Apps-android-commons: Change SignupActivity to an Activity from a WebView

[diddypod]

Summary:

SignupActivity is currently a WebView, which is inconsistent with the res of the application and allows users to browse MediaWiki in the WebView without logging in

Expected

SignupActivity should be an Android Activity

Observed behavior:

It is a WebView.

Device and Android version:

Xiaomi (Wingtech) Redmi 2 Prime
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4

Commons app version:

2.6.7-debug

[diddypod]

This can be easily implemented using JavaScript injection in a WebView. I'd like to take this up.

This has been discussed in part in issue #1151.

[madhurgupta10]

Please allow me to work on this :)

[misaochan]

@diddypod Sorry we didn't get back to you about this. Are you still interested in working on it?

[diddypod]

Yes, please. May I take it up, @misaochan?

[nicolas-raoul]

@diddypod Yes feel free :-)

[diddypod]

JavaScript injection is a rather hacky implementation. I'll try to make it somewhat better by using the MediaWiki APIs for account creation, as outlined at MediaWiki API help - action=createaccount (create) and API:Account creation

[diddypod]

Hello

Really sorry for the inactivity and the lack of updates, I've been having evaluations in college. I've been tinkering away in my free time, though, and while the bulk of the process is working, I'm having a bit of trouble retrieving and displaying the captcha via APIs. Any help or insights?

[misaochan]

Hi @diddypod , no worries. :) I am afraid that I can't offer any help with the captcha because that is exactly where I got stuck the last time I tried to implement this. :/ Perhaps someone else can chime in?

[diddypod]

Hello

Again, sorry for the delay. I've been working on this for the past couple of days and I have found these tools

• https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit which will let you generate captchas
• https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Account_creation to create accounts

API:Account Creation needs a CAPTCHA to work, but I haven't been able to use the Extension using the APIs.

The alternative is to create an Android layout and use JavaScript injection as I said earlier which seems hacky and pointless, since it does not improve or simplify functionality, instead adding more complexity to the current webview implementation.

I'd like to stop working on this issue, and take up some other issues.

[misaochan]

@diddypod Thanks for the effort that you put into this. I am inclined to agree with you - as mentioned, I also tried to implement this a couple of years ago and ran into the same roadblocks. An additional concern is futureproofing - if we use the WebView, any changes that WMF makes to the signup process will automatically be incorporated, whereas with our own implementation we would need to keep on top of things ourselves.

Please feel free to work on other issues. Would you like me to close this?

[diddypod]

Thank you @misaochan. Please close this.