Will there be Tapatalk support?

[BirdOPrey5]

Just wondering if you guys are working with Tapatalk to have support from the launch? I ask because AVF forums seem to always be advertised with Tapatalk and I'm wondering if they'd really give that up to move to XenForo or if they will be working from the get-go.

 

[Been Told]

Can you elaborate on that, technically ?

Well, Tapatalk is developed by people I have no connection to or knowledge of. It's a separate entity. And even if I knew them, it would still be a separate entity.
What is the benefit of deploying that separate entity? I see no benefit from it that I don't get from a mobile skin.

Your members may have it already for use on another forum, one never knows. I like to offer the choice and put the power in my users hands.

Well, what your users definitely use on other forums is their device's browser. If in order for your users to experience your forum in a way that is suited well to their device they have to download and install a new application, you are not doing them any favors.
Quite the contrary. How will your users typically find out about your forum?
On the internet. By e-mail, on twitter, on Google, etc. Usually with a link to your forum. Then they go to your forum and get this message, that in order to have a good experience, they should install an app.
That's not a good start. Then they go to their AppStore and find out that with the free option they can only READ, but not write anything. That's another downside.
Why should I expect my members to pay money to write messages? And if I DO expect them to pay money to write messages: why do they pay it to Tapatalk and not to me? Know what I mean?

With a mobile skin, you can have that same little message, saying you have a forum style just for forums. They click ok and enjoy your forum. No need to install anything and certainly no need to pay anything. It's instantaneous. And that is very, very important, in my opinion. You loose registrations by asking people to download/install software.
That is why new technologies that require plugins have such a hard time establishing themselves.

Yes, HTML5 and tapatalk can coexist, there is not any: one must one or the other.

But with a mobile skin, why would you offer your visitors Tapatalk? What is the benefit? There is nothing in Tapatalk that they don't get with a mobile skin.

My forums are listed in Tapatalk - but I would never advertise that to users who come to my forum using their mobile device. Because I've found that it puts people off. It certainly puts me off.

The $2.99 cost of Tapatalk is damn near nominal and I prefer that over me paying $100+ as an admin- why pay for users who don't even have a compatible device let alone don't care about using it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the devices that support Tapatalk have html5 capable browsers right? In fact, scrap the html5 stuff. There are existing solutions for vBulletin (for example) that offer you the capability of a mobile skin. No extra software needed.

They make a good product and deserve to get paid- I'm surprised so many here are anti-tapatalk citing costs when so many we quick to back up the XenForo team when someone asked if it could be free/open source... The bottom line is you usually get a better product when you pay for it, and if you have problems their are people's who's job it is to help you.

I've paid the money to use the full version - just to see what the hype was about back when they first launched. And I don't have a problem with ME paying money for my forum. I do have a problem with my visitors paying money to use all of my forums features (and that money not going to me). Especially when they don't have to.
And I agree... You get what you pay for and commercial solutions are usually better. So why not use the mobile skin that Kier and Mike will be making for xenForo? After all, to use it, you have to pay for it. It will be supported very well, just like the rest of the software will be.
And it's all out of one hand so to speak. AND your users don't have to pay extra for it. AND they will probably be able to switch back and forth between the mobile skin and the normal one (in case they prefer the normal browsing or whatever). What could be better?

I doubt any mobile skin would be able to replace Tapatalk but it would still be a good idea for one.

If you have an iphone, check out your Youtube app.
Then go to m.youtube.com with your iPhone's browser and see the difference. Youtube's mobile page offers you all the features of Youtube - the app doesn't.
It's fast, it's easy, it's intuitive. It makes sense. And people don't need to install anything.
It's simplicity, it's ease of use.

That is what I want to give my forum users and that is why I pay good money for the best forum software.

 

[TheLaw]

Its pathetic to get your members to pay to view/post on your site. Its a death wish nowadays.

