Show HN: Recently Read - The easiest way to share a good book with your friends(apps.facebook.com)
apps.facebook.com
Show HN: Recently Read - The easiest way to share a good book with your friends
http://apps.facebook.com/recentlyread
7 comments
It's a native Facebook app that's designed to be simple. No extra fluff, just easy to use.
Example screenshot here: http://www.andrewcross.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screen-...
Example screenshot here: http://www.andrewcross.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screen-...
i think you place way too much importance on being a facebook app. The only difference from developer pov is that one is in an iframe and one isn't. Just create both. You can have one with a nice homepage, screenshots, and explanations why its different. Right now as is, I wouldn't sign up.
The reason it's a fbook app and not a standalone website (at least to start) is that we can piggyback on social networks of friends that facebook has already created. This would make the 'Friends Recommendations' section hard to duplicate on a regular site. A standalone site is definitely a possibility in the future though.
When clicking the link to the app I am greeted with a Facebook page requesting to disable secure browsing:
"We can't display this content while you're viewing Facebook over a secure connection (https)"
Fair enough, I'm sure you can understand wanting to get feedback on an idea before investing in SSL.
By investing, I'm not sure if you're referring to the amount of time, or the monetary cost. If the latter, there are legitimate free SSL certs available. I am unable to think of the one which is most highly recommended around here, but a Google search should turn up something useful.
My main issue is when you want to add multiple books.
After entering one book, you're presented with the standard "Share/Skip" dialog box. But after closing it, you're left on a summary of the book you just entered with no options to add more books. In order to add another book, you first need to click Home to get to the "Add Recommendation" button.
After entering a book, it should probably either take you directly back to the Home screen or give you an option to continue adding books. The extra click gets annoying.
After entering one book, you're presented with the standard "Share/Skip" dialog box. But after closing it, you're left on a summary of the book you just entered with no options to add more books. In order to add another book, you first need to click Home to get to the "Add Recommendation" button.
After entering a book, it should probably either take you directly back to the Home screen or give you an option to continue adding books. The extra click gets annoying.
I agree. Thanks for pointing this out!
ahhh, good point. Will look into fixing this.
Cool idea. How long did you guys work on this, with what size of a team? I'm thinking about getting into FB apps so I'm just curious.
I designed it and my friend coded it. Total working time maybe 30-40 hours?
The book purchase process needs a recommendation system, finally it's here.
What makes this better than Goodreads?
1) It's a native Facebook app
2) Goodreads has a lot of extra features that clunk up the interface, this is about as simple and easy to use as you can get. For you, this probably isn't a big deal, but for your less-tech savvy friends, it could mean the difference between using it and not using it.
Looking for feedback if anyone has some! Just post here please.
Before I say yes, what differentiates the app from the Goodreads app?