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I would love to see an actual native iPhone app for Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, etc. I've actually developed a number of iPhone apps myself, and would certainly be interested and willing in doing the bulk of the legwork, but it would be necessary for the SO team to expose a real API, instead of simply RSS feeds.

Maybe if there's enough demand behind this, we can convince the SO team to build a rich API, which could be useful for many other applications, not just an iPhone app.

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    I love my phone and all, but I fear such an app will incent me to attempt to type code on it, and I'm trying to cut down on the stress in my life...
    – Eric
    Jul 8, 2009 at 5:31
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    I agree that I wouldn't want to try typing code into my iPhone, but it would be nice for keeping tabs on questions on the go, or asking one in a pinch when I don't otherwise have access to the internet.
    – Brandon Wood
    Jul 8, 2009 at 5:44
  • @bcwood: I know, it was tongue-in-cheek =)
    – Eric
    Jul 8, 2009 at 5:45
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    +1 This would be the best, though an iPhone optimised SO site would be a start. Maybe now Jeff has an iPhone we will see one?
    – stevehipwell
    Jul 8, 2009 at 9:55
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    It would be a win simply to be able to see, in full, the code that others have typed in. Last time I check, mobile WebKit truncates text marked as "code" at the right margin.
    – Thomas L Holaday
    Jul 13, 2009 at 13:50
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    You can scroll a code region horizontally by dragging with two fingers.
    – SLaks
    Sep 29, 2009 at 12:19
  • I've had no problems using SO with the browser on my iPod Touch or my Palm Pre.
    – Paul Tomblin
    Oct 27, 2009 at 13:02
  • Stack Overflow: There's...not...an app for that.
    – Thomas Owens
    Oct 27, 2009 at 15:01
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    If a true iPhone app ever comes out, I'd love for it to include Server Fault, Stack Overflow, Super User, and Meta Stack Overflow in it. The less icons on my Springboard the better. (I have too many already)
    – Kevin Yap
    Jan 2, 2010 at 6:01

6 Answers 6

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I've created a native application for Stack Overflow for anyone who is interested. Try the iTunes link or if you want to know more about how I created it you can check out the project page. It is limited because I'm using the CC data dump but it is a starting point.

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    Anyway to integrate it into the recent activity feed?
    – RSolberg
    Oct 1, 2009 at 0:08
  • Yes. I'm waiting at this point to see how much real interest there is in the app but that would be one of the next things I try to integrate. On the short list with that would be more profile information and probably push notifications on watched questions.
    – carson
    Oct 1, 2009 at 2:30
  • Can't you manually update the data dump? I get csv files from SEDE
    – Cilan
    Apr 7, 2014 at 12:53
  • The link to your project page is broken. Could you please edit your post?
    – Marcus Bitzl
    May 3, 2014 at 22:35
9

The public API beta covers this request, and is available now:

Use the API to build a mobile app or site to your taste!

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    Yes, the API is great, but I don't believe that it answers the specific question as it relates to a native iPhone app; you've fulfilled a request but not this one, IMO. This also isn't to say that it's on you to fulfill this request, but the status should be status-declined, SO did not implement a native iPhone app, just the means to one. That should be considered a separate request with a status of status-completed.
    – casperOne
    Jun 4, 2011 at 23:25
  • @the well, see stackapps.com/tags/iphone+app
    – Jeff Atwood
    Jan 3, 2012 at 18:49
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    I've modified the title, as it was confusing. When I originally read the post (before my ♦, cough), I read it as "develop an iPhone app", when in reality it didn't, it asked for the API. Reading it now I see the difference and this answer does fulfill the question (and this should be the accepted answer, IMO).
    – casperOne
    Jan 3, 2012 at 19:14
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Disclaimer: This is an advert, but I think people will find it useful

Six to Eight (Stack Apps entry) is a native iOS client for the entire Stack Exchange network. It's free, and uses the API to be up to second synchronised with your Stack Exchange sites and accounts.

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  • Seems to be the best app for now. Great work. Unfortunately it's read-only.
    – mist
    Apr 7, 2011 at 9:36
  • @MihailStoynov Every app release before and for the foreseeable future will be read-only. The API doesn't expose any write calls at all.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Jan 3, 2012 at 20:00
  • @MihailStoynov, see my answer below :)
    – Jonathan.
    Jan 12, 2012 at 13:25
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I'd actually like to see/build a small app that allows me to easily monitor SO status - check to see if there are new comments, view rep, that sort of thing.

Using the site actually ON an iphone is necessarily a little tricky (can't compile and test code on the phone...) so I'm not so fussed about using the desktop.

Jon Skeet posted (on a thread that was to be moved) a URL to retrieve some JSON from his user feed, but alas that doesn't currently appear to be working. I wouldn't mind parsing a little HTML to implement this, but it doesn't feel like the right approach.

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    I agree that method certainly doesn't "feel right". There are plenty of things one could do with screen scraping and piecing together RSS feeds and some JSON, but without a full-out API, it would be difficult to build a native iPhone application the "right" way.
    – Brandon Wood
    Jul 14, 2009 at 4:18
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I would find a native iPhone app quite useful.

I will frequently answer some questions and then leave my desk for some time, and an iPhone app with push notifications would allow me to stay on top of the answers and their responses.

However, I can't actually write one even if SO does expose an API (I run Windows)

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  • You could use Delphi Prism in Visual Studio, Mono and some tools from RemObjects. This allows to build iPhone apps on Windows.
    – malach
    Sep 29, 2009 at 12:25
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Disclaimer: This is an advert, but will hopefully be useful.

StackAsk (on StackApps) is an app that lets you ask question from your iOS device, so you can type the question offline and it will save it for you, so you can come back later and post it. Also it gives the editor buttons (e.g. Bold, List, insert image) and preview which are missing on the mobile site.

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  • That is great :)
    – mist
    Jan 22, 2012 at 14:49

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