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Ape Apps Blog
Introducing Experimental apepack App Packaging Format
Since the majority of my apps and games are web apps and require active and maintained servers in order to operate, I have been considering what will become of my software catalog once I ultimately "kick the bucket" so to speak. At the same time, I also realize that there are many users who like to store old versions of games and apps for posterity purposes. For these and other scenarios, I have devised a new apepack app packaging format, now in experimental beta!
When I was thinking up the apepack concept, I wanted something similar to AppImage on Linux, a portable self-contained application that can run on any system. I also wanted it to be completely web-based with no native dependencies, so that apepack applications could be run on Chromebooks or phones as well as desktop systems. I also wanted it to be pretty simple to use, from both the developer and the end-user perspective.
So at a high level, apepack takes a web application, including all scripts, stylesheets, images, etc, and bundles it up into a single file (*.apepack) along with some meta data. These .apepack files can then be distributed in any manner, and users can store/archive them however they want. They are a fixed, static file that itself does not update or change, so an .apepack represents a static offline-capable snapshot of a web application. I created an easy to use web utility for creating .apepack files here.
Once you have an apepack file, a host application is needed to decompress and serve it to the user. This was the more difficult part of the implementation, since I wanted it to be web based so that it would work on ChromeOS and mobile.
For the initial implementation, I have built apepack execution functionality into the PWA version of the Ape Apps Launcher. It works by extracting all of the files from the apepack into a service worker and spinning up a virtual file system. It is currently functional, although there are a couple of things I need to address (running multiple apepacks at once, load times on bigger files like My Colony) and there are some more meta customization options I want to add to the packaging application.
I sort of touched on this before, but there are a few primary purposes for apepack. First, it gives a way to distribute a static, versioned web app that can be used while offline. Secondly, for users who like to store/archive old versions of games and applications and maintain their own version histories, apepack allows that to happen now for web apps. Third, this is potentially a way for a web developer to distribute an application without having a web server or packaging an entire chromium engine using something like Electron.
How to create an apepack
If you have created a web app, or want to make one to test it out, all you need to do is have a folder for your web project with at least an index.html file, which is always the launch point for apepack. You will also need a .png icon file. Then you head over to https://apepack.ape-apps.com/ and select your folder, fill out the meta data, and hit package. It's pretty simple.
How to run an apepack
As of this moment, the PWA version of the Ape Apps Launcher is needed to run apepack applications (v4.1.0 or higher). When you are logged into the Launcher, you can click on your profile icon, go to Launcher Settings, scroll down to apepack (Experimental], and browse for your apepack file.
Of course, there is a far easier way to launch apepacks. If you are on a Chromium based browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave, etc), you can simply install the Ape Apps Launcher PWA (the toolbar should have an install button on it), and your system will automatically associate *.apepack files with the launcher. Then all you have to do is double click on an apepack file and it will automatically launch like a native app, which is the intended way to use apepack. If you previously had the Launcher PWA installed, you may need to uninstall-reinstall it for this to work.
Some apepack files to test
I have taken the liberty of packaging a few apps as apepacks for those who want to try them out:
The cool thing is that you can save these files and now you always have those versions of the app/game!
Moving forward, I plan to start packaging apepack bundles and distributing them on the Ape Market with each major release of my main games and applications, for those who wish to keep an archive of my applications, or who simply want an offline local version of my software. I also might implement an apepack parser/launcher right into the https://apepack.ape-apps.com/ web app, so that all of the apepack stuff is in one place, and the launcher is not required. Although, I will probably also keep the capability in the Ape Apps Launcher too, since more people have that already.
If other users decide they want to make their own apepack files, I can also create some kind of free central repository for apepacks which could then include things like automatic updating and whatnot, but if it is only me using them, then I will just distribute my own stuff via the Ape Market.
Right now there are no special API's provided by apepack, so it pretty much just runs vanilla web apps using standard web technologies. If interest in the project materializes, I am open to adding features based on community feedback.
Give it a try!
Like I said before, this stuff is all still experimental, so try to break it and let me know what needs fixed. I am primarily making this both for posterity and so that people who desire version histories or offline versions of applications can have and keep them.
If you have any comments/suggestions/requests/feedback, let me know! At the minimum, I plan to start distributing my own stuff in the apepack format for those who want it, but if there is any other interest in the project, I will develop it further and expand on it.
#apepack #apeappslauncher
When I was thinking up the apepack concept, I wanted something similar to AppImage on Linux, a portable self-contained application that can run on any system. I also wanted it to be completely web-based with no native dependencies, so that apepack applications could be run on Chromebooks or phones as well as desktop systems. I also wanted it to be pretty simple to use, from both the developer and the end-user perspective.
