Hi everyone

I'm new to Ubuntu Touch and I'm needing an app that works like Signal on Android. I've been trying to use FluffyChat and Axolotl, but they don't have video chat capabilities. I can't replace my Android phone with Ubuntu Touch until I get this functionality... so I am wanting a solution asap.

I need to develop a couple of messaging apps. One that connects with the Matrix API and another that connects with the WeChat API.

I was wanting to develop it using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Based on what I have found, it seems like it is possible with the help of Cordova. Cordova would provide the ability to access the hardware like the camera, microphone, etc. using HTML, CSS, and JS. The problem is, I can't get it to install or work with Ubuntu.

The instructions I found seem to be outdated - probably a few years old and it won't work. When I try it gives me various errors - I'd be more specific but I forgot what the errors were. I tried installing the 3.3.0 version but it doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Is Cordova's compatibility with Ubuntu being maintained at all? If so, does anyone have updated instructions for how to get it to work?

If it's not being maintained, what language would an app have to be in to have the ability to connect to the camera? Would it need to be QML? Python? Or something else? Are there instructions anywhere for how to do it?

I'm new to developing apps.. I generally just work on websites and build some web applications, so forgive my ignorance :grinning_face_with_sweat:

@lakotaubp I just discovered the MMS isn't working. My sister tried to send me a photo via MMS and it failed. I tried to send her one and it failed too, so something isn't right

I suspect I probably do need the additional settings for it to work.

The internet settings seem to be working ok though.

@flohack thank you for the info and links. It sucks that cordova was dropped because it would have made making apps easier and faster, at least for me lol.

While there's definitely a lot of useful apps available that people have made, I think there needs to be a good video chat app and some more features added to the existing ones before people will be comfortable leaving Android and iOS completely. That's why I am trying to find a way to develop some apps - because I need video chat to communicate with my family.

I haven't done anything with golang before but it sounds like something to look into. Qt and QML also sound like something I need to check into. I have programmed in C++ before but it's been a long time.

I think I'll start looking at golang and QML first because those seem like the easiest routes to creating apps. With a video chat app, even if all it does are video and voice calls, it would at least provide the basic functionality Ubuntu Touch is lacking. So it may not need to be really complex. Just the ability to see contacts and make and receive calls since there are already apps that do messages and can send pictures etc, at least for Matrix and Signal. WeChat doesn't have anything yet though, which sucks.

Since I'm new at this, I'm trying to do things in baby steps. Focusing on simple functionality and expand it out as I learn more.

Thank you again for the info! That helps a lot and gives me at least some direction to look into.

@applee Oh, that makes sense. I appreciate your help trying to figure it out.

The Nexus 5 is supposed to have the capability to support WiFi calls and texts, but if UT doesn't support it and MMS won't work, and the signal keeps dropping and is poor quality, I guess I'm stuck. I tried making a call today and the quality was awful and it kept dropping due to the signal.

I could possibly make it still work if I had a good app that could do voice and video calls, but none of the apps currently have that capability yet.

Thankfully Mint Mobile has a 7 day return policy so I can cancel it and get my money back.

I guess I'm stuck with AT&T for now which really sucks.. AT&T sent me a notification saying they are going to be changing something and they won't support older phones (even my Android phone) next year, and none of the phones I have are on their list of acceptable devices.

Anyways, thank you @AppLee and everyone who replied

@doniks Thank you for your help

My favorite editor is actually Visual Studio Code.. I like it more than Atom. The reason I ask about the Qt Creator IDE is that I'm taking a course in Qt 5 and C++ and I'm learning how to create programs in it using Qt Creator and the Qt libraries.

I've tried "clickable ide qtcreator" in the terminal and it does open Qt Creator, but it has an error on start.

It says the "QbsProjectManager" plugin has an error and it can't be loaded and under details it says:

/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qtcreator/plugins/libQbsProjectManager.so: Cannot load library /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qtcreator/plugins/libQbsProjectManager.so: (libqbscore.so.1.10: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory)

I've tried looking up how to fix it and found some suggestions but I couldn't get them to work. It's entirely possible I'm doing something wrong... I just don't know what.

When I click continue on the error window, then tell it to run the program, it does seem to still run and compile ok.. I was able to test a simple hello world example app on my computer and my phone. So yay

Should I be concerned about the error? Or should I ignore it?

@aarontheissueguy hi thanks for the suggestion.

I've tried using Atom in the past for web development and found I liked Visual Studio Code (VSCodium) better. I haven't Visual Studio Code or Atom for anything other than web development.

I have Atom installed as well as the clickable plugin, but I don't know how to use it yet. My hesitation with using Atom right now is that I am wanting to use the Qt libraries and I don't know enough about it all to include all those things on my own without the help of the software. Even compiling programs is fairly new to me.

I'm a beginner in training... I can build a website from scratch, but not an app lol.

I have a lot to learn, but once I figure this stuff out, I hope to be able to contribute a lot.