14 November 2011
PNS
So at work I was talking about the Android apps that turn your phone into a web server. This could be used for impromptu scatternets at meetups or any rally where coordination is key. Control moves from the cloud to peer-to-peer.
I've tried two of the apps, and although I love the concept they are very limited. First, they only serve up file lists from a configurable root folder. This is nice for sharing pictures but not for much else. Second, and more limiting, they're only visible over WiFi. I haven't done enough remote access development on the Android, but I'd assume that socket connections (from locked phones) are blocked by the providers. However, this post from Think Android does just that. More research needed.
Thinking about phone servers while jogging on Sunday, I had the idea to create a DNS system for Android phones. After registering a unique name, you could give out a URL and publish whatever you want through a name server (e.g http://nameserver.net/my_id/index.html). A local service on the phone would act as a DDNS updater, pinging the name server whenever your IP changed. Thoughts then ran to web app development on the phone and I was back to Phonebot as the natural solution to developing shareable applications. Host a signup sheet or chatboard. Create a GPS map of group members. Write group games on-the-fly.
- Phonebot Plus posted by sstrader on 7 March 2012 at 10:35:25 PM
- PNS posted by sstrader on 14 November 2011 at 7:26:47 PM
- Phonebot posted by sstrader on 29 October 2011 at 6:37:05 PM