread for the BlackBerry version of Mango so I won't be posting Android related stuff every day lol.

[AltiVQStorm]

ok.
I will be waiting patiently for it. I'll be your first beta tester

[Andiamo]

If anyone has ideas for features they'd like to see in Mango 2.0 please post them! I've already finished about half of what needs to be done before I'll release Mango 2.0, but I'm still very open to adding new features!!

Here's a list of the new stuff currently completed in Mango 2.0. Some of these will require you to upgrade to Mango Bankai! but for $6 it's a good deal

-New "Browse By" screen lets you browse manga by series, genre, artist/author, popularity, and newest. You can also search for a manga.
-Image Smoothing. Don't you hate it when some manga are really hard to read unless you zoom in because the lines are really jagged? Image smoothing applies a filter to the pages to make them easier to read.
-Animated transitions and effects throughout the app, such as when switching pages, opening and closing screens, or downloading data.
-Lots and lots and lots and lots of bug fixes, internal changes, and cool little enhancements. Did I mention there were a LOT of them? Mango should be more stable, faster, less buggy, and more memory efficient. Screen management was completely rewritten and moving between screens from the pageviewer should be smooooth.


----


Now that the hard part (the Browse by screen and it's associated sub-menus) is done I just need to finish some of the other cool little features. here's my to-do list.

-MAL Integration: Automatically updates your MyAnimeList profile as you read a manga.
-Notifications: When a manga you've bookmarked is updated with a new chapter, Mango will either send you an email, text message, or in-app message.
-Bookmark Backup: You'll be able to save your bookmarks to your SD card in case you lose them when updating Mango or your phone.
-Save-to-SD: This has been on my to-do list since the Mango beta. I swear I'll get it done this time! Saves pages to your SD card as you read a manga, and organizes them.
-Rating and commenting: Lets you rate a manga or individual chapter, as well as leave comments or reviews for other users to read. This might not make it into the final 2.0 build.
-Search: The same robust search engine used on OneManga.com.
-Reorganized settings screen to alleviate all of the clutter
-Statistics: View global Mango usage statistics straight from the app, as well as your own personal statistics.
-Mango Bankai! Validation and Trial Activation: The code to check if you're a Mango Bankai! user, as well as start a 7 day trial.
-Global/user specific messages: I'll be able to send out announcements, either to all users or to specific users, similar to the Tip in the main menu.

It looks like a lot of stuff, but it won't take very long. I've been on fire when it comes to programming recently.


So yeah, post your feature suggestions and comments! Kthx.

[Philimon]

Sounds like a fantastic app. Great effort!

I am new to blackberry, and this will be my first download. I tried your desktop manager link, but I could not figure out how to download a file for the PC... Any help is appreciated

[Andiamo]

Originally Posted by Philimon

Sounds like a fantastic app. Great effort!

I am new to blackberry, and this will be my first download. I tried your desktop manager link, but I could not figure out how to download a file for the PC... Any help is appreciated

I haven't released Mango as a desktop manager package in a long time, so even if you get that link to work it'll be very out of date.

If you've never installed an app on BlackBerry, you might not know that the preferred method for installing apps is via an Over-the-Air installation. This means that you download the app directly onto the phone, using the Browser. It's MUCH faster and easier to install apps this way.

Start up the Browser on your BlackBerry, and go to Mango - free manga reader for BlackBerry. Click the Download link at the top of the page, and then scroll down to where it says "OTA Installation". Click on the Mango version that corresponds to your device (Storm, Tour, or Bold/Curve) and select Install. That's it!

[Philimon]

Thank you for the detailed and helpful reply Andiamo.

I had presumed that if I did not have a data plan, then I could not use OTA. Anyway, I tried it over my home WIFI network instead, and it worked... The program looks great. Thanks again for your hard work.

[Gorgonia]

I'd rather donate money for you to get into BIS than pay my carrier so much money for using WAP lol. I'm really waiting for BIS to be available in the connections, even if I have to pay for it!