Reactor: Behind the Scenes
See what our newest invention Reactor is all about in this behind the scenes look.
Watch how easy it is to build fast, beautiful apps that integrate WordPress.
What type of apps can I make?
Anyone who has their business website in WordPress will be able to make a mobile app. If you have events, menus, products, media, articles, or other content on your site, you can use it in the app. Examples would be churches, restaurants, magazines, product sellers, retailers, podcasts, bands, content sites, and more.
You can also use non-WordPress content to create custom pages, using UI components from the Ionic Framework.
How much is it?
Reactor will be available for an affordable monthly fee.
Right now we are sending customers to a 3rd party push notification service, so they have to pay for our products, as well as $50/mo for push notifications. By integrating our own push notifications, we are able to lower the overall costs to our customers, as well as bring them more value.
Exact pricing will be announced soon.
What features does it have?
- Pre-made page templates and features
- Design customization
- Build and preview your app without touching app files
- WordPress and non-WP content
- Integrated push notifications
- Automatic app building
- App stats
- Faster performance
- Offline capabilities
- Much more!
When will it be available?
We will be putting the final touches on Reactor in the coming weeks, and hope to have it available to everyone before the end of the year.
How is Reactor different from current AppPresser products?
Reactor puts all of your app files on the device, and grabs your data from WordPress using the new WP API. This is a completely new way to build your app and integrate with WordPress.
It uses the Ionic Framework for the UI, animations, and other app components. It’s also a hosted app building experience, which makes it much easier for you to put your app together, with less conflicts.
We will be releasing more information about Reactor in the coming weeks, stay tuned! You can also contact us if you have any questions.
29 Comments
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Looks very promising! I have 2 important questions:
1. Is this a hosted service or will I have it on my own servers?
2. We use a lot of ACF (http://www.advancedcustomfields.com) on our WP, will it be easy to use the content of these fields in the app?
Hope to hear from you soon!
Hi Geert, this is a hosted service, but your site content is pulled straight from your WordPress site, not from our servers.
We will be adding support for plugins such as ACF as we go, but they must support the WP API to work in a Reactor app. We will be working with plugin authors to make this happen as quickly as we can.
I’m confused. So we would not be able to have it on our own server, but still run it from our WordPress Install?
Hi Raymonn, the data such as posts and pages comes straight from your site. Some data such as colors, menus, and app configuration will come from Reactor.
Amazing!
I hope you release it soon
Integrated Push notification:
Can we still benefit from 3rd party option like geolocation tagging, and beacons?
We plan on adding advanced push notifications features like those, but they are not available right now. It is not possible to add a 3rd party push service, but you can still do that with other AppPresser products.
We were early supporters of apppresser. We believed enough in the potential of an unproven product to lay out hundreds of dollars for it. Yet because of the more-difficult-than-it-should-be creation process referenced, we have not created a single app. I truly hope that you honor the commitment of early supporters by grandfathering them in as part of the newest iteration of apppresser – Reactor. Thanks for your continued efforts.
Hey Mitch, we appreciate your support, and I’m sorry you had trouble with our product. I think you’ll find Reactor much more user-friendly, an email is going out shortly to those who have already purchased with more information about that.
Hey Scott,
I know you said “very soon” does that mean in the next 30, 60 or 90 days? Or sometime next year? I am not asking for the exact date, just a ballpark. This will certainly help our company the sooner the better.
Reactor is fully functioning right now, we just want to make sure there aren’t any bugs we missed. Software is an unwieldy beast sometimes, so we are being cautious. We are doing everything we can to release in early December if all goes well.
Any chance for beta testing for some of your actual App presser customers?
Yep, we’ll be sending an email about that very soon!
Hi –
I am a user of AppPresser presently and the app that I am working on is members-only (must have a login to the website in order to access any of the content), as well as some customization of colors/theme based upon the role/company of the logged-in user (shows logo and company colors of the user’s company). Is this going to be possible to do in Reactor?
Liz
Hi Liz, we will definitely be adding a login in the coming months, and you will be able to choose what content to show to logged in members. There won’t be color customization or different roles at this point, but possibly at some time in the future.
I could be wrong or way off…but it appears there will be a lot of restrictions with Reactor. Can one use the current plugin and be better off? Just asking. It’s starting to seem more an more restrictive. Please feel free to clarify.
Hi Raymonn, it’s true that using the WP API is “limiting” in a way, because it works very differently that “normal” WordPress sites. Whether you are better off really depends on your project. If you need to load stuff that doesn’t work with the API, then yes. For example, AppBuddy is still the best way to integrate BuddyPress. But for most projects, I think Reactor is the best way to to go.
Awesome! I just wanted to make sure AppBuddy will be ready to use when you launch. That’s the real reason I’d like to use Reactor. Thanks for the clarity. Now I will leave you alone so that you can develop this fast! I would like this ASAP. Thanks!
Hey Raymonn, I may not have been clear, but Reactor does not support BuddyPress. AppBuddy is a separate product, you can find it here: http://apppresser.com/extensions/appbuddy-bundle/
So let’s say I have a Buddypress network….I want to use Reactor for building my mobile app. I will need to install AppBuddy or does it come pre-installed and ready to use out of the box? And does AppBuddy read my Buddypress network content and or database? Sorry that I haven’t caught on yet.
Thanks!
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I’m asking because I plan on the mobile app being able to fuel the desktop apps users for the future. I just need to know if it’s going to allow me to have the same users when we open up the functionality on a desktop.
Hi Raymonn, AppBuddy is a separate product from Reactor, but it works with the same database and users as your WordPress site.
Hi, will reactor support buddypress websites..
Hi, Reactor does not support BuddyPress, and probably won’t for some time. AppBuddy is still your best bet for that type of app.
Wondering when using Woocommerce & Stripe, will this allow us to use the new Stripe Apple Pay API to allow for Apple Pay payments within the Reactor App for our store?
Hey Jeremy, that’s not possible yet, but we are looking into making this work in the future.
Will Reactor be compatible with Gravity Forms?
You can use Gravity Forms by putting a button in your app that opens up your website on top of the app. After filling out the form, they can close your website and go back to the app.
It says that you will be adding support for plugins along the way… I’m curious because my WP site is using visual composer to manage layout, so the whole site has short codes through out. I’m also curious about woo commerce payment – would it just use the payment system integrated in my site? I have multiple vendors and utilize “vendors” add-on for woocommmerce to manage products and payments by vendor. I’m wondering if I should stick with original appraiser or will Reactor handle my needs….
Shortcodes are tough. Since we are using the WP API, they are converted into code that may not work properly in the app. For example, an image slider or form shortcode will not work since you’ll be missing the scripts and styles necessary in the app.
WooCommerce will use your same payment setup, since we are actually opening a browser on top of the app to complete payment.
You may want to stick with an original AppPresser bundle to handle this project.