So at a high level, apepack takes a web application, including all scripts, stylesheets, images, etc, and bundles it up into a single file (*.apepack) along with some meta data. These .apepack files can then be distributed in any manner, and users can store/archive them however they want. They are a fixed, static file that itself does not update or change, so an .apepack represents a static offline-capable snapshot of a web application. I created an easy to use web utility for creating .apepack files here.
Once you have an apepack file, a host application is needed to decompress and serve it to the user. This was the more difficult part of the implementation, since I wanted it to be web based so that it would work on ChromeOS and mobile.
For the initial implementation, I have built apepack execution functionality into the PWA version of the Ape Apps Launcher. It works by extracting all of the files from the apepack into a service worker and spinning up a virtual file system. It is currently functional, although there are a couple of things I need to address (running multiple apepacks at once, load times on bigger files like My Colony) and there are some more meta customization options I want to add to the packaging application.
What is the point?
I sort of touched on this before, but there are a few primary purposes for apepack. First, it gives a way to distribute a static, versioned web app that can be used while offline. Secondly, for users who like to store/archive old versions of games and applications and maintain their own version histories, apepack allows that to happen now for web apps. Third, this is potentially a way for a web developer to distribute an application without having a web server or packaging an entire chromium engine using something like Electron.
So how do you test it out?
How to create an apepack
If you have created a web app, or want to make one to test it out, all you need to do is have a folder for your web project with at least an index.html file, which is always the launch point for apepack. You will also need a .png icon file. Then you head over to https://apepack.ape-apps.com/ and select your folder, fill out the meta data, and hit package. It's pretty simple.
How to run an apepack
As of this moment, the PWA version of the Ape Apps Launcher is needed to run apepack applications (v4.1.0 or higher). When you are logged into the Launcher, you can click on your profile icon, go to Launcher Settings, scroll down to apepack (Experimental], and browse for your apepack file.
Of course, there is a far easier way to launch apepacks. If you are on a Chromium based browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave, etc), you can simply install the Ape Apps Launcher PWA (the toolbar should have an install button on it), and your system will automatically associate *.apepack files with the launcher. Then all you have to do is double click on an apepack file and it will automatically launch like a native app, which is the intended way to use apepack. If you previously had the Launcher PWA installed, you may need to uninstall-reinstall it for this to work.
Some apepack files to test
I have taken the liberty of packaging a few apps as apepacks for those who want to try them out:
The cool thing is that you can save these files and now you always have those versions of the app/game!
Future for apepack
Moving forward, I plan to start packaging apepack bundles and distributing them on the Ape Market with each major release of my main games and applications, for those who wish to keep an archive of my applications, or who simply want an offline local version of my software. I also might implement an apepack parser/launcher right into the https://apepack.ape-apps.com/ web app, so that all of the apepack stuff is in one place, and the launcher is not required. Although, I will probably also keep the capability in the Ape Apps Launcher too, since more people have that already.
If other users decide they want to make their own apepack files, I can also create some kind of free central repository for apepacks which could then include things like automatic updating and whatnot, but if it is only me using them, then I will just distribute my own stuff via the Ape Market.
Right now there are no special API's provided by apepack, so it pretty much just runs vanilla web apps using standard web technologies. If interest in the project materializes, I am open to adding features based on community feedback.
Give it a try!
Like I said before, this stuff is all still experimental, so try to break it and let me know what needs fixed. I am primarily making this both for posterity and so that people who desire version histories or offline versions of applications can have and keep them.
If you have any comments/suggestions/requests/feedback, let me know! At the minimum, I plan to start distributing my own stuff in the apepack format for those who want it, but if there is any other interest in the project, I will develop it further and expand on it.
#apepack #apeappslauncher
Ape Apps Account Now Supports Stored Payment Methods
Over on the Ape Apps Account Portal, there is a new section called Payment Methods, where you can now link a credit card to your Ape Apps account. The service is provided by Stripe (which has already been processing Ape Apps credit card payments) and no payment details are stored on the Ape Apps server.
What is the benefit? Basically, faster purchases. With a stored payment method, you can quickly purchase things like more Ape Coins when needed, without having to leave the app that you are in or enter your PayPal/Credit Card details. You can also use your stored method to quickly unlock premium or to subscribe to Ape Apps Gold.
There are also lower transaction fees, especially if you set up a bank account as the payment method using Link, but that is more of a benefit for me than for you guys.
Anyway, enjoy the easier payment method if you are interested in it!
What is the benefit? Basically, faster purchases. With a stored payment method, you can quickly purchase things like more Ape Coins when needed, without having to leave the app that you are in or enter your PayPal/Credit Card details. You can also use your stored method to quickly unlock premium or to subscribe to Ape Apps Gold.
There are also lower transaction fees, especially if you set up a bank account as the payment method using Link, but that is more of a benefit for me than for you guys.
