Pocket PowerChurch for iPhone

[NeilZ]

FWIW ... they no longer offer Pocket Powerchurch for sale. I believe they are more concerned with the plans for Powerchurch Plus v12, which will be a complete revamp and, more than likely, rewrite as they are moving off the Foxpro database system.

However, once that's done, the mobile problem will still remain.

With the Palm and WIndows PDAs, there was a cross-compiler that made it easier to write for those two platforms. Since there's no cross-compiler, they would have to write three (or four) different code bases, iPhone, Android, Win Mobile 6/Win7, Blackberry. That would create a versioning nightmare.

[Tracy]

Beside the code differences, the process of getting the data sync'd to the handheld is a problem. The way to load data to a handheld device these days is via a web interface. The way it was in the past was a disconnected and a local sync was required.

[NeilZ]

Beside the code differences, the process of getting the data sync'd to the handheld is a problem. The way to load data to a handheld device these days is via a web interface. The way it was in the past was a disconnected and a local sync was required.

True, the only way this could possibly be done would be for the organization to subscribe to some service that would allow a local program to upload the data, then the mobile phone/PDA would then need to access that service's server for the sync.

Its probably doable, and perhaps another service that Powerchurch Software could offer once you get v12 settled and out of the way (for the most part ).

[tborgal]

Is it a possibility to connect to PC+ Online with these hand held devices?

[NeilZ]

Is it a possibility to connect to PC+ Online with these hand held devices?

No, there is no software currently developed for this purpose.

[Jeff]

No it is not possible to connect to PowerChurch Online with an iPhone or Android device. You can connect to OneBody through a mobile device though, but it does not have all the functionality that Pocket PowerChurch did.

Just to reiterate what Tracy posted. The mobile paradigm has changed. Smart Phone users used to sync their phone with their desktop computer and then work disconnected. People don't expect to sync their phone with their desktop anymore, they just expect to have the data there. When you have data, like PowerChurch, that resides on a local computer or network, it is difficult to access that data from a mobile device. You have to have another site that sits in the middle between the local data and the handheld device.

I know some of our competitors offer iPhone or Android apps. Their customers are already paying them a monthly fee to host their data for them online. So creating another view into the online data is not that difficult.

From a business stand point, Pocket PowerChurch never sold well enough to justify the development and support costs. Would you be willing to pay a monthly fee for Pocket PowerChurch features, and how would those features be different that what is already in place in OneBody?

[NeilZ]

Would you be willing to pay a monthly fee for Pocket PowerChurch features, and how would those features be different that what is already in place in OneBody?

The problem Jeff, is that not everyone has access to OneBody, so having a different way to access the data for a mobile phone/PDA would be an option for us.

Requirements:

1. Data would need to flow from local copy of Powerchurch to online repository in a form that could be easily accessed and downloaded by a smartphone app. Preferably the data would have been formatted so that the server would not need to do any processing or manipulation of the data.

2. Smartphone app would have the capability to download, decompress (if necessary), store in local database, view data, call a phone number using the number listed in the data, and (if possible) pass the street address to any GPS application on the phone.

3. A monthly fee for the repository and access, and a one-time cost for the application purchase would be a reasonable assumption. New versions would of necessity, involve an upgrade cost.

[Jeff]

We have had many internal discussions over the last year about mobile access to data. A mobile optimized web application seems to be the best solution. This would keep us from having to create an iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 versions.

I bring up OneBody, because when we started taking about creating another process to sync, it seems like OneBody already has many of the features that would be needed. It already displays the contact information for church members, organizes people by groups they are members of, etc.

Some of the functionality missing is displaying all of the user codes on the profile level and the ability to enter visitation notes. There might be more, but these 2 come to mind right away.

So would we be better to create another whole process that needs to be maintained and support, or can some functionality be added to OneBody that would allow it to be of better use?

[NeilZ]

We have had many internal discussions over the last year about mobile access to data. A mobile optimized web application seems to be the best solution. This would keep us from having to create an iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 versions.

I bring up OneBody, because when we started taking about creating another process to sync, it seems like OneBody already has many of the features that would be needed. It already displays the contact information for church members, organizes people by groups they are members of, etc.

Some of the functionality missing is displaying all of the user codes on the profile level and the ability to enter visitation notes. There might be more, but these 2 come to mind right away.

So would we be better to create another whole process that needs to be maintained and support, or can some functionality be added to OneBody that would allow it to be of better use?

It would have to be two way, updating visitation notes is a must. My wife uses Pocket PC after visits to jot down her thoughts, and without that she might as well have the Powerchurch Church Directory report exported to a Word DOC for her to lookup names !!

The second thing would be cost. OneBody is available for free download (not sure of the licensing terms), however, if you're operating an existing website under a 'shared host', there may be some issues with you loading up the software on the server.

And frankly, many small to medium churches do not have anyone with the technical savvy to install that. So that would leave the $29 a month One Body hosting option, which on top of paying for an existing site would be poor stewardship.

As Open Source, I really wish that the OneBody group would think about creating a Joomla extension that would just plug into the existing Joomla CMS framework.

[Jeff]

We are offering OneBody hosting for PowerChurch customers at a much reduced rate of $120 a year.

[NeilZ]

We are offering OneBody hosting for PowerChurch customers at a much reduced rate of $120 a year.

Now that falls into the reasonable monthly fee for a data repository. Now having a web based interface that would allow retrieval of information and update of visitations, would definitely see it being used here.

[dogma1]

PowerChurch not working on Apple IOS devices is extremely problematic. I hear some dismissal of the problem because of AT&T and American iPhone usage. This may be true in the States but there is a whole other world beyond these borders that use iPhones with many different carriers, internationally. Where I live in Canada, almost all of our churches are mac operations. One more vote for getting this off the ground!

[NeilZ]

AFAIK .. Pocket Powerchurch is no longer being offered.

[dogma1]

Not really sure what the acronym at the beginning if your sentence means. I know pocket church is not an option. I'm saying I'd like to see something I can use on an iPad!

[NeilZ]

Not really sure what the acronym at the beginning if your sentence means. I know pocket church is not an option. I'm saying I'd like to see something I can use on an iPad!

As Far As I Know ...

they are not currently developing anything that will have an internal database like the old program. As you can see in some previous posts, they are recommending something that can be accessible by a browser, which means a hosted configuration of some type.