Website Building on mobile devices

timconsidine

For a variety of reasons (mostly being, errr, mobile), I’ve hardly touched my desktop and even laptop in weeks.

I have been doing most things on iPhone, iPadPro and a cheap Android tablet.

What website building platforms/technology do people use on mobile devices ?

With much ️ for those well-intentioned advocates, please don’t suggest Wordpress (I still have PTSD ).

I have the competence to build in something like Hugo, but it’s slow being mobile, difficult without decent screen / keyboard.

Is there a suitable app (running on the phone) or am I effectively restricted to something like Ghost, Grav etc (although they’re not easy on smaller screens) ?

Interested in this experienced community’s valuable experience and tips.

timconsidine

Example of the issue :
Now sitting in McD at motorway services in NL, while delivering more Ukraine aid, last trip for 2024.
Just an iPhone to hand.
My self-set driving rules (no tacho) mean I have to wait 2 hours.
Would be great to do some website work.

Investigating if combination of Hugo for site structure (no touch after design build), Gitea for content storage (no touch after site creation) and DecapCMS for content editing while mobile (only component accessed ongoing) can be a way of addressing this.
Christmas project when I get back maybe.

jdaviescoates

I'm not sure about actually building/ developing Ghost sites on mobile (I tend to just use it as is) but posting content on Ghost works pretty well these days (it took them years to get around to sorting it, but sort it they did, eventually)

robi

The new emerging programming language for creating apps is English in the AI world.

So from that point of view you don't need much more than a microphone.

Much of the communities around this are on Twitter/X and now that Grok the X AI is free for a while, there is no excuse not to get an API key and try the various front ends.

There are also many startups doing amazing things such as cursor.com, https://bolt.new, V0, Replit.com, Claude, etc. which which you can simply provide a screen shot or paper napkin drawing of what you want and it will build it for you.

Other companies are using these capabilities in cascading ways to jump start creating a business through a platform that creates all the assets you'll need, including website, marketing, SEO, etc. (heightsplatform.com/features/ai)

Otherwise you can use things like gptme.org and have your own agent do things for you until it's to your satisfaction.

necrevistonnezr

@robi Great list. I‘ve, been wondering a while, however:
All these custom AI generated web apps make only sense to me on a very very small scale. If you have a complex project, involving (sensitive) customer data, payment data, etc.: You alone are fully responsible for the security of the code, patching, etc. The AI bot does the work but legally takes no responsibility whatsoever for it (and BTW, no insurance will cover it, maybe even more important in a business context). There’s no one except you responsible for continuously reviewing code and checking for security flaws. So, if you intend to build a complex project, it might still be a good idea to use a regularly reviewed standard software.

robi

@necrevistonnezr Sounds like you answered your own question.

It's just a tool that automates many things very quickly.
How you use it is on you.

People have figured out how to start up full on businesses with these tools, much like building a house with an oversized 3D printer in hours vs brick by brick in a few months.
You're still on the hook for the permits, etc.

timconsidine

@robi nice thoughts and good suggestion, , will explore.
I love the concept of “dictating” my website to an agent who will build it.
My previous experiments with AI development have been good but required a lot of intervention and correction.
Maybe the latest advances have gone beyond that, especially with relatively simple stuff like websites.