[DAO: bafkrei] Decentraland Explorer Mobile App

Governance
1

by 0x7bbd4eb693dd5b08e13c9da9d54d8ecd49d9b654 (Lujube)

Should the following Tier 4: up to $60,000 USD, 6 months vesting (1 month cliff) grant in the Platform Contributor category be approved?

Abstract

Decentraland Explorer Mobile App is an attempt to bring Decentraland metaverse to “mobile” in an incremental manner.
The app was released in March 2022 and is available on both Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

As of today, Decentraland Explorer Mobile App has reached 4.27K installations. It is continuously updated based on the feedback from the community.

Grant size

32,000 USD

Beneficiary address

0x7bbD4Eb693Dd5B08e13c9da9d54D8eCD49d9b654

Description

Decentraland Explorer Mobile App started as a solo developer effort to provide the Decentraland community with a mobile-native map and marketplace user experience. It provides a smooth, fast, and user-friendly way to explore the Genesis City map and Decentraland Marketplace.

The app is compatible with iPhones, iPads, and Android smartphones. The first version was released on 11 March 2022, and the last version (v1.8) was released on 28 June 2022.

As of 6 June 2022, the app has been downloaded 1.93K times from Google Play and 2.34K times from Apple App Store, and it achieved this with zero marketing budget.

The app was built, maintained, and updated as a solo developer effort. It has limitless feature potential, and I am constantly receiving new requests from users.
I want to be able to continue investing my time and effort in this project while keeping it free.

I kindly request your support to compensate for the development effort and operational expenses so far and for the upcoming months.

Specification

Decentraland Explorer mobile app is developed with Ionic React and Capacitor. The application backend is developed with NodeJS and hosted in Google Cloud.

Features already implemented:

Genesis City Map

  • Zoomable, pannable 2D tile map.
  • Tap on parcels/estate to view its details
  • Highlight parcels/estates on sale
  • Search for parcels/estates by keyword
  • Fly to parcel/estate from search results

Parcel/Estate Details

  • Display parcel/estate metadata
  • Display owner
  • Display sale history
  • Display active bids

Marketplace Home

  • Latest parcel/estate listings slider
  • Latest collectible listings slider
  • Latest ENS names for sale slider

Marketplace Browser

  • Search for parcels/estates, wearables and names for sale by keyword
  • Sort parcels/estates, wearables, names by date, price
  • View parcel/estate, wearable, name details

Events

  • Featured events slider
  • Display trending events
  • Display all events
  • Display event details
  • Send notification to subscribers before the event starts

Favorites (Wathclist)

  • Add/remove parcels/estates, wearables, events, and names to favorites

TxBrowser

  • List all sales, bids, and mints (transactions) in Decentraland.
  • Display the price, buyer, and seller of the transaction.

Wearable Details
-Wearable preview

  • Display wearable metadata
  • Display Latest sales

Name Details

  • Display owner
  • Display sale history
  • Display active bids

Push Notifications

  • Send notifications to app users about new listings, events, etc.

Personnel

Gokberk Hamurcu - Software developer with 15+ years of professional experience.

https://twitter.com/gokberkhamurcu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gokberkhamurcu/

Currently, only one person is working on this project. If I get the grant, I am planning to hire an additional software developer and a part-time marketing manager.

Roadmap and milestones

The app will continue to be maintained and improved primarily based on the feedback of its community. Below are the main headlines that will be in development scope for the next six months.

Improvements and Fixes

  • UI/UX improvement, performance improvements, and bug fixes.

User Profiles

  • Ability to view buyer, seller, and bidder profiles.
  • View collectibles and parcels/estates owned by the profile
  • View the latest sales and active bids of the profile

Enhanced Push Notifications

  • Ability to receive personalized push notifications based on interest. (ie. When someone bids on your favorite parcel, when the sale price of a parcel changes, when parcel/estate is listed for sale, etc.)

Wallet Login

  • Login
  • Display your profile

In-App Messaging

  • Ability to send direct messages to the app users.
  • Dependent on login functionality to be implemented

Bidding/Buying

  • Ability to bid/buy directly from the mobile app.
  • Dependent on login functionality to be implemented
  • The implementation of bidding/buying functionality within the app is currently subject to Apple App Store and Google Play Store limitations.

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

2

I voted “No” because:

  1. You don’t have claimed a Name yet
  2. There are no informations about how the funds will be allocated
  3. I can see the Marketplace also on my mobile Web-Browser
  4. I don’t like the idea to log-in my Wallet on a centralized Store / App

This is just my personal opinion

3

whaaaat I can’t believe this app existed and I didn’t know about it! amazing!!

voting f*ing yes, because:

  • you already have an MVP (most grant request can’t say the same)
  • you demonstrated results on your own
  • it’s not a huge amount of money
  • I’d LOVE for Decentraland’s first mobile app to be community driven, for decentralization purposes (eg: not developed by the Decentraland Foundation) :smiley:
2 Likes
4

btw @ArtReYou they already claimed the name, don’t be so harsh with that :wink:

5

I still don’t see what kind of DCL Name he claimed. Imo it should be a requirement to own a DCL Name before you can ask for a grant. 100 MANA isn’t a huge amount for a unique name and 100 VP :wink:

1 Like
6

My bad, sorry! I thought the name was claimed if there were no numbers here:
image

1 Like
7

All good, no big deal :slight_smile:

8

That’s a visual glitch I reported about a week or so ago in help channel. No name ‘Lujube’ exists. I’ll check out the proposal more in depth tomorrow, but from a quick glance, everything he’s describing can already be seen in MM mobile browser.

9

Hi @ArtReYou , @maraoz

Thanks for your comments.

I just claimed a DCL name and I feel better now. Thanks for the warning.

