Manuito [2225097] —
Original article
Discover what Manuito's Torn companion app for mobile is all about, who should download it, and why it has received official backing from the developers!
Public displays of affection are rare in Torn City - unless you're on a mission for Duke and he's making you kiss someone. But we're not here to talk about those types of PDA today. Instead, I'd like to draw your attention to Torn PDA, a mobile application created by me, Manuito, that is officially backed by Torn.
What Is Torn PDA?
Torn PDA is a mobile phone application, available for Android and iOS, which aims to make it easier for players to access key game data and sections as efficiently as possible. With Torn's official iOS app having beenpulped to make Grindr Dark Mode removed from the Apple store, Torn PDA is currently the only Torn app available on Apple devices - our Google Play version remains available here.
What Does Torn PDA Do?
Torn PDA gives you easy access to most of your basic information, such as your energy, private messages, recent events, or even the status of a chain. All of this data can be reviewed on Torn PDA without accessing the Torn website at all. This app also provides many direct, predefined, and customizable shortcuts to any place in Torn, significantly reducing the time and taps required to perform most actions. Together with a clean and easy-to-navigate mobile interface, this greatly enhances user experience and saves time.
Is Torn PDA Cross-App Compatible?
Torn PDA integrates key functionalities from several partners, such as YATA, Torn Attack Central, Nuke, Universal Health Care, and Torn Trader. This cross-app functionality enables you to do many different things, including viewing foreign stocks, managing and syncing your awards and chaining targets with YATA, obtaining a list of curated targets from TAC, calling for a revive without leaving the app, and trading with other users with your own price list.
On top of that, Torn PDA app gives players access to desktop functionality without having to install a mobile browser extension - something that is difficult to do on certain devices. This means that PDA users can enjoy features such as quick crimes, quick items, a trade calculator, and an option to hide chats, which often take a lot of extra space on mobile. These features were highly acclaimed and initially developed within other tools, such as DocTorn, or TornTools.
What are Torn PDA's Key Features?
When it comes to internal features, I’m pretty fond of the Chaining section, which allows players to create a target list. This list can be imported or synced with YATA’s and makes chaining even simpler and quicker than on PC. The recent addition of Torn Attack Central also allows players to find curated targets effortlessly, which you can then attack in a row or add to your list.
The Travel section is another popular one, syncing with YATA’s foreign stocks database and showing all kinds of details to help in choosing the right destination. I recently added restock information, notifications, and travel time suggestions.
A highly acclaimed feature that I added in v2.3.0 was userscripts, which allows players to add their own scripts to the browser. It comes with a few examples, like a bazaar filler, which fills in the quantity and price of every item automatically. Although pre-existing scripts (like the ones written for GreaseMonkey) might need to be adapted, I’ve already seen some very good ideas.
Automatic notifications are another useful tool, as you can set them for almost any event. In Torn PDA, when it comes to the activation method there are two types of notifications; manual and automatic, each with its own pros and cons. In Android, you can even set alarms and timers to ensure that you won’t miss anything.
Shortcuts and quick navigation also play a key role in the app. Instead of using a browser with many tabs, you can open a quick browser to anywhere in Torn with a single tap in less than a second. The app comes with more than a hundred shortcuts, but new ones can be added effortlessly. As I mentioned earlier, external partners are a very important part of Torn PDA and I keep getting requests for more integrations. In the case of YATA, even if it takes a while, the idea is to continue integrating the most used sections.
The full feature list for Torn PDA can be found in the forums via this link, or in the official Android and iOS stores.
How Can I Trust Torn PDA?
Here is a comment from Torn's Community Manager, bogie, that explains what kind of data Torn PDA has access to, and why they have decided to back my project.
"Myself and Chedburn have been thoroughly impressed with Manuito's creation of Torn PDA. What began as a conversation between him and I about seeking permission to create an alternative for the iOS app (that Torn has since abandoned), has since turned into a fantastic project that has since come to Android as well."
"Since he was not the official creator of Torn he needed our blessing for copyright reasons (More Apple hoops to jump through!!). We have been working closely with Manuito throughout this project, and whilst the app is entirely his own creation and developed by him, we are happy to help where we can. API delays and restrictions have proven to be the main challenges to overcome, but we hope that we can continue to provide solutions that ensure this app's continued growth."
"The app is used by thousands of players across Torn at this stage, using servers that Torn also provide the financial support for in order to further assist Manuito to bring this project to life. The app itself only requires your API key, so it doesn't have access to your login information. You can see all the things it will have access to here, but in terms of account security, there is no risk to your Torn account - of course with any application you should only install ones you trust, but we at Torn currently trust Torn PDA." - bogie, Torn Community Manager
Why Did I Make Torn PDA?
