Add iOS support

[rnayabed]

[TOGLK]

Some potential options for obtaining the needed revenue to purchase the required licenses from Apple, as well as paying any Apple App Store Developer fee's include things such as:

1. Patreon - A monthly subscription-based platform for supporting creators.

2. Ko-Fi - A donation-based platform that supports projects of all size's and is very focused on providing an open & fair platform to creators and supporters.

3. PayPal - A donation option is available for this service although they take a large percentage of the total value of a donation for themselves, easier for one-time donations, but neither private, nor, creator or supporter friendly.

4. Crypto Currency (Monero) - Not a very commonly used option by average individuals, but provides the upmost privacy & security of funds to both the supporter and the creator, value is unstable though and so this may impact it's viability as a donation method.

[rnayabed]

Since we have a patreon, I guess we will have to wait until we successfully get sufficient funds to match up to apples license fees

[Zubbbz]

Another option is to release the iOS version as an IPA file that people can sideload using methods like AltStore. wouldn't have to pay store license fees but it wouldn't be ideal.

[rnayabed]

Another option is to release the iOS version as an IPA file that people can sideload using methods like AltStore. wouldn't have to pay store license fees but it wouldn't be ideal.

That's possible, but currently there is a small keyboard bug that makes it unusable in iphones. It can still be used on iPad OS though.

[kbhasi]

I think iPadOS support could be added, likely for stuff like the iPad mini series, since over on the Android side, I'm planning to test on my first generation Galaxy Tab A 8" once ARMv7 (32-bit) build APKs become available, and also that I think this project was first designed with the official Raspberry Pi touchscreen add-on in mind, but I might be wrong.

Suggested title change:

Add iOS and iPadOS support (need money)

Other thoughts I have:

Some potential options for obtaining the needed revenue to purchase the required licenses from Apple, as well as paying any Apple App Store Developer fee's include things such as: …

I think I can add a 5th option to consider, that being Liberapay, as some other open-source software projects do accept donations there.

Another option is to release the iOS version as an IPA file that people can sideload using methods like AltStore. wouldn't have to pay store license fees but it wouldn't be ideal.

Yep, that could work if users would be brave enough, and/or if Apple were to not allow new submissions for older iPadOS and iOS versions! It could be listed in AltStore, and maybe custom Sileo and/or Cydia repositories too, since I'm picturing the Android version being released on F-Droid, either in their official repo or in a custom repo.

backlog (planned for development, but low priority)

I can understand why this would be low-priority, as I do follow some people who develop for Apple platforms. I'm picturing that client development may currently be focused on Linux-based desktop OSes and Android, since those would theoretically be easier to develop for.

[rnayabed]

@kbhasi you can already compile and install the client and directly install it to your iOS or iPad OS device if you have a MacOS system.

The problem with using AltStore is that it's not really 100% reliable and is more like an experimental solution. I tried sideloading the ipa to my 6th gen iPad with latest iPadOS, and the app always crashed when I was sideloading it.

We do not want to be plagued with people who are unable to install it on their devices with this method, since it's an Apple/altstore issue.

As soon as we reach the required funds for Apple support, we will do the best and most reliable way: release it as an official app on the Apple Store.

[kbhasi]

The problem with using AltStore is that it's not really 100% reliable and is more like an experimental solution. I tried sideloading the ipa to my 6th gen iPad with latest iPadOS, and the app always crashed when I was sideloading it.

Ah, OK. Thanks for correcting me!