TidWeb: A Tiddlywiki Browser for Android

[vuk]

I really hope to find a solution that allows me to use my Android 9 phone in a similar way too… To recap:
I wish to be able to:

1. edit my Tidlywikis online or offline on the phone
2. save a copy of my tiddlywikis on the phone.
3. sync my Tiddlywikis with the cloud from the phone (I am currently using Dropbox, but in the future I hope to find an alternative cloud solution that is self-hosted or community-hosted).

I am using Tiddloid app installed through F-Droid on my phone running an OS which is Android 10 based.

Tiddloid saves the wiki automatically whenever I save a tiddler. The only inconvenience is that the fluidity of the workflow is slightly affected when the wiki grows bigger and is encrypted.

I am using Syncthing to sync files between phone and PC running Linux (but I think there are clients for all major operating systems), this happens transparently.

To avoid racing conditions and accidental overwrite of TiddlyWiki content, I do not interact directly with the Syncthing directory that autosyncs across devices - I just make another copy of wikis, modify them, then copy them back (and they get autosynced). One may find this clumsy, but this gives me an additional safety net against data loss.

[well-noted]

Tiddloid/Syncthing is fun It does not work for my purposes, and I much prefer the server edition.

@Jeronimo_Minino

edit my Tidlywikis online or offline on the phone

Currently the application only works online - - I am working on a caching solution that will either save an offline edition as backup or else cache the changes until a connection is made, but can’t say when it can be expected.

@Jeronimo_Minino

save a copy of my tiddlywikis on the phone.

You can already do this, by saving the HTML, same as normal.

@Jeronimo_Minino

sync my Tiddlywikis with the cloud from the phone (I am currently using Dropbox, but in the future I hope to find an alternative cloud solution that is self-hosted or community-hosted).

This would occur, yes, if your wikis are hosted on the same platform. I host from my NAS server so any changes I make in one location are reflected in all locations, and I can have edits happening simultaneously without any conflicts arising.

@Jeronimo_Minino

Would you recommend I use TidWeb

You might try it, if your conditions are similar at all to mine - - the app is designed mostly for myself, although I am interested in developing it further for community use, and I appreciate any feedback or recommendations Since I have not put too much intentional design into it and the app still gets ANR messages regularly, I would have to say that recommending it would be presumptuous, but it’s certainly good to know that there’s a market for it and, if you feel inclined to check it out and let me know your ideas, I would feel inclined to continue its development.

[arunnbabu81]

@well-noted

Moments later it tests fine on the node wiki though.

Does this app work with node js wikis?

[well-noted]

Yes, if they are hosted somewhere accessible to the phone. That’s what it was designed to do.

[arunnbabu81]

@well-noted

hosted somewhere accessible to the phone

How do you host node js wiki in such a manner…can you describe how you are doing it. I havent yet used node js wiki much other than for testing out.

[well-noted]

I host it on my NAS, and use Tailscale to VPN into it – the command is something like npm start host=0.0.0.0 port=8080

And then I can access it via my NAS’s IP address when I’m on my wifi or am connected to the VPN

[TW_Tones]

@well-noted thanks for your effort on this. It may be worth keeping in mind developing an edition for new wikis on mobile including some of the enhanced interaction tools, mobile theme and the geospatial and testing the import of local media, pictures, audio and video. If the edition was hosted online and a mechanism to create a new wiki from the local device using that edition would be superb including some loose integration with tiddlyhost and direct to tiddlywiki.com

[well-noted]

I like that idea. As I’ve said elsewhere, my partner could definitely benefit from a more straightforward onboarding situation.

[well-noted]

I would highly recommend anyone currently using or interested in using this app for accessing servers as I am to use the latest commit to the Refactor branch, which can be downloaded here

This version is far more stable (does not experience regular ANR messages), and loads large wikis much faster. It also caches wikis while using the app, to allow users to switch rapidly between wikis.

[well-noted]

Hey everyone! I’ve been continuing to develop TidWeb, and I’m excited to announce I’ve had quite a bit of success working on adding support for creating and managing Single-File Tiddlers directly within the app.

This means you’ll soon be able to easily save standalone files, manage them conveniently, and reload from your saved state whenever you want.

One particularly neat feature I’m excited about is the new save-and-continue mechanism.

This allows you to quickly save your progress on a tiddler, continue editing seamlessly, or reload from your last saved state whenever needed. It’s designed to make your workflow smoother and more intuitive.