Anyway, enjoy the easier payment method if you are interested in it!
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Cloud Sync Server Purge Coming Soon
The Ape Apps Cloud Sync server is about due for a maintenance purge and reset. As you may know, the Cloud Sync service is meant as way to sync saves between devices only, not as a long-term storage solution, although I know many users utilize and rely on it as such. Unfortunately, the way it is designed does not lend itself well to long-term storage, and periodically needs to be cleaned out and optimized.
I am in the process of rebuilding the Cloud service from scratch, moving it to a bigger server with more storage, and also allowing permanent save data storage for Ape Apps Gold members. The new server setup is going to be so different though, that it is not really feasible to transfer all of the old cloud sync data over.
Over the next few months therefore, I will be migrating all of my apps and games over to the new Ape Cloud server. This will be done on a per-app basis instead of all at once. So from this point forward, as an app or game gets updated, it will be moved over to the new cloud server, meaning that more frequently updated (popular) apps and games will make the transition first.
So if you rely on cloud sync, it is important that you make backups of your data. In most instances, it should be enough for you to just open your files and view/save them, as local copies are always stored on your device as well. For more important items, you might want to save a local copy for peace of mind.
You can also install the Ape Web Apps Desktop Bridge (either the PWA or desktop client) and spin up your own private cloud instance on your own computer. This tool lets you specify a folder on your computer as your private cloud storage and is now supported by almost my entire library. If you have only one private cloud instance set up on your account, it will be automatically selected as your default in pretty much any of my apps and games. As long as you are signed in to your Ape Apps Account, your apps and games can save to your own private cloud folder from anywhere you have an internet connection.
So that is what is up, let me know if you have any questions!
I am in the process of rebuilding the Cloud service from scratch, moving it to a bigger server with more storage, and also allowing permanent save data storage for Ape Apps Gold members. The new server setup is going to be so different though, that it is not really feasible to transfer all of the old cloud sync data over.
Over the next few months therefore, I will be migrating all of my apps and games over to the new Ape Cloud server. This will be done on a per-app basis instead of all at once. So from this point forward, as an app or game gets updated, it will be moved over to the new cloud server, meaning that more frequently updated (popular) apps and games will make the transition first.
So if you rely on cloud sync, it is important that you make backups of your data. In most instances, it should be enough for you to just open your files and view/save them, as local copies are always stored on your device as well. For more important items, you might want to save a local copy for peace of mind.
You can also install the Ape Web Apps Desktop Bridge (either the PWA or desktop client) and spin up your own private cloud instance on your own computer. This tool lets you specify a folder on your computer as your private cloud storage and is now supported by almost my entire library. If you have only one private cloud instance set up on your account, it will be automatically selected as your default in pretty much any of my apps and games. As long as you are signed in to your Ape Apps Account, your apps and games can save to your own private cloud folder from anywhere you have an internet connection.
So that is what is up, let me know if you have any questions!
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More New Options in the Ape Apps Account Portal
A few months ago I did a complete revamp of the Ape Apps Account Portal, and now I have expanded the account customization options even further, and also added the beginning back-end for cool things to come. Let's take a look!
Since I first launched the Ape Apps Account system, the two biggest requests I have gotten were a) ability to change e-mail address, and b) ability to change username. I checked off the e-mail address bit on the last update, and now I have come up with a solution for the username bit too, the new Display Name field.
To let users actually change their base username was going to be a lot of work and would also break a lot of older apps that rely on the username staying constant, so I have come up with the next best solution. You can now set your account Display Name. You will still log in to Ape Apps using your registered account username, but over the coming months, your Display Name will start showing up in various apps and games instead of the username. What's more, the display name can have spaces, some special characters, and more.
Note that the individual apps and games will need updated to take advantage of the new display name feature, but you can go ahead and set it up now and it will start showing up in the weeks and months ahead.
Be reasonable with what you pick for a display name!
I generally do not like doing account moderation, but if my hand is forced I will reluctantly need to crack down, so please use common sense when choosing a display name. Kids are on here too.
In addition to the display name, you can now also set an About Me string and a Profile Header Graphic. Currently, the Ape Apps forums (this website) supports an About Me tag, but it is not tied to the overall account. It will soon be replaced by the new global About Me tag from the Accounts Portal, so if you want to customize yours, you need to set it there. This will eventually show up in various places, such as the Ape Apps Launcher and when you select a friend from your friends list in-game.
The Profile Header graphic will also be used in the Launcher and various other places. If you have used Twitter/X and seen the little background header image at the top of people's profiles, you know what it is for.