You're missing the point of Tapatalk. Buying it once for $3 gets you Tapatalk access to thousands of Tapatalk enabled forums. Of all the garbage available in the App store, I'd say Tapatalk is one of the highest value. I use it for several sites.

 

[Been Told]

You're missing the point of Tapatalk. Buying it once for $3 gets you Tapatalk access to thousands of Tapatalk enabled forums. Of all the garbage available in the App store, I'd say Tapatalk is one of the highest value. I use it for several sites.

Interesting way to put it.
Seriously though... Before this discussion I have never seen/met anyone (online or offline) who uses Tapatalk for browsing forums.

 

[TheLaw]

Interesting way to put it.
Seriously though... Before this discussion I have never seen/met anyone (online or offline) who uses Tapatalk for browsing forums.

I've never seen or met anyone who uses Tapatalk either... But I've seen their screen names and the posts which sometimes are branded with Tapatalk's signature (by choice) in my forum. I didn't know what it was either until someone pointed it out to me and I loved it. It was so nice to have a similar, familiar way to access some of my favorite forums without having to learn a new mobile interface too. Pretty sweet... I'd say you should give the free version a try.

 

[Brandon_R]

I would hate to have the user's that visit my free forum pay to view it on their phones.

 

[Been Told]

I've never seen or met anyone who uses Tapatalk either... But I've seen their screen names and the posts which sometimes are branded with Tapatalk's signature (by choice) in my forum. I didn't know what it was either until someone pointed it out to me and I loved it. It was so nice to have a similar, familiar way to access some of my favorite forums without having to learn a new mobile interface too. Pretty sweet... I'd say you should give the free version a try.

As I said before, I have the full version for $2.99. I even have my forums listed there - in case someone actually wants to use my forum on that.
But I don't advertise it the way I see some people do. When I go to their forum and get the message about Tapatalk. That kind of thing annoys me.

 

[gordy]

Well, what your users definitely use on other forums is their device's browser. If in order for your users to experience your forum in a way that is suited well to their device they have to download and install a new application, you are not doing them any favors.
Quite the contrary. How will your users typically find out about your forum?
On the internet. By e-mail, on twitter, on Google, etc. Usually with a link to your forum. Then they go to your forum and get this message, that in order to have a good experience, they should install an app.
That's not a good start. Then they go to their AppStore and find out that with the free option they can only READ, but not write anything. That's another downside.
Why should I expect my members to pay money to write messages? And if I DO expect them to pay money to write messages: why do they pay it to Tapatalk and not to me? Know what I mean?

It doesn't work that way, surfing the web and landing on a TT enabled forum doesn't spawn the TT app. (at least not on Android)
Furthermore, on my sites that are TT enabled, people don't get a landing page when hitting my site (with a mobile phone), it's completely transparent, they do not know it is even there.

You have to add a TT enabled forum to your app.

The TT UI is suited for larger buttons and pull downs that facilitate easy and quick navigation, completely abstracted from the skin/theme.

My membership enjoys the content, I feel no way compelled to coerce them into a skin.

Again, the point is choice for my members.

 

[Jason]

What is there to support? Tapatalk supports certain forum software, not the other way around.

We briefly used it on one of our forums, but found our users far prefer our mobile skin. Some have even expressed interests in us rolling out our own iPhone and Android apps, which we intend on doing within the next month.

 

[gordy]

I would hate to have the user's that visit my free forum pay to view it on their phones.

Where did you see that? It's been said numerous times that the TT read-only is free, to post or moderate is $2.99

 

[motowebmaster]

I like Tapatalk, but learned that practically any amount of money just to post on a site is a turnoff for most users. IPB's implementation of a mobile skin, that automatically appears based on user-agent, is an example of a better approach. Even then, IPB offers an iPhone app that is free.

I've tested my IPB site on Droid devices as well, with great results on all but the oldest models. Looking forward to testing it on the Blackberry Torch soon.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

There was a lot of misinformation, or at least misunderstanding in that large post...