I started developing Torn PDA at the end of 2019. I had been playing Torn on and off for a year since due to work and family reasons I could not spend much time sitting at the computer. At some point, I started playing on my mobile phone and found myself traveling all day for flowers or plushies. I also started getting mugged a lot, so I would set up an alarm on my mobile phone to remind me when I was about to land, but it was a bit of a hassle.
That is when I decided to develop a very small application for personal use, an app that would get information from the API and automatically alert me about landing times, energy usage, etc. There was no polished UI or anything like that, just a few buttons and a very simple browser that would get the job done. After a while, I showed the application to a few of my faction mates, and they really liked the concept. I guess that’s how Torn PDA was born.
Being the computer programming hobbyist I am, I decided to release it publicly hoping that I would be able to find a group of collaborators that would help in the development and bring new ideas with them. Although this has not happened yet, I did manage to get plenty of feedback and good suggestions from many players through the forums and internally from our group of beta testers. Together with the integrations with other tools, this is what made it possible for Torn PDA to have its current features.
Who Should Download Torn PDA?
No matter your playstyle, there is probably something Torn PDA can help you with. The app is packed with many options and details, so it can sometimes become confusing. To remedy this, a few months ago, we implemented a tips section to explain a few of the main concepts (e.g., manual vs automatic notifications or quick vs full browser).
The app is obviously the perfect companion for players that like to play from their mobile devices, but I know plenty of players who use it in conjunction with their desktop computers. Many desktop users like to substitute Torn PDA in to use it for certain tasks, such as traveling, chaining, or even taking a quick glance at your player status.
What is The Future of Torn PDA?
This depends entirely on its users and the feedback and requests we get from them. We have a good bunch of people in our Discord server helping with this, to whom I’m very grateful. The help and recognition I've received from Torn developers has also been key to the app’s success.
I would like to continue adding new features, but being the only developer, I have to divide my time between enhancing stability and adding new functionalities. In this regard, I sincerely hope that sooner or later we can get a group of developers interested in helping with the development, as it would improve the results exponentially. Torn PDA will continue to be open-source, so there is no reason not to contribute!
If you require any extra information, please make sure to leave a message in the Torn PDA forum thread, or visit our Discord server. Also, don’t hesitate to send me a PM if you need any other details!
Download Torn PDA for Android
Download Torn PDA for iOS
What Is Torn PDA?
Torn PDA is a mobile phone application, available for Android and iOS, which aims to make it easier for players to access key game data and sections as efficiently as possible. With Torn's official iOS app having been
What Does Torn PDA Do?
Torn PDA gives you easy access to most of your basic information, such as your energy, private messages, recent events, or even the status of a chain. All of this data can be reviewed on Torn PDA without accessing the Torn website at all. This app also provides many direct, predefined, and customizable shortcuts to any place in Torn, significantly reducing the time and taps required to perform most actions. Together with a clean and easy-to-navigate mobile interface, this greatly enhances user experience and saves time.
Is Torn PDA Cross-App Compatible?
Torn PDA integrates key functionalities from several partners, such as YATA, Torn Attack Central, Nuke, Universal Health Care, and Torn Trader. This cross-app functionality enables you to do many different things, including viewing foreign stocks, managing and syncing your awards and chaining targets with YATA, obtaining a list of curated targets from TAC, calling for a revive without leaving the app, and trading with other users with your own price list.
On top of that, Torn PDA app gives players access to desktop functionality without having to install a mobile browser extension - something that is difficult to do on certain devices. This means that PDA users can enjoy features such as quick crimes, quick items, a trade calculator, and an option to hide chats, which often take a lot of extra space on mobile. These features were highly acclaimed and initially developed within other tools, such as DocTorn, or TornTools.
What are Torn PDA's Key Features?
When it comes to internal features, I’m pretty fond of the Chaining section, which allows players to create a target list. This list can be imported or synced with YATA’s and makes chaining even simpler and quicker than on PC. The recent addition of Torn Attack Central also allows players to find curated targets effortlessly, which you can then attack in a row or add to your list.
The Travel section is another popular one, syncing with YATA’s foreign stocks database and showing all kinds of details to help in choosing the right destination. I recently added restock information, notifications, and travel time suggestions.