I also want to say a few words about the benefits of having a mobile app besides a website:

  • People prefer in-app experiences over websites.
    Mobile users spend 88% of their time on apps.
    (source: Apps Far Outpace Browsers in US Adults’ Mobile Time Spent - Insider Intelligence Trends, Forecasts & Statistics)

  • Mobile apps usually work faster than websites.
    Almost always, mobile apps have smaller footprint than websites.

  • Apps are designed with a mobile-only approach. On the other hand, websites are designed with a desktop-first/mobile-second approach.
    Mobile-specific design results in better UX and allows intuitive usage.

  • Push notifications
    iOS still does not support web push notifications however, there is no such limitation for mobile push notifications.

  • Almost all known web platforms (Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) have their mobile apps although they have a website app because of the benefits of having a mobile app.

@ArtReYou
I understand your concern about the login feature. It is on the list because the app users are requesting this feature .
If it stays on the roadmap and is implemented in the future, it will never be a requirement to use the app.

I am kindly requesting you to re-consider your vote based on my comments.

… and @maraoz thanks for highlighting that this is a proposal for further development of a working product. It is not for an idea and not even for a prototype.
There is already a great amount of software development effort invested in it.

I tried to submit a detailed proposal but in case if anything is unclear I will be happy to answer your questions.

Thanks

1 Like
10

Hi @Frank ,

Thank your for your comment.

I claimed a DCL name.

I tried to elaborate on the benefits of having a mobile app in my post on the main thread.

Thanks

1 Like
11

Hey @gokberk,
Thank you for your response. Though I personally think its a bit silly (the insistence for a name claim for grants) the community has moved towards this stance as a way of showing commitment to DCL and contributing to the ecosystem in a small way. I appreciate the initiative and I hope they will too.

In regards to the mobile app you have developed vs. simply viewing the marketplace on a mobile browser, are their other benefits to having the mobile app? From what I’m seeing upon review, the only main difference is that you can add specific items/land to a watchlist, and then receive push notifications when a change occurs? Is that accurate? Or are there other benefits as well?

You can essentially do the same thing within polygonscan/etherscan/opensea in my understanding.

I’m sure if I were to download the app, I would see any other differences, but I am EXTREMELY cautious over what I put on my devices that are connected in any way to my wallet. I hope you can understand my apprehension.

I will say there are are features mentioned in your Roadmap and milestones section which seem promising. (Mainly the in app messaging) My concern would be whether or not the community would widely adopt a 3rd party app to the point it would be this would be beneficial.

I appreciate the time and effort you have put forth, and please don’t be discouraged by my feedback in any way.

12

Hi @Frank,

As I said in my comment, the main benefit of a mobile app is achieving far better UX. This is why people spend 88% of their online time on apps rather than websites. This is why all companies invest in mobile apps although they have websites. Even e-commerce stores have their own apps and their customers prefer to use them. Of course, we can achieve most of the things that an app promises by other means, but simplicity matters.

Leaving my previous comment here for reference

Thanks

1 Like
13

Hi @gokberk

Thank you for your response and the additional informations. Congratulations for your Name claim aswell. Here is a good Medium article about DCL Names

How would the allocations of the funds looks like and how many hours you worked on this? And where did you get the feedback from? Do you run a Discord Channel?

I don’t say, that i don’t like your idea, but IMO you asked for a lot of money for a app like this.

Best regards

14

Hi @ArtReYou ,

Thank you very much for sharing the article. I read it.

How do I collect feedbacks:
The app has a telegram group and a feedback board which is accessible from the app.
People send DMs, e-mails and write store reviews as well.

The effort so far:
I started working on the app in January 2022, the first release was out in March 2022, and the last release was rolled out at the end of June 2002. Research, UI/UX design, coding, testing, website building, bug fixing, app maintenance, communication, and even logo creation is done by one person. This requires a considerable amount of time and effort.

Fund allocation:
The main motivation of this grant proposal is to be able to bring the app to the next level by improving it.
So please do not assume that the funds to be granted will be only for the app’s existing state.
I need this grant to further improve the app and continue to maintain it as my commitment to the Decentraland Community.

Requested Amount of Grant: USD 32,000
Duration: 6 months
Operational Expenses: USD 1500 (USD 250/month)
Team Compensation: USD 30500 (2 full time + 1 part time team members) (~5100/month for 3 people)

Let me elaborate on this a bit.
Freelance Software Developer Hourly Rate: Ranges from $30-$150, depending on the experience and technology stack.
Let’s assume $60/hour. Even if a single developer with this rate works for only 10 hours/week for the project (obviously which is not enough to build something good) it costs $2400/month. Make it two developers, it costs $4800/month. Again, these numbers are valid only for 10 hours/week. I think you will also agree that 10 hours/week is far less than enough. I hope this explanation makes you change your mind that the grant amount is too much.

Finally, I kindly request again you reconsider your vote. :slight_smile:

Thank you for taking time

Kind Regards,
Gokberk

15

Ty for taking the time to explain community’s concerns, originally I had voted no, reason was I’m not a fan of having even a crypto wallet downloaded on my phone, I noticed that was a bit selfish of me for those who don’t mind it therefore changed to a yes. Its a great proposal.

Nice name claim btw :wink:

2 Likes
16

Voting Yes, great project for those that are active all the time on the Marketplace!

Hope you can add features to purchase and list directly from the app (in a secure way).

2 Likes
17

Hi @Sannin

Thank you very much.

18

Hİ @Eibriel ,

Thank you very much.

19

@ArtReYou

Thank you for changing your vote to Yes.

20

Decentraland Explorer Mobile App

This proposal is now in status: PASSED.

Voting Results:

  • Yes 100% 2,675,153 VP (57 votes)
  • No 0% 0 VP (0 votes)