6 ms·

Show HN: Spiral – A Reddit-inspired local message board app

37 points by m1chael3ma 12y ago

dingdingdang 12y ago
Is this really first/only app to make efficient use of geo-data or..? Looks sleek/fine to me, but of course the uptake is going to be the defining factor with this stuff.. FB & co. could kill it in an instant by enabling a similar feature in already existing networks..
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  dingdingdang, it's not the first app to use geo-data and we agree the uptake is going to be super important (especially uptake in one geographical area). I do think FB and other companies at it's core care mostly about your social graph vs. we're more concerned about what strangers or friends around you are doing. Facebook has "nearby friends" for example but doesn't give you any info on people who have similar interests around you.
  - danielsht 12y ago
    Also Twitter has Tweets near me... but its really hard to have a conversation on Twitter. I can retweet or tweet back at someone, but more than 3 people is hard
josephschmoe 12y ago
What tools\libraries did you make this with? The UI is very responsive. Edit: I mean the Android version.
- danielsht 12y ago
  We are using the Java Play framework for the REST API, MongoDB as our DB. MongoDB has geospatial index support that makes geo queries pretty efficient. For iOS, pretty standard Cocoa libraries... glad you think its responsive :) On Android, also pretty standard libraries. We designed the client to be very light and do as much processing on the server and also are very careful to do as much asynchronous work as possible (networking a must)
eglover 12y ago
Not only is is app only, but facebook only. Why??
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  Definitely a point we’re constantly evaluating and feedback is appreciated. We think that by bringing some identity into the app there can be more useful interactions and bad behavior self-policed. We’re working off an assumption that people are, on the whole, pretty awesome, and we shouldn’t fall back on anonymous as the only way to engage seriously in the public sphere. What do you think? Would you add other social logins? Twitter?
  - jefurii 12y ago
    > ...we shouldn’t fall back on anonymous as the only way to engage seriously in the public sphere. I don't think anyone is saying that anonymous should be the only way but it should be an option. It's not really a public space if you can't be anonymous.
    - ripter 12y ago
      Unless you are wearing a mask every time you go out in public. You're not anonymous. Whether or not you wear a mask does not change a space from being public or not public.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
  - ripter 12y ago
    I think facebook is fine. Most people have it and it makes it super simple to login and have your profile already setup.
    - 27182818284 12y ago
      Facebook and another option is fine. Otherwise, I mean off the top of my head you're killing off a potential 1.4 million that left FB in Decemeber of 2013 alone.
hangonhn 12y ago
Did you guys considered using PostGIS? I'm asking because I'm considering that for my own project and am wondering what other people's thoughts are on it and alternatives as well. Thanks.
- aw3c2 12y ago
  PostGIS is a mature and fantastic spatial database (extension), I can highly recommend it.
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  Honestly this is the first time we hear of PostGIS, as we mainly looked into NoSQL databases, due both to previous experience with MongoDB and the fact that we found some big services that have used it.. Curious, what have you found that PostGIS does better? Is it a preference for SQL vs NoSQL?
  - hangonhn 12y ago
    LOL. I'm actually on the reverse side of you. I heard about PostGIS and never knew MongoDB can be used for spatial queries. The main appeal to me is that since I need SQL anyways, PostGIS would be a simple add-on instead of having to manage another datastore. I guess my choice is more of an accident of history than any specific reason. Had I started with MongoDB first, I think I would have gone your route as well.
27182818284 12y ago
"Login with Facebook" That's too bad. I was looking forward to trying it, but re-creating a Facebook account deleted years ago and then dealing with new friend emails, etc, isn't worth it to me. * I'm happy you also have an Android version * I'm sad that it requires Facebook. Note that Reddit even apologizes for using a captcha during registration, and does not require an email address to this day.
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. These are not easy product tradeoffs we’re trying to think through so we really appreciate the thoughts. We’re thinking of having our own login in the future. Right now, creating our own login would force users to go through a longer flow. Also we’re considering adding a friends filter, and Facebook’s social feed is probably the best starting point for that. Is there any sources of login you trust that you have your friends connection on?
  - ToastyMallows 12y ago
    I'm not speaking for 27182818284 but I would rather sign in with Google than Facebook.
    - wkdown 12y ago
      or Twitter or ... Give them options, and they will sign in.
      - 27182818284 12y ago
        Yes. I think a lot of startups and app developers incorrectly think that if someone doesn't want to log in with Facebook, they don't want to use any sort of account, but that's not true. Even though I don't have a Facebook account, I still use Twitter to sign into a few apps and still use Google+ to sign into others.
- homulilly 12y ago
  Yeah requiring Facebook is a barrier. I'm not going to signup or reactivate my account just to use an app. Having your own registration system or at least some more options like Google or Twitter would be nice.
realrocker 12y ago
Interesting. A couple years ago I worked on something similar, GrabHalo: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grabhalo.main https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grabhalo.m.... You really need to work on location tracking. Right now it pops up a dialog if GPS is not enabled. What if I don't want to give you my location upto the accuracy of few meters? Also how do you intend to solve the "Hello World" problem? You know, users checking in, saying 'Hi' and losing interest when they find out they have nothing to talk about?
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  That’s good info on the user experience side. We might be able to implement something that allows people to just select their location, but then we’d be concerned that people just fake their location. I guess we’re doing a few things that help with the “Hello World” problem: having an adjustable radius, focusing on conversation threads that you can go back to, and we’re also working on launching at local events and working with event managers. Would be great to some insights on what worked or didn’t work for you?
  - Jemaclus 12y ago
    Who cares if I fake my location? If I'm in Berlin but I say I'm in London, does that really detract from anything? I can still talk to people, right?
    - ggiaco 12y ago
      It could ruin the experience of having conversations with people who are actually nearby? Proximity makes communication more relevant and Spiral makes it easy to filter your feed by distance around you.
      - dam-buty 12y ago
        It may depend on how you define local. For example, when i lived in Mexico, "local" news for me might have been news from my hometown in France, but GPS location would not let me see that. Also, you might wanna consider the middle ground of just using "coarse" positioning, which is all you need to identify the city. GPS sensors cost an awful lot of battery life and should only be used for apps that need precise positioning, imho.
djb_hackernews 12y ago
You'll need to solve the problems every other somolo app has, I'd do what Reddit did, fake accounts. Easy to determine the interesting stuff by surfing the city subreddits. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the negativity over Facebook login, I bet you'll find it doesn't add much friction for the average user. That said, I think this is a great app to use the Facebook anonymous login option.
- m1chael3ma 12y ago
  Thanks for the feedback on the Facebook login. We don’t really want to use fake accounts, but we could have some admin account that has information that’s interesting and just be a “Spiral News” or “Spiral Events” account? Would that be something that you’d find interesting or is content most interesting if it comes from a user only?
  - wkdown 12y ago
    I would recommend being more transparent on why you use only FB and what data you use. That can help alleviate some anxiety over using it to sign in.
    - ggiaco 12y ago
      Good point. We've been looking for examples of apps that do this particularly well, e.g. via a tutorial or as part of the on-boarding process. Do any outstanding examples come to mind for you?
lu1spd 12y ago
Nice app. It makes you open your sight to a broader spectrum of "what's happening". Very fast and intuitive.