My request from the community - - what other templates would be appropriate to add to this app for single-file-tiddler creation? So far I have TiddlyRoam, Soren’s TZK, the empty (obviously)… anything else?

And, if you’re eager to try it out, I’ve prepared a beta APK based on the latest code from the Single-File branch of the GitHub repo. Feel free to grab it, test it out, and let me know your thoughts!

Please note for this beta, this branch breaks some features from previous branches

• Media Controls from main (most likely will not impact you if you’re not using my parsers hack)
• Improved share functionality from Refactor

These features will be added back during the merge process, but if they’re essential to your workflow, this wouldn’t be the update for you.

The merged update, when it comes, will be “Version 1” so to speak, and will have much improved loading times, an improved media player experience, and a more responsive UI. All these features are “there,” so to speak, they’re just not playing nicely… yet.

As always, your feedback and suggestions are super welcome – this one was the direct result of @TW_Tones comment. Let me know what else you’d like to see in TidWeb!

EDIT:

Latest version has even more stability and handles crashes gracefully.

Am very excited to say that the rapidly-approaching release version is going well, I have fixed the media controls and also the scroll-to-hide/show is working again.

Share functionality needs to be fully restored, but should be ready for a merge/release soon after that.

[well-noted]

For anyone following, I would now direct all users to TIdWeb on the VSS (Very Small Screen) branch.

The branch name refers to a number of changes that check the screen size and correct the zoom appropriately – this allows for display on front-screens of flip style phones, for example – however, it includes several successful experiments including “Rename Tiddler” (Accessible from dropdown," and integrates many features from other branches.

I would say this version is approaching “V.1” by which I would say it performs sufficiently for a release version: You will likely experience ANRs and small hiccups in your experience, however nothing you shouldn’t experience anything that would be harmful or significantly impact your workflow, compared to the experience of using Tiddlywiki on a normal browser.

[markkerrigan]

Tried it out and I think it would be nice if some of the default zoom enhancements could be turned off in a setting.

I don’t see a main advantage over something like Tiddloid for local files at the moment since saving files locally is not fully supported.

However it is a good solution for using TiddlyHost. One of the APKs was working fine but it seems the latest one had some issues with saving.

Edit: OK I have tried all three APKs and I cannot seem to select the delete button on a toddler when using TiddlyHost. There were also issues with trying to select the link to login for TiddlyHost as well on the latest APK.

[well-noted]

Saving files locally is supported on the latest APK (you might try again, I just pushed an update that addresses some of the broken features, but it should pop up a dialog asking if you want to “just save” or if you want to “replace” which will reload your current webview to the new save.

Heard on the zoom enhancements, I am thinking a more extensive settings menu is something I’d shoot for post-release.

It works great for my node servers. I have not tried much Tiddlyhost with it, but also encountered login troubles in the past when I attempted previously.

I have just made an attempt, though, and had no problem signing into Tiddlyhost – you might try again, and if you do I’d appreciate hearing how it goes I verymuch appreciate getting another user’s feedback.

As far as deleting goes, I see that is not working correctly on my TiddlyHost, is that where you experienced the error? My Node servers and single files seem to delete fine.

[markkerrigan]

Yes the problem with deleting was on TiddlyHost.

[well-noted]

Will have to reflect on why that would be, I hadn’t originally designed the app to take Tiddlyhost in mind, though I think it’s a good idea.

[well-noted]

Am happy to announce the v.1 release of TidWeb, which one can download either directly from the github page, or from the play store as an official tester.

First, I took @markkerrigan 's advice and I moved the VSS option into the settings

As you can see, there is also a toggle for “Background Mode,” which I highly recommend users enable, as this will allow you to leave the app running in the background so you can return to it quickly if you want to take notes without needing to load each time.

Further, to demonstrate what kinds of things are further possible with this app, I’ve developed a Transfer Tiddlers feature

This option allows you to select from all the tiddlers in your currently open story river

Then, once you have selected the tiddler’s you’d like, you simply pick the instance to which you’d like them transferred:

The app takes care of the rest, creating in the selected instance new tiddlers that match the old tiddlers. This might be especially helpful if one is taking notes while offline and away from a connection, who might want to transfer those notes back to a server wiki later.

Would still like to find more templates, to @TW_Tones point about making mobile TW more accessible – but I have found the app to be useful thus far and, as always, am very interested in hearing anyone’s suggestions for improvements or new features

[well-noted]

Have just realized that if you want to be a tester you’ll need to be added to the invite list. If you’re interested, please DM me with your email