Hi Everyone, I was asked to make an app for a friend. It would be a fitness app and the basic premise would be to show 30 sec work out videos. However, the app would accompany the website, which will be updated regularly. I need to know which way to attack this issue. So basically how do i create an app that feeds from a website database for 30 sec videos. Website parsing is my only idea so far. Any one have any ideas? Thanks in advance Kriio
If the website has an RSS feed, you could just make a custom script that updates from it and automatically embeds the videos.
Do you think website parsing is the wrong way to go about it? Aslo, i want a database that users can choose not a new video every day type thing.
personally I would recommend keeping the video in the app, personally I dont think I would want to wait for a new video to download when switching videos. I would delete an app instantly if I had to wait to view everytime, especially workout videos would just slow down and screw up a routine. I would make some sort of syncing function to update the app to what is on the website, or just update the app frequently similar to iFitness which is on version 19.something.
I see. I thought about it but the guy doesnt have that many videos yet. But i think ill go with having the videos in the app to begin with and submit updates (as per your suggestion)...wouldnt the app have a large file size?
yeah it does cause the size to go up, but I have seen people do some good work with compressing their videos and making the footprint much smaller.
I would suggest making an RSS feed for the site or a simple XML or JSON data file if you prefer. When your app starts up, it loads that file over the network and starts downloading any new videos and storing them locally. This should be done in the background so that the user can continue to use the app normally while you are downloading in the background. This will ensure that you have a cache of videos to avoid making the user wait too often, but give you the ability to download new content any time. It also keeps your app size small. Your cache should also remove any out-of-date videos if they do not exists in the XML or JSON file.
