modemlooper – that was actually more like what I was thinking.. To just literally use the database info and create my own functions for the mobile app. If that becomes the case then really a BP Mobile framework could be released after we build it for everyone to use.. Or at least a skeleton of functions that folks could start with should they want to create their own.
The goal is to have an app that does more than what the buddypress website does. So while the BP powered website will be used for communicating and networking with others who are a part of this “movement” the app will have location devices and form submission stuff that would occur outside of the community anyways, so it would be something that would likely never be offline (just like the facebook app never works offline) but the benefits of having a native app still outweigh an HTML5 “theme” for the existing site.
I have a meeting with them in the coming weeks and am going to get a better feel for what the budget is for the mobile app versus the website and see if we can do this.. Otherwise the low-budget way would be to build the HTML5 web app – which we might launch anyways while the other is being worked on.
Sencha is definitely something I have followed but not actively used. I am not a mobile app developer (as much as I would LOVE to learn) – that is why I am heading up the team and not doing the coding. I will be creating the UI specs and function requirements, but I wanted to make sure that BuddyPress has the ability to be “open to” external connections from a mobile app.
I’d definitely be interested in hearing about the frameworks you’ve played with. Have you done anything with a framework AND buddypress?