First I still have and will continue to have a mobile style available. Tapatalk doesn't interfere with this in any way.

I didn't see Tapatalk advertised and say, hey this is a good way to suck money out of my members... I was asked to install it by someone who used it with another forum and loved it... I didn't even have a device supported b y Tapatalk but I installed it anyway and dozens of my users loved it... many bought it specifically to use my forum but others had it already. I think maybe 3 or 4 people 'worried' about the money and actually were able to install it for free when Tapatalk released a list of free redemption codes for the apple app store on a first come first serve basis.

If you haven't used Tapatalk it's hard to explain why it's vastly superior to a mobile skin but it is... maybe if there was a mobile skin that looked and acted similar but there just isn't and I doubt there ever could be, html5 or not.

In the end my dozens of happy members speak for themselves... there are zero complaints about it except for the occasional bug, Tapatalk is continually getting new features and I'm sure in time it will be fully compatible with all forum features. I finally got around to installing it on my sister's ipod touch the other day and was very impressed- it's the only way I could seriously browse a forum on a mobile device.

There's no reason not to use it- if someone has philosophical problems with paying $3 to a company that put in a lot of hard work to devlop something they can use the mobile skin and never ever see or care about tapatalk... but for everyone else it's very useful.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

And you guys realize it's a one time fee of $2.99, not $2.99 a month...

 

[Jason]

The fee doesn't bother me. If people like the app and want to buy it, good for them.

In my experience, our users have preferred our mobile skin. We can roll out updates and new features far more quickly. By not using Tapatalk, it's one less thing for us to worry about -- especially since we didn't develop it. We haven't received one complaint since removing it. But yes, some users do prefer the app approach, so I'm currently working on both a free iPhone and Android app for them (the two platforms most used by our mobile users). If anything, for us, it's more about having control.

 

[Forsaken]

If you don't want your users to pay for Tapatalk, they may be able to provide you with a custom branded version of their apps for a reasonable price which you can provide to your users for free. It's really your call. Personally, I find the Tapatalk system truly optimized for the iPhone and Android as opposed to a good mobile skin which is excellent but not in the same league.

If you like Tapatalk, thats great. I have no interest in it, and a lot of people find having to charge members for the service kind of a turn off.

Also, a -good- mobile skin has yet to be developed; it would really have to be created for the software from the ground up, and not just a stripped down version of a style.

Well, Tapatalk is developed by people I have no connection to or knowledge of. It's a separate entity. And even if I knew them, it would still be a separate entity.

What is the benefit of deploying that separate entity? I see no benefit from it that I don't get from a mobile skin.

Well, what your users definitely use on other forums is their device's browser. If in order for your users to experience your forum in a way that is suited well to their device they have to download and install a new application, you are not doing them any favors.

Quite the contrary. How will your users typically find out about your forum?

On the internet. By e-mail, on twitter, on Google, etc. Usually with a link to your forum. Then they go to your forum and get this message, that in order to have a good experience, they should install an app.

That's not a good start. Then they go to their AppStore and find out that with the free option they can only READ, but not write anything. That's another downside.

Why should I expect my members to pay money to write messages? And if I DO expect them to pay money to write messages: why do they pay it to Tapatalk and not to me? Know what I mean?

With a mobile skin, you can have that same little message, saying you have a forum style just for forums. They click ok and enjoy your forum. No need to install anything and certainly no need to pay anything. It's instantaneous. And that is very, very important, in my opinion. You loose registrations by asking people to download/install software.

That is why new technologies that require plugins have such a hard time establishing themselves.

But with a mobile skin, why would you offer your visitors Tapatalk? What is the benefit? There is nothing in Tapatalk that they don't get with a mobile skin.

My forums are listed in Tapatalk - but I would never advertise that to users who come to my forum using their mobile device. Because I've found that it puts people off. It certainly puts me off.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the devices that support Tapatalk have html5 capable browsers right? In fact, scrap the html5 stuff. There are existing solutions for vBulletin (for example) that offer you the capability of a mobile skin. No extra software needed.

