RuneScape Companion - Web App

[jayc3399]

 

 

RuneScape Companion - Web App

We are delighted to launch the RuneScape Companion web app to all RuneScape players today. It’s a new way to talk to your friends in RuneScape using your mobile phone, tablet or PC without logging into the full game.

It's a web app, so rather than needing to install it from an app store, you simply follow these steps:

• Visit http://www.runescape.com/companion, using a compatible device and browser.
• Enter your RuneScape log-in details.
• Log in and start chatting!

For the moment, the web app supports Friends Chat, Clan Chat and Private Messages to and from the game, but we’ll be adding more features throughout 2014. Let us know what you’d like to see!

This is the first version of the web app, and it's still a work in progress. It currently works on more modern Android devices and the iPhone 5 upwards. Please check the list of supported devices below to see if it will work on your phone or tablet.

If your device isn’t currently supported, we’ll be making updates to the web app in January which should increase this list substantially.

• Desktop PCs and laptops, using Chrome.
• Android devices with 1GB RAM or more, using Chrome. These include:
  • Nexus 4
  • Nexus 5
  • Nexus 7
  • Samsung Galaxy S3
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
  • HTC 1X+
• iOS devices with 1GB RAM, using Safari. These are:
  • iPhone 5
  • iPhone 5C
  • iPhone 5s
  • iPad 3rd Gen
  • iPad 4th Gen
  • iPad Air
  • iPad Mini retina

Currently, the web app doesn’t work - or performs unreliably - on the following devices:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4s
• iPad Mini
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3
• Any Android device with less than 1GB of RAM.
• Windows Phones
• Blackberry Phones

If you have any questions, head over to the FAQ. If you have any problems using the app, or any suggestions on improvements you'd like to see, let us know on theRuneScape Companion forum.

The RuneScape Team

Discuss this on the forums.

 

[Riptide Mage]

I don't understand why Jagex uses iframes for the secured login, why not just make the entire site accessible over https?

[Den]

iPhone 4 so it wont load for me. :c

[V O R K]

Everything that is not Mobile Grand exchange is useless! :p

 

not that i'll be able to use it xD

[Ruinous Edge]

can't wait til the iphone 4s is compatible with the new app. Hoping it happens soon, because pms and clan chat on the go would be amazing ^^

[Wkw]

What's the big hub bub for chrome? I want to use a stand alone app!!!!

[Th e Doctor]

List of things that should be added that are actually feasible to the app. 

 

1. Grand Exchange utility

2. Trades with people on your friends list

 

What else can we come up with that is actually doable short of live gameplay?

[Platinum_Myr]

List of things that should be added that are actually feasible to the app. 

 

1. Grand Exchange utility

2. Trades with people on your friends list

 

What else can we come up with that is actually doable short of live gameplay?

 

Trades would be fairly complicated...

 

Grand Exchange would also maybe be limited to views, buys, etc? Not sure how sell offers would work (no access to inventory)

 

How does this handle the pin as well.

 

I'd like to see a ports application.

[Mercifull]

This is what I am going to post on the RS forum later today as I cannot access it from where I am for security reasons...

 

I'll try to be brief with my comments as many of them have been said before but I want to ensure that I've got them out of my system in the hope that they will be actioned upon or at least considered.

A couple of bugs:

-It is a cumbersome system to chat. You have to click the text box once to open the soft-keyboard then again in order to place the caret for typing. Thankfully pressing the [Go] button on the keyboard does the same thing as pressing the [send] button and keeps the keyboard open but that doesn't leave much room for typing. It's not particularly user friendly in the UI department.

-It's too easy to log out of Clan chat when trying to click the box to write a message

-Timestamp on the messages please. If you log out and come back another day your messages still show and it's confusing.

Comments:

I'm going to also reiterate what other people have said about the webapp. I understand the complexities of Runescape and the html5 client and that there is still a lot of work to be done with regards to optimisation to improve performance but why does it still need to be a webapp? It's not true that a native app would give no extra benefits. Google has proved with their iOS apps that you CAN mix html5 with a native app wrapper. This keeps the control like you have mentioned but also added benefits such as api access to the OS which webapps cannot use. By keeping it in browser we miss out on really awesome stuff like push notifications of private messages and background refresh. If you have to write multiple versions for desktop and mobile then so be it. It makes no sense to have a jack of all trades, master of none app. If there is demand for a simple online chat in browser then make a special version which is JUST that, and then put the cool stuff in mobile apps.

The current roadmap doesn't bode well for future features. A limited grand exchange access would be incredible but unless you receive live notifications of changes it's merely a show feature with no real value to people who want instant information on what’s selling/buying etc. The same for distractions & diversions or new newsposts. People have done some really clever stuff with the xml access to the toolbar data there's no reason we can't get an official app that gives push notifications on that.

What has been achieved in the short time frame is admirable and the design is nice but I fear that unless the companion goes native any feature released is going to be crippled as best.

At the moment it is a bloated, sluggish and feature limited system that I don't foresee much use of beyond the novelty at present.
 
iPhone 5, iOS7, Safari with icon saved to home screen.

[Th e Doctor]

 

List of things that should be added that are actually feasible to the app. 

 

1. Grand Exchange utility

2. Trades with people on your friends list

 

What else can we come up with that is actually doable short of live gameplay?

 

Trades would be fairly complicated...

 

Grand Exchange would also maybe be limited to views, buys, etc? Not sure how sell offers would work (no access to inventory)

 

How does this handle the pin as well.

 

I'd like to see a ports application.

 

 

Ports I could see working really well. Trades could be set up via some sort of mailbox system? I personally would love to see mailboxes enter the game, i owe a friend 20 mil and his pm is always off so I don't know if he's on and would love to just be able to send it to him. 

 

G.E. interface could work in sync with your bank so that you can offer things from your bank and they get deposited into it from the g.e.

[Urza285]

Well I think regardless the rs companion is a good start for a beta. Frankly losing the chat heads, chat room indicator text and saving log in names and NOT passwords are probably the biggest player priorities. I hope they can make this an actual application though, in the future.

[strilmus]

as long as they can figure out how to work around the whole "logging you out as if this were five years ago and you're playing a game that doesn't trust anybody" thing, this chat program might actually work

[Mercifull]

I think they've missed a trick. They had the chance to truly do something incredible and compete with the big boys of WhatsApp, Line, Viber, chatOn and Telegram etc. A native app that not only lets you chat to you friends but also those playing online as well. In order to succeed it needs to go native (for background processing and push notifications) and remain logged in (even when in-game). Think how many new players Jagex could have enticed into the game if people initially started using it just for chat.

 

It also needs the stuff from the toolbar adding into it as well. Ports is a bit more complex and might require a separate app to avoid making the companion too bloated (it already is too bloated).