Superchargers visited 3.0

[StephenBrown2]

Thanks again for getting something like this going and being so responsive with updates.

I'd like to second the request to show only my unvisited superchargers in the nearby map, as I definitely use the Tableau view to plan my road trips and don't care about the sites I've already visited. That will be more important once you get the desktop version running though. Keep up the great work!

 

[theflyer]

Let's keep it at zipcode for now. We have a small group of friends that use an app - it is not an "official" game app. When it is part of the game app that everyone can use, I think we'll have to think about access to location information. On one hand we wouldn't want some rando to sign up for the game and have access to everyone's location. On the other hand, our "bread crumbs" of where we've been by date is public currently - though not in real time.

Perhaps we need to start thinking about another level of security. Any user could create and control a group, and also grant other users in the group control of the group. Those that control the group admit other members to the group. A user can share their location with any number of groups, including "public" which would be everyone, with their visit data and any maps showing their visits restricted to the group. The only thing that would be public for everyone would be what we currently show on the "Leaderboard" tab. I know that is complicated, and not something we need to do immediately.

@tes-s makes a great point about security and the way we use Life360. Let's not add a precise location feature to this app just yet. We can keep it on the backlog for the future.

 

[Copythat23]

Let's keep it at zipcode for now. We have a small group of friends that use an app - it is not an "official" game app. When it is part of the game app that everyone can use, I think we'll have to think about access to location information. On one hand we wouldn't want some rando to sign up for the game and have access to everyone's location. On the other hand, our "bread crumbs" of where we've been by date is public currently - though not in real time.

Perhaps we need to start thinking about another level of security. Any user could create and control a group, and also grant other users in the group control of the group. Those that control the group admit other members to the group. A user can share their location with any number of groups, including "public" which would be everyone, with their visit data and any maps showing their visits restricted to the group. The only thing that would be public for everyone would be what we currently show on the "Leaderboard" tab. I know that is complicated, and not something we need to do immediately.

I get it so you want to be able to “friend” someone and they can only see your exact location. Others would see your zip location when hunting! Easy to set up friends I’ll work on it today!

 

[theflyer]

I get it so you want to be able to “friend” someone and they can only see your exact location. Others would see your zip location when hunting! Easy to set up friends I’ll work on it today!

Not really. More like groups and then allow moderators of the group to allow specific people in. I continue to believe and advocate for completing the core functionality first so we can ditch the spreadsheet.

 

[juliusa]

Not really. More like groups and then allow moderators of the group to allow specific people in. I continue to believe and advocate for completing the core functionality first so we can ditch the spreadsheet.

Agree on both counts!!

 

[Copythat23]

Not really. More like groups and then allow moderators of the group to allow specific people in. I continue to believe and advocate for completing the core functionality first so we can ditch the spreadsheet.

All in all it should be working now. I would continue to use the spreadsheet for a few weeks and also enter your stuff into the app for testing. I will work on making it look and feel better.

Friends I just read this but already created a friends that you can add that can see you. but you cant see them until they add you. That way is someone in the group doesn't want 1 person to see them they don't have to but you could see see the other person. if that makes sense.

If you add them as a friend they can see your EXACT location on the friends tab. Others will only see you in the ALL PLAYERS tab and its sorted by ZIP code.

 

[PLUS EV]

I like the "friends" idea better than the "groups" idea. With friends each person can control who sees their location. With groups, you are conceding that power to one or more people. And you may not always agree with their decisions.

 

[theflyer]

All in all it should be working now. I would continue to use the spreadsheet for a few weeks and also enter your stuff into the app for testing. I will work on making it look and feel better.

Friends I just read this but already created a friends that you can add that can see you. but you cant see them until they add you. That way is someone in the group doesn't want 1 person to see them they don't have to but you could see see the other person. if that makes sense.

If you add them as a friend they can see your EXACT location on the friends tab. Others will only see you in the ALL PLAYERS tab and its sorted by ZIP code.

@tes-s and @Big Earl - I added you as friends. Did you get any kind of notification? You'd have to add me back for me to see your precise location.

 

[theflyer]

@Copythat23 on the Checkin page, if you try to click on "Open" it crashes my browser. Construction and permit location should probably be a different icon. It doesn't appear you've imported any chargers outside North America. We do have competitors in Europe. We should eventually have the world. the Nearby view only shows a single state. If you're near a border, this creates a bit of an odd display.

 

[Big Earl]

@Copythat23 on the Checkin page, if you try to click on "Open" it crashes my browser. Construction and permit location should probably be a different icon. It doesn't appear you've imported any chargers outside North America. We do have competitors in Europe. We should eventually have the world. the Nearby view only shows a single state. If you're near a border, this creates a bit of an odd display.

I just now signed up and added you as a friend, so I’ll turn that question back around to you.

 

[StephenBrown2]

the Nearby view only shows a single state. If you're near a border, this creates a bit of an odd display.

In addition, I can't seem to get it to update which state's chargers it displays. When I first opened it I was in AZ, but now I'm in TX and it still only shows AZ chargers. I would like all the US chargers displayed... But at least the ones in the state I'm currently in.

 

[theflyer]

@Copythat23 - I was looking at the connectors available to me in Tableau. I could dynamically connect via these two API standards

Web Data Connector

Web Data Connector Home

Connect to your web data from Tableau.

tableau.github.io

Web Data Connector

This article describes web data connectors, what to do before you use a connector, and how to connect Tableau to a web data connector

help.tableau.com

OData

OData - the Best Way to REST

OData, short for Open Data Protocol, is an open protocol to allow the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable RESTful APIs in a simple and standard way.

www.odata.org

 

[theflyer]

@Copythat23 - I noticed the new stats. The "Most Recent" field seems to be showing all superchargers and creates a huge long list. For instance, look at @Big Earl's stats.