I've paid the money to use the full version - just to see what the hype was about back when they first launched. And I don't have a problem with ME paying money for my forum. I do have a problem with my visitors paying money to use all of my forums features (and that money not going to me). Especially when they don't have to.

And I agree... You get what you pay for and commercial solutions are usually better. So why not use the mobile skin that Kier and Mike will be making for xenForo? After all, to use it, you have to pay for it. It will be supported very well, just like the rest of the software will be.

And it's all out of one hand so to speak. AND your users don't have to pay extra for it. AND they will probably be able to switch back and forth between the mobile skin and the normal one (in case they prefer the normal browsing or whatever). What could be better?

If you have an iphone, check out your Youtube app.

Then go to m.youtube.com with your iPhone's browser and see the difference. Youtube's mobile page offers you all the features of Youtube - the app doesn't.

It's fast, it's easy, it's intuitive. It makes sense. And people don't need to install anything.

It's simplicity, it's ease of use.

That is what I want to give my forum users and that is why I pay good money for the best forum software.

My feelings exactly.

You're missing the point of Tapatalk. Buying it once for $3 gets you Tapatalk access to thousands of Tapatalk enabled forums. Of all the garbage available in the App store, I'd say Tapatalk is one of the highest value. I use it for several sites.

I know one person who has Tapatalk; My ex girlfriend who bought it to test it on her iPhone for this old community I ran. After trying it out, disliking it, she has never used it again.

Only person I have ever seen to use Tapatalk.

As I said before, I have the full version for $2.99. I even have my forums listed there - in case someone actually wants to use my forum on that.

But I don't advertise it the way I see some people do. When I go to their forum and get the message about Tapatalk. That kind of thing annoys me.

I've had that happen a few times and it seriously bugs me.

A forum shouldn't require an application to use it on a mobile phone.

It doesn't work that way, surfing the web and landing on a TT enabled forum doesn't spawn the TT app. (at least not on Android)

Furthermore, on my sites that are TT enabled, people don't get a landing page when hitting my site (with a mobile phone), it's completely transparent, they do not know it is even there.

You have to add a TT enabled forum to your app.

The TT UI is suited for larger buttons and pull downs that facilitate easy and quick navigation, completely abstracted from the skin/theme.

My membership enjoys the content, I feel no way compelled to coerce them into a skin.

Again, the point is choice for my members.

The thing is, which would you honestly prefer... Tapatalk, which your members would have to pay for if they do not already have it (Or pay for if they ever change phones ie Android to iPhone), or a full featured mobile skin created to offer all the features of XF out of the box?

Tapatalk might offer posting and such, but would it offer alerts? Would it offer the follow feature? Would it offer many of the things that this forum system offers? All of that is possible with HTML5 (You get alot of the features without a mobile skin, a mobile skin would just optimize the experience for mobile users).

I like Tapatalk, but learned that practically any amount of money just to post on a site is a turnoff for most users. IPB's implementation of a mobile skin, that automatically appears based on user-agent, is an example of a better approach. Even then, IPB offers an iPhone app that is free.

I've tested my IPB site on Droid devices as well, with great results on all but the oldest models. Looking forward to testing it on the Blackberry Torch soon.

You're going to be disappointed in the Torch... I have a friend that was given one to review, and its just subpar compared to many of the phones that have been released recently.

There was a lot of misinformation, or at least misunderstanding in that large post...

First I still have and will continue to have a mobile style available. Tapatalk doesn't interfere with this in any way.

I didn't see Tapatalk advertised and say, hey this is a good way to suck money out of my members... I was asked to install it by someone who used it with another forum and loved it... I didn't even have a device supported b y Tapatalk but I installed it anyway and dozens of my users loved it... many bought it specifically to use my forum but others had it already. I think maybe 3 or 4 people 'worried' about the money and actually were able to install it for free when Tapatalk released a list of free redemption codes for the apple app store on a first come first serve basis.