37 points by m1chael3ma 12y ago

Is this really first/only app to make efficient use of geo-data or..? Looks sleek/fine to me, but of course the uptake is going to be the defining factor with this stuff.. FB & co. could kill it in an instant by enabling a similar feature in already existing networks..

m1chael3ma 12y ago
dingdingdang, it's not the first app to use geo-data and we agree the uptake is going to be super important (especially uptake in one geographical area). I do think FB and other companies at it's core care mostly about your social graph vs. we're more concerned about what strangers or friends around you are doing. Facebook has "nearby friends" for example but doesn't give you any info on people who have similar interests around you.
- danielsht 12y ago
  Also Twitter has Tweets near me... but its really hard to have a conversation on Twitter. I can retweet or tweet back at someone, but more than 3 people is hard

josephschmoe 12y ago

What tools\libraries did you make this with? The UI is very responsive. Edit: I mean the Android version.

danielsht 12y ago
We are using the Java Play framework for the REST API, MongoDB as our DB. MongoDB has geospatial index support that makes geo queries pretty efficient. For iOS, pretty standard Cocoa libraries... glad you think its responsive :) On Android, also pretty standard libraries. We designed the client to be very light and do as much processing on the server and also are very careful to do as much asynchronous work as possible (networking a must)

eglover 12y ago

Not only is is app only, but facebook only. Why??

m1chael3ma 12y ago
Definitely a point we’re constantly evaluating and feedback is appreciated. We think that by bringing some identity into the app there can be more useful interactions and bad behavior self-policed. We’re working off an assumption that people are, on the whole, pretty awesome, and we shouldn’t fall back on anonymous as the only way to engage seriously in the public sphere. What do you think? Would you add other social logins? Twitter?
- jefurii 12y ago
  > ...we shouldn’t fall back on anonymous as the only way to engage seriously in the public sphere. I don't think anyone is saying that anonymous should be the only way but it should be an option. It's not really a public space if you can't be anonymous.
  - ripter 12y ago
    Unless you are wearing a mask every time you go out in public. You're not anonymous. Whether or not you wear a mask does not change a space from being public or not public.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
- ripter 12y ago
  I think facebook is fine. Most people have it and it makes it super simple to login and have your profile already setup.
  - 27182818284 12y ago
    Facebook and another option is fine. Otherwise, I mean off the top of my head you're killing off a potential 1.4 million that left FB in Decemeber of 2013 alone.

