Developing an Android Application for acc mgmt

[calfyn]

Hey community,

So I'm a software developer, and I'm wondering if there would be any legal implications if I or myself and a group of devs decided to code and application to manage public mobile accounts. Can an employee, or mod shead some light on this. I would be willing/able to lend my time to the development of an application. I would prefer other devs to work with but well yeah.

Thanks in advanced

[srlawren]

@calfyn How do you plan to get at the data?  To the best of my knowledge, PM does not have an API (or at least not one that's published) for interacting with their back-end account management system.  

Honestly, if you just want the self-serve site features but to act like an app, you may want to check out what @koimr1 was talking about, which I documented here:  https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/Very-Partial-workaround-for-lack-of-P... It's not as sophisticated as a real dedicated app, but it also takes less than 5 mins to set up vs. writing an app and reverse-engineering interacting with PM's back-end and maintaining it if/when they make changes.

[koimr1]

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@Effort wrote:

When I was with Chatr, I enjoyed the ability to check my data usage and how much data I have left. Android is sometimes glitchy and my OxygenOS rom will reset the total sometimes when I restart my phone.

Having a quick app to open and and I can see what remains is nice. If I were on the $10 plan, knowing how many minutes and texts left is also nice.

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For something like displaying usage I think it'd be nice to be able to send a special SMS to PM and receive that back as a text message.

[will13am]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

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@calfyn wrote:

While I do agree it's best to keep in the backend the other reason apart from getting the attention of an employee is to guage a reaction. I would imagine if enough subscribers said yes or the thread had a lot of attention that that would influence a descision

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There have been number ideas posted (Idea Lab which is no longer around) and always came back with an answer of Not for Us.  Still there is numerous posts each month asking for it and there is never a response from PM staff on this it is just ignored.  I am sure you can get the support from many here in the forum, that support doesn't translate to implimentation.  We have so many other issues that need to be fixed like the latest auto renew bug or the forgot password not working that an app would be so far down the list of what they need to do.

Not trying to discourage you as you are probably the first to say they would work on and develope it just letting you know you probably won't get a response from PM

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Totally agree.  If Public Mobile is not so keen on developing an app, having someone else develop it is not likely to change their attitude towards having one.  They would still have to provide support from their end in terms of the interfaces.  There are far more pressing needs than an app.

[ShawnC13]

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@Effort wrote:

When I was with Chatr, I enjoyed the ability to check my data usage and how much data I have left. Android is sometimes glitchy and my OxygenOS rom will reset the total sometimes when I restart my phone.

Having a quick app to open and and I can see what remains is nice. If I were on the $10 plan, knowing how many minutes and texts left is also nice.

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Get data witness.  created by @IWIK, a PM customer a great data tracking app for Android

[Effort]

When I was with Chatr, I enjoyed the ability to check my data usage and how much data I have left. Android is sometimes glitchy and my OxygenOS rom will reset the total sometimes when I restart my phone.

Having a quick app to open and and I can see what remains is nice. If I were on the $10 plan, knowing how many minutes and texts left is also nice.

[ShawnC13]

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@calfyn wrote:

While I do agree it's best to keep in the backend the other reason apart from getting the attention of an employee is to guage a reaction. I would imagine if enough subscribers said yes or the thread had a lot of attention that that would influence a descision

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There have been number ideas posted (Idea Lab which is no longer around) and always came back with an answer of Not for Us.  Still there is numerous posts each month asking for it and there is never a response from PM staff on this it is just ignored.  I am sure you can get the support from many here in the forum, that support doesn't translate to implimentation.  We have so many other issues that need to be fixed like the latest auto renew bug or the forgot password not working that an app would be so far down the list of what they need to do.

Not trying to discourage you as you are probably the first to say they would work on and develope it just letting you know you probably won't get a response from PM

[Anonymous]

Then I'm with @ShawnC13. This is a pretty low budget outfit. Not likely going to happen.

How about I vote no thanks along with several others here kinda nay-saying.

I was with Telus for years and almost never used their app.

[calfyn]

While I do agree it's best to keep in the backend the other reason apart from getting the attention of an employee is to guage a reaction. I would imagine if enough subscribers said yes or the thread had a lot of attention that that would influence a descision

[ShawnC13]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah I would suggest radio silence other than the requested response from an employee or mod.

For the OP I would suggest that this ought to be taken rather more back channel to the company than out in the open here. Maybe they'll PM you.

Just my opinion.

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With Koodo scrapping their app I can't see Telus contacting someone to make one for here but you never know

[koimr1]

This has been requested and discussed before and there's been no indication from PM that they are working on or even planning on such an app.

Without PM's involvement on this the only solution would be "wrapping" the current self-serve site to make it look like a native Android app.

For a third-party developer to tackle this on their own to make an actual native app would require PM to provide some kind of API to handle account management - personally I would peg the chance of them doing this at exactly zero because of the massive security implications that would entail.

@srlawrenhas a post that describes how to wrap the current website with an Android app that might work for you - legend says if you say his name three times he will appear and with luck may provide the link to these instructions! 🙂 That could give you some ideas at least.

[stonechucker]

So sorry, I read your handle as Caitlin.... dang vision problems!

[Anonymous]

Yeah I would suggest radio silence other than the requested response from an employee or mod.

For the OP I would suggest that this ought to be taken rather more back channel to the company than out in the open here. Maybe they'll PM you.

Just my opinion.

Or I'll just stick this here @CS_Agent .

[Kris_marie]

edited my post

[Kris_marie]

I am sorry for my error. 

[calfyn]

First just to correct you guys, I'm male so it should be He not she lol. No biggy though, next I mean an app like Rogers, Bell, Telus, and Freedom have. I know you can manage online however the convenience of an app is better than using the browser imho

[stonechucker]

@calfyn, I notice you posted to a previous thread about the Data Witness PM, developed by subscriber @IWIK.  I believe this was fully done on his own, for his convenience and he graciously made it free in the Google Play store for PM users at no cost.

His ap is on my device, and I love it, for the quick and easy glance to see my data usage, and number of days remaining.

I might use an app on my device if it existed for other account info, plan changes, etc.  But I prefer the web interface, but only because it’s easier on my eyes than the tiny text on my phones browser display.

[ShawnC13]

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@Kris_marie wrote:

I think what she means, is there a PM app in the making or could she start working on one for Andriods.

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There is no app in place or in the works (to our knowledge) and Koodo eliminated theirs so not sure if there is even an appetite for this by Telus.  I can manage my account through the self serve on my phone with no issues

[Kris_marie]

I think what he means, is there a PM app in the making or could he start working on one for Andriods.

[will13am]

@calfyn. what do you mean by manage Public Mobile accounts?  There is already a self serve system that customers use.  Are you suggesting that you would develop a replacement?  We are just a bunch of customers here helping or getting help from other customers.  We have no dog in this race.