Tap A Talk

[Slevin]

I would like to suggest that if possible that the moderators consider implementing the Tap a Talk API to allow easy access for those of us who would like easy, properly formatted access to the forms while on the go and using our mobile devices be it an iPhone, iPad or Android OS. I've used the TapaTalk app for my device for a few other websites and it works great. I'm not a developer and I don't know how much work would entail but it doesn't hurt to take a look and see if it is possible.

Thank you

[Joe ST he/him]

indeed, it seems there is a tapatalk plugin of some kind, and from all the people I've known that use it, they all say its a good way of doing things...

[Chaos he/him]

We may do that. In the meantime, our mobile skin is very good (and free, but you already have Tapatalk ), and in upgrading to IPB 3.2, the mobile skin gets much better.

[KChan she/her]

I looked into tapatalk - are you the one who tweeted us, by any chance? - and I'm not sure what the advantage would be. It would be convenient for people who already have the app, I suppose, but IPB has a great mobile skin that's really easy to navigate. Plus, you don't have to pay $3 to use it.

Plus, let's not forget that IPB has a free app for the iPhone, with an Android version in development.

[Slevin]

I'm not the one that tweeted you, that must be a different user. And while mobile skins are great and way better than some sites that have no support, I prefer to have everything located in one spot. In this case I like to have all the forums I visit in one spot which is why I really like the Tap a Talk app. I looked at the IPB app and I didn't even bother to download it because the amount of one and two star ratings combined border on 70%.

Thank you for looking into this

[Roninj]

I'm bumping this because I'd like to see it too. The tapatalk app is a really great way to view and respond to many different forums, and it really makes it much easier if you are able to look into all your forums in one place. Also, the ipb app really is terrible. It's more like a web app and it has ads.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Roninj

[Havoc]

Can I chime in against any tapatalk integration?

 

As someone who doesn't want to pay for a forum app, I'm quite annoyed how tapatalk infects any forum it's set up on, and really ruins mobile access unless you pay for the app.

 

I really like the mobile version of the current skin, and don't think any changes are needed.

[Olorin he/him]

I'm just a newbie here by I'd like to throw my support in for this suggestion. It would be great for those of us, as I am, that are stuck to mobile internet for a while.

IPB app is not available throughout the world, in fact is limited to a few nation's app stores only.

The mobile skin is good, and I'm not saying to replace it with Tapatalk. However, Tapatalk 1 is good, stable and now free (on iPhone at least), so it would be nice to have the option to use it

Plus, it's nice to have all your forums in the same place and not having to open three different apps on your phone to check it.

Thanks for considering it!

[Roninj]

Yeah, at least on iphone tapatalk is free, and I doubt adding the plugin would get rid of the great mobile experience that users all appreciate (at least I do), and that the site developerss appear to have spent a lot of time creating. Hopefully it would be an adjunct.

Edited: for mobile phone typos.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Roninj

[Chaos he/him]

I would recommend against using an IPB app and use the mobile site.

The current mobile site is not great, but it is functional. In future versions of the site (and IPB), it will be easier to skin the mobile site to look great and also be functional.

For the people who are looking for an app... can I ask why? It frankly astonishes me how many people don't like using the browser on their phone. My brother, an even more gigantic tech nerd than me, said he literally never browses on his phone--he's always in an app. Why is this XD Can someone explain it to me?

I'm basically against any sort of plugin that I can't directly control the experience of, and Tapatalk is antithetical to that. Maybe you'll get a 17th Shard app someday, but maybe not. By targeting the web, we can build for all platforms with a minimum amount of effort. Not that we don't want to spend effort--we do--but we're an ultimately small operation and coding for one spec, rather than a bunch of different platforms, is much more sustainable for a volunteer effort such as this.

[Swimmingly he/him]

If I ever need the full version features, I can just switch over and do whatever I need to anyway. Though I wonder if viewing rep, titles, and sigs could be introduced as a toggleable thing for the mobile?

[Chaos he/him]

In the next version of IPB, I am told that there will not be a separate mobile "skin" per se, and instead the software will be designed to be scaleable across many screen sizes. They have said that all features will work on all versions now. (I am especially excited for a way to access the administrator control panel on mobile.) So yes, it should be there, though I don't know specifics.

This is partly the reason why we haven't spent dev time on the mobile skin, because it's going to change with IPB 4.0, which looks like it will be a drastic change in many ways.

[Swimmingly he/him]

There will be bugs, Chaos. There will always be bugs.

[Bremen]

For the people who are looking for an app... can I ask why? It frankly astonishes me how many people don't like using the browser on their phone. My brother, an even more gigantic tech nerd than me, said he literally never browses on his phone--he's always in an app. Why is this XD Can someone explain it to me?

Because most of the time it is much easier to navigate than a webpage and it loads much faster than a webpage.

 

17th Shard is pretty good on those fronts.  Although I am kinda curious how much more data it transfers over a similar tapatalk operation.

 

The only real advantage tapatalk would offer me would be integration with other forums I visit and a dark theme, which helps A LOT with eyestrain.

[Chaos he/him]

Because most of the time it is much easier to navigate than a webpage and it loads much faster than a webpage.

 

17th Shard is pretty good on those fronts.  Although I am kinda curious how much more data it transfers over a similar tapatalk operation.

 

The only real advantage tapatalk would offer me would be integration with other forums I visit and a dark theme, which helps A LOT with eyestrain.

Thanks for explaining. The new mobile version will be better.

I'm sorry there won't be a dark theme, though (more skins means more work, again). Tapatalk integration won't be a thing due to the popups telling people to get it.

[Young Bard he/him]

Chaos, did you see this about the IPB Lisences?

 

https://theadminzone.com/threads/invision-power-is-killing-all-perpetual-licenses.116067/

 

I hope you your contract with IPB wasn't the 'perpetual' kind, because apparently 'perpetual' mean now means 'for as long as we can be bothered'. Personally, I'm not even sure if it's legal to go back on the contractual obligation they made. It really gets up my nerves that a company would do that.

 

I'm just putting this up in case the admin didn't notice it.

[Chaos he/him]

It's not an issue for us. Thank you, though.