Finally, I am going to be implementing a user feed into the Ape Apps Launcher, that will show things like unlocked achievements or screenshots taken in-game. When you open the launcher, the home page will now, instead of the all apps listing, show your friends user feed. The feed is based on the ActivityPub/Fediverse specs, and in theory it can be viewed by third party fediverse apps such as Mastodon.
I say "in theory" because it only sort of works right now, based on my testing. Your Ape Apps account address for Fediverse stuff is @{username}@accounts.ape-apps.com. So for example, mine is @bastecklein@accounts.ape-apps.com. So if you log in to something like Mastodon and do a search for that account, it should show something like this:
Some things show up, some don't. I haven't been able to get test posts to show up, but frankly I am not overly concerned with Mastodon or the larger Fediverse outside of Ape Apps, what is important is that the feed is coming for friends lists in the Ape Apps Launcher and that is what this is primarily for. If there is strong interest to get the Mastodon stuff working I will spend more time on it, otherwise I am not going to worry about it too much.
So that is it for this round of Account Portal updates. I am planning a complete revamp of the Ape Apps forum/website at some point that will start tying a lot of the new account features in, and everything is going to be coming to the Launcher as well. So stay tuned for all that, and feel free to check out the new Account Portal updates and update your profile information!
https://accounts.ape-apps.com/
#apeappsaccounts
Since I first launched the Ape Apps Account system, the two biggest requests I have gotten were a) ability to change e-mail address, and b) ability to change username. I checked off the e-mail address bit on the last update, and now I have come up with a solution for the username bit too, the new Display Name field.
To let users actually change their base username was going to be a lot of work and would also break a lot of older apps that rely on the username staying constant, so I have come up with the next best solution. You can now set your account Display Name. You will still log in to Ape Apps using your registered account username, but over the coming months, your Display Name will start showing up in various apps and games instead of the username. What's more, the display name can have spaces, some special characters, and more.
Note that the individual apps and games will need updated to take advantage of the new display name feature, but you can go ahead and set it up now and it will start showing up in the weeks and months ahead.
Be reasonable with what you pick for a display name!
I generally do not like doing account moderation, but if my hand is forced I will reluctantly need to crack down, so please use common sense when choosing a display name. Kids are on here too.
In addition to the display name, you can now also set an About Me string and a Profile Header Graphic. Currently, the Ape Apps forums (this website) supports an About Me tag, but it is not tied to the overall account. It will soon be replaced by the new global About Me tag from the Accounts Portal, so if you want to customize yours, you need to set it there. This will eventually show up in various places, such as the Ape Apps Launcher and when you select a friend from your friends list in-game.
The Profile Header graphic will also be used in the Launcher and various other places. If you have used Twitter/X and seen the little background header image at the top of people's profiles, you know what it is for.
Finally, I am going to be implementing a user feed into the Ape Apps Launcher, that will show things like unlocked achievements or screenshots taken in-game. When you open the launcher, the home page will now, instead of the all apps listing, show your friends user feed. The feed is based on the ActivityPub/Fediverse specs, and in theory it can be viewed by third party fediverse apps such as Mastodon.
I say "in theory" because it only sort of works right now, based on my testing. Your Ape Apps account address for Fediverse stuff is @{username}@accounts.ape-apps.com. So for example, mine is @bastecklein@accounts.ape-apps.com. So if you log in to something like Mastodon and do a search for that account, it should show something like this:
Some things show up, some don't. I haven't been able to get test posts to show up, but frankly I am not overly concerned with Mastodon or the larger Fediverse outside of Ape Apps, what is important is that the feed is coming for friends lists in the Ape Apps Launcher and that is what this is primarily for. If there is strong interest to get the Mastodon stuff working I will spend more time on it, otherwise I am not going to worry about it too much.
So that is it for this round of Account Portal updates. I am planning a complete revamp of the Ape Apps forum/website at some point that will start tying a lot of the new account features in, and everything is going to be coming to the Launcher as well. So stay tuned for all that, and feel free to check out the new Account Portal updates and update your profile information!
https://accounts.ape-apps.com/
#apeappsaccounts
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Ape Apps Mailing List Unsubscribe Fixed
Since I finally got the Ape Apps mailing lists working earlier this week, users who subscribed years ago and forgot about it have started suddenly getting emails from Ape Apps. I noticed that some people were using the unsubscribe option over and over and couldn't figure out why, until I noticed that the unsubscribe feature was actually broken on my server 😐
I apologize to anyone impacted by this, I'm really not trying to spam you!
All in-email unsubscribe links should be working now. To verify your mailing list status, just log in to the account portal at the link below and choose which lists you want to be attached to:
https://accounts.ape-apps.com
I apologize to anyone impacted by this, I'm really not trying to spam you!
All in-email unsubscribe links should be working now. To verify your mailing list status, just log in to the account portal at the link below and choose which lists you want to be attached to:
https://accounts.ape-apps.com
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