Dear MacRumors Forum Users,
First of all, we'd like to say hello as we are new here. We'd like to use our opening post to introduce you all to our latest iPhone and iPod touch app called 'Portal'. Portal is our attempt to redefine the ideal of full screen browsing on a small screen mobile device.
Below is an explanation of what Portal is and our ideas behind them. Apologies it is so long but it is designed to reach a wide audience of varying technical competence, and for those hardened users among you, please excuse the handholding; it is not meant to be condescending! Finally, there are some links to our website and YouTube channel where we have 5 screencasts of Portal in action.
We are really pleased with what we have achieved for this 1.0 release and are very keen to keep developing it further. And this is where you come in. We would very much appreciate your feedback, both good and bad, so you can help us create a browser that 'ticks all your boxes', so to speak.
We are very much looking forward to keeping an active dialogue with you all. Thank you very much for reading!
Very Kind Regards,
Light Pillar
Product Page (inc HD screenshot gallery)
YouTube Channel
AppStore Link
User Interface
The user interface is centred around a single button, called the Portal Button. Upon loading Portal, this button is the only UI that can be seen and even if this is obscuring something, it can be hidden and revealed with a gentle shake of the device.
It was discovered early on that using a gesture approach to interacting with the UI would afford us great advantages in both speed and user messaging. So, when the Portal button is touched (and held), the Arc menu rotates into view with a smooth animation. This menu offers 3 choices; Navigation, Actions and Tabs.
With your finger held down, sliding onto any of these 3 menu options will reveal a second arc of buttons that also smoothly rotate into view. From here, the user can continue to drag their finger (or thumb) over the options available, taking note of the additional Help Icon that confirms the function that is currently selected. To select an option, the user simply releases their finger over the appropriate button.
This gesture-type motion acts like a typical mouse-over event of a desktop browser; the user interface is very effectively messaging to the user what their finger is currently focussed on and removes any doubt of what a button might do. This is a huge strength and advantage that Portal has over other browser interfaces; the user doesnt have to understand the language of an icon and make an uninformed chance that that particular icon is the button they should touch.
With practice, the UI almost becomes transparent as a user can simply recall a gesture and hit the button they want with speed, ease and precision. Want to enter a URL? Touch the portal, drag up to 12 oclock and then to 1 oclock and release... you are at the Goto Screen. The same applies to all the menu options.
In addition, we have considered all of the basic operations of a web browser and made them really fast and easy too.
URL Entry
By default, the URL already has the top and tail of an address pre-filled with user selectable prefixes and suffixes such as http://www and .com so the user only has to type the middle part of an address; for example, bbc. Portal resolves the full address and automatically goes to http://www.bbc.com.
Instant Search
As the user begins to type an address into the URL field, Portal scans all addresses stored in the browsing history and bookmarks and presents a dynamic list of results. The user can then just tap the appropriate URL link and save unnecessary typing.
Next and Previous History
This is a list of all previously visited website in the current session. It is supported on desktop browsers but is not usually found on mobile browsers at all.It works brilliantly when following links from a search engine as it allows the user to get back to the initial search results really quickly.
8 Tabs with Instant Full Screen Preview
As the user drags their finger/thumb over the 8 Tab buttons on the Arc UI, the webpage currently loaded in each is displayed instantly so the user can very quickly find the page they are looking for. The user no longer has to hunt for their page by selecting traditional tab bars or swiping through page after page.
In short, the user interface really has to be seen, or even better experienced, to be truly appreciated; it really is this fast and easy.
Research Mode
Research Mode is a feature unique to Portal and allows a user to highlight pertinent information extremely easily and store them for quick retrieval. Research Mode works by first settings a Topic and any associated key phrases that are of particular interest. Each key phrase can be assigned a colour and whilst browsing, any words that match the specified key phrases are automatically highlighted in the chosen colour. This makes is extremely easy to pick out relevant sections of a large block of text, or find the right product specifications when shopping.
When a user finds a webpage that is worthy of bookmarking, they can add it as a Research Bookmark and apply a Relevance Rating. Research Bookmarks are stored separately to normal bookmarks and are filed under the Topic name for quick and easy access.
