NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT
PASS arrives on the web
PASS, the professional audio industry’s dedicated social network, has
gone multi-platform with its latest upgrade. James Ling
Thoughts can be posted from anywhere
The web version allows more content onto the main screen
PASS Online will allow Android
users access to the social network
built for the iOS app into a totally
different environment. While on the
surface, this sounds like a simple
task, in fact it required a total re-build
of the system as Create DM technical
manager Justin Erswell explains. ‘It
wasn’t simply the case of taking the
framework we had built for the iOS
app and moving that across to the
web version. We had to start from
scratch looking at what was required
users can log straight in with their
existing details, new members are
invited to ll in their details or use
existing ones from Facebook. Once
logged-in, as with the app, the site
will remember your details so you can
always return straight to your stream
without re-entering any information,
unless you log out.
Once inside, existing users will nd
a very familiar experience. The same
The people who made PASS Online – Justin Erswell, Liam Moody, George
Hammerton and Ben Szefler of Create Digital Media
THE PRO AUDIO SOCIAL STREAM
(PASS) has had a successful rst
year. Thousands of users have
downloaded the iOS app and
connected with the rest of the
industry through posting links,
thoughts and photos in their stream
and held business conversations
via direct messaging. Despite this
success and the high-level use, there
has been one regular complaint
about PASS – access for those not on
an Apple device.
Now, following months of
development work and a ground
up re-build, the team at PASS have
solved that problem. ‘Whenever
I have shown people PASS, the
reaction has been fantastic,’ says
Richard Lawn, GM of Blank Canvas
Publishing, the company behind
PASS. ‘But then there has been the
realisation that they can only use it
from an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
People told us they wanted to access
the social network from different
mobile devices and also from their
desks, so that is exactly what we
have done.’
The rst decision was one of
practicality. ‘We could have gone
down the line of making different
apps for Android, Windows Phone
and Blackberry, but without the
standard screen sizes you nd with
iOS devices, this would have taken
a lot of development work and it
still would have left some people
out,’ explains Mr Lawn. ‘Instead, we
decided the best option would be to
use the www.proaudiosocialstream.
com domain for an online version.’
Faced with the technical challenge
of making PASS available to everyone
on any device, Blank Canvas once
again turned to the team responsible
for the original app, Create Digital
Media. The Create DM team are iOS
specialists, but took on the challenge
of making PASS available to all users
with relish.
With the concept in place, the
challenge for Create DM was to
replicate the user experience it had
30 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
The look and functionality of the site is based on the original app
for this version and how to rebuild
all the functionality to work across
multiple platforms.’
‘The rst thing we did was build
the site to be responsive for
different screen sizes,’ adds Create
DM managing director, George
Hammerton. ‘Despite this being a
website, it has been designed to
be mobile rst. This way, whatever
smartphone, tablet or desktop is
used to view the site, it will be the
best possible experience.’
It has been a labour-intensive
process to recreate the experience,
but one that has been totally
worthwhile. Users are initially greeted
with a login screen. While existing
functionality for posting pictures,
links and thoughts into the stream
from any part of the site is there,
as is the popular direct messaging
feature. Equally, users will still be
able to read the latest versions of Pro
Audio Asia, Pro Audio Middle East
and Worship AVL Asia directly within
the website. The education section
is taken care of by a direct link to
sister site www.proaudioeducation.
com, where all the educational video
content is hosted.
Differences come with the look of
the full desktop site. Like the app,
a user’s stream is the prominent
feature taking up much of the right
hand side of the screen. But this has
left extra real estate to bring some
of the menu-based features within
the app onto the main screen. This
m eans functions such as trending
topics and suggested users are
now prominently displayed to allow
users to join in key discussions or
follow other relevant people. This
changes with the reduced screen
size of a mobile device, but all the
functionality is still accessible via the
menu tab.
Importantly, the website and the
iOS app are compatible and linked.
So your stream will always be up to
date, no matter which device you are
using, and any noti cations will still
come to your iOS device.
‘It’s been complicated but fun
to build this site,’ says Mr Erswell.
‘We‘ve tried to make it available to
everyone no matter which device
or browser they are using and that
has been incredibly challenging. But
we’re really proud of what we have
achieved with PASS Online.’
‘When we rst launched PASS,
we wanted it to be a place for the
industry to talk, and it has done
exactly that,’ adds Mr Lawn. ‘With
this new release, we have listened
to what the industry is asking for
and created a platform for everyone,
no matter what the device. We’re
incredibly happy with the end result
and we can’t wait to see everyone
on there taking advantage of this
industry resource.’
PASS is now available to everyone in
the industry no matter what platform
you choose to access it from. Don’t
forget to PASS it on.
www.proaudiosocialstream.com