 

[theflyer]

IMPORTANT UPDATE on where we stand with the move away from the spreadsheet.

Two significant efforts are currently underway. This is my effort to summarize the state of play.

@Copythat23 is working feverishly to enhance and expand his app https://www.superchargerhunt.com/
This is a web app that runs in a browser and is designed to only work on a mobile phone. The UI is pretty nice for the features that currently exist. Functionality is expanding quickly, including a location feature. Authentication is via username/password pair. The app is pretty slow overall and functionality for working with superchargers is pretty limited.

@aNullValue has also been working quietly in the background to expand on the prototype he built on his way to Custer in 2021. Supercharging Competition - Welcome
It now has Github and Google auth so no password is needed if you have an account with one of those tools (though I'd need to link your authentication to a particular handle). Dynamically pulls from supercharge.info and the spreadsheet. Has quite a few nice features for working with superchargers and your visits. It can also visualize your visited and unvisited locations on a map. However, the user interface/user experience is not as elegant as what Copythat23 has created. It currently doesn't work great on a mobile screen but aNullValue is working on that now.

I have better insight into what is happening on the backend of aNullValue's efforts than I do for Copythat23's but both are doing really good work and it sucks that we will eventually have to make a decision on which way to go.

Candidly, I wish we could merge these efforts together. One possibility would be to have Copythat23 focusing on UI/UX on top of aNullValue's data architecture and together working to create OData or Web Data Connectors to rebuild the difficult visualizations in Tableau since we know it works well on all platforms and is designed to handle large data. Copythat23's work on location and friending could also continue on a merged platform. For any effort to be sustainable, we need multiple people familiar with the backend anyway.

Curious about everyone's thoughts, especially Copythat23 and aNullValue. How could we join forces without having to pick a winner and a loser?

 

[GreenFreaK]

I hit 3 new superchargers yesterday during a road trip across mid-PA.

- Joseph

 

[aNullValue]

Curious about everyone's thoughts, especially Copythat23 and aNullValue. How could we join forces without having to pick a winner and a loser?

Sounds like Copythat23 and I need to have a conversation, to see if the technologies we've used are at all compatible, and if/how we might be able to work together.

I have concerns regarding (the potential for) sharing real-time user location with their in-app "friends":

• It would have to be a proper smartphone app, rather than a webapp, in order to monitor user location. That's significantly different from how both of the current apps work.
• It changes the overall data-security theory of the app. Right now everything accessible via the API is public knowledge; if we add real-time location sharing, that changes, such that it needs to make decisions about who can see what. That's not a big technological change, but it requires that the design and security controls be constructed with an emphasis on security rather than accessibility. It also makes GDPR
• There's the (admittedly slim) potential for abuse (intentional or accidental).
• There's potential for significant liability, on parts of the app creator(s), system administrator(s), and competition administrator(s). I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea how to quantify this. But before anyone starts logging real-time user location information, I'd recommend consulting at least an attorney. (And I feel like you'd want some kind of personal or business liability insurance.)
• Perhaps if Life360 or Glympse or etc has an API, access to it could be integrated, to facilitate easier viewing of the group or friends. That way the data isn't actually being stored by the project(s) we're discussing in this thread. (Or perhaps even just deep-linking would be adequate, if they support that.)

 

[StephenBrown2]

@GreenFreaK @Darren S I believe the right thread to post visits in is the Superchargers Visited one.

 

[StephenBrown2]

@aNullValue @Copythat23 My notion was to create a Flutter app to be able to target web and have native mobile apps with the same codebase, which would also allow for background location if needed/desired with a cross-platform package such as geolocator. Though, if you two can work out some sort of collaboration, that'd be pretty great. I'm still working on my backend and it seems the development pace for y'all is able to be much greater than mine.

 

[Copythat23]

In addition, I can't seem to get it to update which state's chargers it displays. When I first opened it I was in AZ, but now I'm in TX and it still only shows AZ chargers. I would like all the US chargers displayed... But at least the ones in the state I'm currently in.
View attachment 820296

try clicking the zip code at the top. It only pulls locaiton from the home screen so if you dont go back to that it wont reload the location. Ill work on a fix for that asap

 

[Copythat23]

Sounds like Copythat23 and I need to have a conversation, to see if the technologies we've used are at all compatible, and if/how we might be able to work together.

I have concerns regarding (the potential for) sharing real-time user location with their in-app "friends":

• It would have to be a proper smartphone app, rather than a webapp, in order to monitor user location. That's significantly different from how both of the current apps work.
• It changes the overall data-security theory of the app. Right now everything accessible via the API is public knowledge; if we add real-time location sharing, that changes, such that it needs to make decisions about who can see what. That's not a big technological change, but it requires that the design and security controls be constructed with an emphasis on security rather than accessibility. It also makes GDPR
• There's the (admittedly slim) potential for abuse (intentional or accidental).
• There's potential for significant liability, on parts of the app creator(s), system administrator(s), and competition administrator(s). I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea how to quantify this. But before anyone starts logging real-time user location information, I'd recommend consulting at least an attorney. (And I feel like you'd want some kind of personal or business liability insurance.)
• Perhaps if Life360 or Glympse or etc has an API, access to it could be integrated, to facilitate easier viewing of the group or friends. That way the data isn't actually being stored by the project(s) we're discussing in this thread. (Or perhaps even just deep-linking would be adequate, if they support that.)

It can be turned into a smartphone app very easy if thats what people wanted. My stored data isn not accessible without auth tokens. If published I have a business LLC that would own the app and have liability. Currently as it sits it makes GDPR other than i think the USER image I have read something about that being an issue now i'm not current with it.