Any if you need to share your research with anyone, you can email this information in a specifically formatted table. Great for collaboration or sending someone links to things you want for Christmas!
Search Providers
Most people use the internet to search for things. With this in mind, Portal removes the unnecessary step of having to visit the search provider by allowing them to search directly from the app. The user simply enters the search phrase, select the search provider they want to search from the list and hit the search button.
Portal has over a dozen of the most popular search providers already built-in. This list can be edited and even added to; if the users favourite search engine (or any website with a search box) is not listed, they can use a special codeword to add it to the list. Another great time saving feature.
User Profiles
Sometimes a user wants to keep their work and home life separate, or they want to browse privately. Or, a shared office or family device requires separate users. This is where User Profiles come in. Each User Profile is unique and can store settings, browsing history, bookmarks and privacy settings completely independently from each other.
Portal ships with a Default and Private profile but any number of additional profiles can be created. These are displayed in a list and the user just has to select which one they want to activate. If a user doesnt want to leave any trace of their browsing activity then they can select Private, which is now a standard feature on all browsers.
However, Portal takes the concept of private browsing one step further and introduces Stealth Mode. Stealth Mode is just like a normal profile but it is hidden from the list of other profiles; only the user who created the profile knows it exists and what the sign-in name is. This is a really important feature because users can now browse privately and take full advantage of a browsing history and bookmarks, something not previous available on any other browser.
Find in Page
This is a search facility for the page currently in view. Most web browsers have this feature but Portal enhances the usability by using cross-hairs to target the current highlighted occurrence of the search phrase.
Air Print
Fully supported with iOS 4.2
Email
Any link or web page can be emailed from within Portal. For those users who consistently email themselves links, eg, sending links to themselves at work, Portal can be set up with a default email address to save having to select a recipient each time.
File Downloading
Using MIME types, Portal can download many common file types that are stored locally within Portal and can be synched to your computer with iTunes.
Browser Identity
Portal can identify itself to a website as one of 9 popular browsers.
Built-In User Guide
All the help and tutorials you need built right into the app
First of all, we'd like to say hello as we are new here. We'd like to use our opening post to introduce you all to our latest iPhone and iPod touch app called 'Portal'. Portal is our attempt to redefine the ideal of full screen browsing on a small screen mobile device.
Below is an explanation of what Portal is and our ideas behind them. Apologies it is so long but it is designed to reach a wide audience of varying technical competence, and for those hardened users among you, please excuse the handholding; it is not meant to be condescending! Finally, there are some links to our website and YouTube channel where we have 5 screencasts of Portal in action.
We are really pleased with what we have achieved for this 1.0 release and are very keen to keep developing it further. And this is where you come in. We would very much appreciate your feedback, both good and bad, so you can help us create a browser that 'ticks all your boxes', so to speak.
We are very much looking forward to keeping an active dialogue with you all. Thank you very much for reading!
Very Kind Regards,
Light Pillar
Product Page (inc HD screenshot gallery)
YouTube Channel
AppStore Link
User Interface
The user interface is centred around a single button, called the Portal Button. Upon loading Portal, this button is the only UI that can be seen and even if this is obscuring something, it can be hidden and revealed with a gentle shake of the device.
It was discovered early on that using a gesture approach to interacting with the UI would afford us great advantages in both speed and user messaging. So, when the Portal button is touched (and held), the Arc menu rotates into view with a smooth animation. This menu offers 3 choices; Navigation, Actions and Tabs.
With your finger held down, sliding onto any of these 3 menu options will reveal a second arc of buttons that also smoothly rotate into view. From here, the user can continue to drag their finger (or thumb) over the options available, taking note of the additional Help Icon that confirms the function that is currently selected. To select an option, the user simply releases their finger over the appropriate button.
This gesture-type motion acts like a typical mouse-over event of a desktop browser; the user interface is very effectively messaging to the user what their finger is currently focussed on and removes any doubt of what a button might do. This is a huge strength and advantage that Portal has over other browser interfaces; the user doesnt have to understand the language of an icon and make an uninformed chance that that particular icon is the button they should touch.