A highly acclaimed feature that I added in v2.3.0 was userscripts, which allows players to add their own scripts to the browser. It comes with a few examples, like a bazaar filler, which fills in the quantity and price of every item automatically. Although pre-existing scripts (like the ones written for GreaseMonkey) might need to be adapted, I’ve already seen some very good ideas.
Automatic notifications are another useful tool, as you can set them for almost any event. In Torn PDA, when it comes to the activation method there are two types of notifications; manual and automatic, each with its own pros and cons. In Android, you can even set alarms and timers to ensure that you won’t miss anything.
Shortcuts and quick navigation also play a key role in the app. Instead of using a browser with many tabs, you can open a quick browser to anywhere in Torn with a single tap in less than a second. The app comes with more than a hundred shortcuts, but new ones can be added effortlessly. As I mentioned earlier, external partners are a very important part of Torn PDA and I keep getting requests for more integrations. In the case of YATA, even if it takes a while, the idea is to continue integrating the most used sections.
The full feature list for Torn PDA can be found in the forums via this link, or in the official Android and iOS stores.
How Can I Trust Torn PDA?
Here is a comment from Torn's Community Manager, bogie, that explains what kind of data Torn PDA has access to, and why they have decided to back my project.
"Myself and Chedburn have been thoroughly impressed with Manuito's creation of Torn PDA. What began as a conversation between him and I about seeking permission to create an alternative for the iOS app (that Torn has since abandoned), has since turned into a fantastic project that has since come to Android as well."
"Since he was not the official creator of Torn he needed our blessing for copyright reasons (More Apple hoops to jump through!!). We have been working closely with Manuito throughout this project, and whilst the app is entirely his own creation and developed by him, we are happy to help where we can. API delays and restrictions have proven to be the main challenges to overcome, but we hope that we can continue to provide solutions that ensure this app's continued growth."
"The app is used by thousands of players across Torn at this stage, using servers that Torn also provide the financial support for in order to further assist Manuito to bring this project to life. The app itself only requires your API key, so it doesn't have access to your login information. You can see all the things it will have access to here, but in terms of account security, there is no risk to your Torn account - of course with any application you should only install ones you trust, but we at Torn currently trust Torn PDA." - bogie, Torn Community Manager
Why Did I Make Torn PDA?
I started developing Torn PDA at the end of 2019. I had been playing Torn on and off for a year since due to work and family reasons I could not spend much time sitting at the computer. At some point, I started playing on my mobile phone and found myself traveling all day for flowers or plushies. I also started getting mugged a lot, so I would set up an alarm on my mobile phone to remind me when I was about to land, but it was a bit of a hassle.
That is when I decided to develop a very small application for personal use, an app that would get information from the API and automatically alert me about landing times, energy usage, etc. There was no polished UI or anything like that, just a few buttons and a very simple browser that would get the job done. After a while, I showed the application to a few of my faction mates, and they really liked the concept. I guess that’s how Torn PDA was born.
Being the computer programming hobbyist I am, I decided to release it publicly hoping that I would be able to find a group of collaborators that would help in the development and bring new ideas with them. Although this has not happened yet, I did manage to get plenty of feedback and good suggestions from many players through the forums and internally from our group of beta testers. Together with the integrations with other tools, this is what made it possible for Torn PDA to have its current features.
Who Should Download Torn PDA?
No matter your playstyle, there is probably something Torn PDA can help you with. The app is packed with many options and details, so it can sometimes become confusing. To remedy this, a few months ago, we implemented a tips section to explain a few of the main concepts (e.g., manual vs automatic notifications or quick vs full browser).
The app is obviously the perfect companion for players that like to play from their mobile devices, but I know plenty of players who use it in conjunction with their desktop computers. Many desktop users like to substitute Torn PDA in to use it for certain tasks, such as traveling, chaining, or even taking a quick glance at your player status.
What is The Future of Torn PDA?
This depends entirely on its users and the feedback and requests we get from them. We have a good bunch of people in our Discord server helping with this, to whom I’m very grateful. The help and recognition I've received from Torn developers has also been key to the app’s success.
I would like to continue adding new features, but being the only developer, I have to divide my time between enhancing stability and adding new functionalities. In this regard, I sincerely hope that sooner or later we can get a group of developers interested in helping with the development, as it would improve the results exponentially. Torn PDA will continue to be open-source, so there is no reason not to contribute!
If you require any extra information, please make sure to leave a message in the Torn PDA forum thread, or visit our Discord server. Also, don’t hesitate to send me a PM if you need any other details!
Download Torn PDA for Android
Download Torn PDA for iOS
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