hangonhn 12y ago

Did you guys considered using PostGIS? I'm asking because I'm considering that for my own project and am wondering what other people's thoughts are on it and alternatives as well. Thanks.

aw3c2 12y ago
PostGIS is a mature and fantastic spatial database (extension), I can highly recommend it.
m1chael3ma 12y ago
Honestly this is the first time we hear of PostGIS, as we mainly looked into NoSQL databases, due both to previous experience with MongoDB and the fact that we found some big services that have used it.. Curious, what have you found that PostGIS does better? Is it a preference for SQL vs NoSQL?
- hangonhn 12y ago
  LOL. I'm actually on the reverse side of you. I heard about PostGIS and never knew MongoDB can be used for spatial queries. The main appeal to me is that since I need SQL anyways, PostGIS would be a simple add-on instead of having to manage another datastore. I guess my choice is more of an accident of history than any specific reason. Had I started with MongoDB first, I think I would have gone your route as well.

27182818284 12y ago

"Login with Facebook" That's too bad. I was looking forward to trying it, but re-creating a Facebook account deleted years ago and then dealing with new friend emails, etc, isn't worth it to me. * I'm happy you also have an Android version * I'm sad that it requires Facebook. Note that Reddit even apologizes for using a captcha during registration, and does not require an email address to this day.

m1chael3ma 12y ago
Thanks for the feedback. These are not easy product tradeoffs we’re trying to think through so we really appreciate the thoughts. We’re thinking of having our own login in the future. Right now, creating our own login would force users to go through a longer flow. Also we’re considering adding a friends filter, and Facebook’s social feed is probably the best starting point for that. Is there any sources of login you trust that you have your friends connection on?
- ToastyMallows 12y ago
  I'm not speaking for 27182818284 but I would rather sign in with Google than Facebook.
  - wkdown 12y ago
    or Twitter or ... Give them options, and they will sign in.
    - 27182818284 12y ago
      Yes. I think a lot of startups and app developers incorrectly think that if someone doesn't want to log in with Facebook, they don't want to use any sort of account, but that's not true. Even though I don't have a Facebook account, I still use Twitter to sign into a few apps and still use Google+ to sign into others.
homulilly 12y ago
Yeah requiring Facebook is a barrier. I'm not going to signup or reactivate my account just to use an app. Having your own registration system or at least some more options like Google or Twitter would be nice.

realrocker 12y ago

Interesting. A couple years ago I worked on something similar, GrabHalo: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grabhalo.main https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.grabhalo.m.... You really need to work on location tracking. Right now it pops up a dialog if GPS is not enabled. What if I don't want to give you my location upto the accuracy of few meters? Also how do you intend to solve the "Hello World" problem? You know, users checking in, saying 'Hi' and losing interest when they find out they have nothing to talk about?

m1chael3ma 12y ago
That’s good info on the user experience side. We might be able to implement something that allows people to just select their location, but then we’d be concerned that people just fake their location. I guess we’re doing a few things that help with the “Hello World” problem: having an adjustable radius, focusing on conversation threads that you can go back to, and we’re also working on launching at local events and working with event managers. Would be great to some insights on what worked or didn’t work for you?
- Jemaclus 12y ago
  Who cares if I fake my location? If I'm in Berlin but I say I'm in London, does that really detract from anything? I can still talk to people, right?
  - ggiaco 12y ago
    It could ruin the experience of having conversations with people who are actually nearby? Proximity makes communication more relevant and Spiral makes it easy to filter your feed by distance around you.
    - dam-buty 12y ago
      It may depend on how you define local. For example, when i lived in Mexico, "local" news for me might have been news from my hometown in France, but GPS location would not let me see that. Also, you might wanna consider the middle ground of just using "coarse" positioning, which is all you need to identify the city. GPS sensors cost an awful lot of battery life and should only be used for apps that need precise positioning, imho.

djb_hackernews 12y ago

You'll need to solve the problems every other somolo app has, I'd do what Reddit did, fake accounts. Easy to determine the interesting stuff by surfing the city subreddits. Also, I wouldn't worry too much about the negativity over Facebook login, I bet you'll find it doesn't add much friction for the average user. That said, I think this is a great app to use the Facebook anonymous login option.

m1chael3ma 12y ago
Thanks for the feedback on the Facebook login. We don’t really want to use fake accounts, but we could have some admin account that has information that’s interesting and just be a “Spiral News” or “Spiral Events” account? Would that be something that you’d find interesting or is content most interesting if it comes from a user only?
- wkdown 12y ago
  I would recommend being more transparent on why you use only FB and what data you use. That can help alleviate some anxiety over using it to sign in.
  - ggiaco 12y ago
    Good point. We've been looking for examples of apps that do this particularly well, e.g. via a tutorial or as part of the on-boarding process. Do any outstanding examples come to mind for you?

lu1spd 12y ago

Nice app. It makes you open your sight to a broader spectrum of "what's happening". Very fast and intuitive.