With practice, the UI almost becomes transparent as a user can simply recall a gesture and hit the button they want with speed, ease and precision. Want to enter a URL? Touch the portal, drag up to 12 oclock and then to 1 oclock and release... you are at the Goto Screen. The same applies to all the menu options.
In addition, we have considered all of the basic operations of a web browser and made them really fast and easy too.
URL Entry
By default, the URL already has the top and tail of an address pre-filled with user selectable prefixes and suffixes such as http://www and .com so the user only has to type the middle part of an address; for example, bbc. Portal resolves the full address and automatically goes to http://www.bbc.com.
Instant Search
As the user begins to type an address into the URL field, Portal scans all addresses stored in the browsing history and bookmarks and presents a dynamic list of results. The user can then just tap the appropriate URL link and save unnecessary typing.
Next and Previous History
This is a list of all previously visited website in the current session. It is supported on desktop browsers but is not usually found on mobile browsers at all.It works brilliantly when following links from a search engine as it allows the user to get back to the initial search results really quickly.
8 Tabs with Instant Full Screen Preview
As the user drags their finger/thumb over the 8 Tab buttons on the Arc UI, the webpage currently loaded in each is displayed instantly so the user can very quickly find the page they are looking for. The user no longer has to hunt for their page by selecting traditional tab bars or swiping through page after page.
In short, the user interface really has to be seen, or even better experienced, to be truly appreciated; it really is this fast and easy.
Research Mode
Research Mode is a feature unique to Portal and allows a user to highlight pertinent information extremely easily and store them for quick retrieval. Research Mode works by first settings a Topic and any associated key phrases that are of particular interest. Each key phrase can be assigned a colour and whilst browsing, any words that match the specified key phrases are automatically highlighted in the chosen colour. This makes is extremely easy to pick out relevant sections of a large block of text, or find the right product specifications when shopping.
When a user finds a webpage that is worthy of bookmarking, they can add it as a Research Bookmark and apply a Relevance Rating. Research Bookmarks are stored separately to normal bookmarks and are filed under the Topic name for quick and easy access.
Any if you need to share your research with anyone, you can email this information in a specifically formatted table. Great for collaboration or sending someone links to things you want for Christmas!
Search Providers
Most people use the internet to search for things. With this in mind, Portal removes the unnecessary step of having to visit the search provider by allowing them to search directly from the app. The user simply enters the search phrase, select the search provider they want to search from the list and hit the search button.
Portal has over a dozen of the most popular search providers already built-in. This list can be edited and even added to; if the users favourite search engine (or any website with a search box) is not listed, they can use a special codeword to add it to the list. Another great time saving feature.
User Profiles
Sometimes a user wants to keep their work and home life separate, or they want to browse privately. Or, a shared office or family device requires separate users. This is where User Profiles come in. Each User Profile is unique and can store settings, browsing history, bookmarks and privacy settings completely independently from each other.
Portal ships with a Default and Private profile but any number of additional profiles can be created. These are displayed in a list and the user just has to select which one they want to activate. If a user doesnt want to leave any trace of their browsing activity then they can select Private, which is now a standard feature on all browsers.
However, Portal takes the concept of private browsing one step further and introduces Stealth Mode. Stealth Mode is just like a normal profile but it is hidden from the list of other profiles; only the user who created the profile knows it exists and what the sign-in name is. This is a really important feature because users can now browse privately and take full advantage of a browsing history and bookmarks, something not previous available on any other browser.
Find in Page
This is a search facility for the page currently in view. Most web browsers have this feature but Portal enhances the usability by using cross-hairs to target the current highlighted occurrence of the search phrase.
Air Print
Fully supported with iOS 4.2
Any link or web page can be emailed from within Portal. For those users who consistently email themselves links, eg, sending links to themselves at work, Portal can be set up with a default email address to save having to select a recipient each time.
File Downloading
Using MIME types, Portal can download many common file types that are stored locally within Portal and can be synched to your computer with iTunes.
Browser Identity
Portal can identify itself to a website as one of 9 popular browsers.
Built-In User Guide
All the help and tutorials you need built right into the app