If you haven't used Tapatalk it's hard to explain why it's vastly superior to a mobile skin but it is... maybe if there was a mobile skin that looked and acted similar but there just isn't and I doubt there ever could be, html5 or not.

In the end my dozens of happy members speak for themselves... there are zero complaints about it except for the occasional bug, Tapatalk is continually getting new features and I'm sure in time it will be fully compatible with all forum features. I finally got around to installing it on my sister's ipod touch the other day and was very impressed- it's the only way I could seriously browse a forum on a mobile device.

There's no reason not to use it- if someone has philosophical problems with paying $3 to a company that put in a lot of hard work to devlop something they can use the mobile skin and never ever see or care about tapatalk... but for everyone else it's very useful.

Never implied you thought it was a way to suck money out of your users, and its great that many of your users had it, or were willing to get it; mine weren't (I ran a poll for about two weeks, and none of the members had an interest in it, and were fine with a mobile style).

I really don't have much more to say in this topic, as its just us vs you or however you want to put it, and we obviously have conflicting opinions. I have no interest in Tapatalk, and it'll be great if its offered (For the communities that use it), but I'd honestly prefer Kier do a full featured mobile skin optimized for mobile browsing.

 

[gordy]

A forum shouldn't require an application to use it on a mobile phone.

It doesn't.

I really don't have much more to say in this topic, as its just us vs you or however you want to put it, and we obviously have conflicting opinions. I have no interest in Tapatalk, and it'll be great if its offered (For the communities that use it), but I'd honestly prefer Kier do a full featured mobile skin optimized for mobile browsing.

XF devs won't have to lift a finger to have it work.

 

[Onimua]

What is there to support? Tapatalk supports certain forum software, not the other way around.

We briefly used it on one of our forums, but found our users far prefer our mobile skin. Some have even expressed interests in us rolling out our own iPhone and Android apps, which we intend on doing within the next month.

That's what I thought Tapatalk did.

XF has a plugin system, so I guess it's possible for Tapatalk to support it in the future. What more is there to talk about here in terms of supporting it.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

I also would like a mobile skin, I'm in no way saying Tapatalk should be a replacement for a mobile skin, for one Tapatalk isn't available on Palm Web OS or Windows Mobile and probably never will be, so a mobile style is still a must... actually there probably should be 2 mobile styles- one optimized for larger screen devices like iPhones and one for more traditional smaller screens.

The original intent of this post was just to get an official answer if their was any parallel development going on to have Tapatalk available at launch... I'm sure if XF proves to be popular, which it obviously will, Tapatalk will support it as soon as they can develop it.

 

[Been Told]

I also would like a mobile skin, I'm in no way saying Tapatalk should be a replacement for a mobile skin, for one Tapatalk isn't available on Palm Web OS or Windows Mobile and probably never will be, so a mobile style is still a must... actually there probably should be 2 mobile styles- one optimized for larger screen devices like iPhones and one for more traditional smaller screens.

The original intent of this post was just to get an official answer if their was any parallel development going on to have Tapatalk available at launch... I'm sure if XF proves to be popular, which it obviously will, Tapatalk will support it as soon as they can develop it.

AFAIK Tapatalk's ability to interact with vBulletin and phpBB forums (and possibly others?) is not because those forum vendors made adjustments, but because Tapatalk's devs were able to use the plugin system (or probably source file edits in phpBB). So I think as long as xF will have a Plugin/API system (which I'm 100% sure it will, considering the background of Kier and Mike), there's no reason why Tapatalk shouldn't be able to support xF forums.

 

[BirdOPrey5]

Actually Tapatalk for VB doesn't use plugins at all- no product or plugins to install... but in any case I agree they will eventually release it for XF.

 

[0ptima]

I would like to have a mobile skin