Get app or wait for 1.2?

Stuart Wright

Well-known member
I've read somewhere that there might be mobile compatibility in 1.2. Which I assume means automatically using a lean style.
The advantage of a mobile style is the continuation of any unique functionality you might have added.
However, the advantage of an app is notifications.
Am I correct about 1.2? I couldn't find a list of expected features.
And would you bother with an app or not? Or have both?
 
Considering far too many game the SEO scene these days, there's really far too much emphasis placed on SEO. Get a good design, decent layout, and let the crawlers do the rest. Don't fret over SEO.
You forgot good content :p.

A lot of forums just have noise.
 
Arty has a responsive design that I think is really good and it works perfectly on both mobile and tablets. Its worth every penny and adapts to your style.

I have decided to use the responsive design for now, but I might invest in a branded tapatalk app for ios and android at some point. The only benefit I think you get from an app over the responsive design is that you get push notifications and an app icon placed on users mobile phones, which both could help in getting users back to your forum more often.
 
Arty has a responsive design that I think is really good and it works perfectly on both mobile and tablets. Its worth every penny and adapts to your style.

I have decided to use the responsive design for now, but I might invest in a branded tapatalk app for ios and android at some point. The only benefit I think you get from an app over the responsive design is that you get push notifications and an app icon placed on users mobile phones, which both could help in getting users back to your forum more often.
I can vouch for Arty's responsive design, too. It worked great with my custom style.
 
This is an interesting quandary I have now because to get my own Tapatalk app, I will have to buy a Mac. I was about to lamp out £580 on a Mac mini. No point in buying an older used product as we'd then use the Mac for the kids to use and also for video editing.
So do I spend £580 plus the monthly cost of the app for the sake of the icon on peoples' phones plus notifications (both of which I suspect are effective traffic drivers) or do I go with the adaptive design for just £30 all done?
Hmmmm
 
This is an interesting quandary I have now because to get my own Tapatalk app, I will have to buy a Mac. I was about to lamp out £580 on a Mac mini. No point in buying an older used product as we'd then use the Mac for the kids to use and also for video editing.
So do I spend £580 plus the monthly cost of the app for the sake of the icon on peoples' phones plus notifications (both of which I suspect are effective traffic drivers) or do I go with the adaptive design for just £30 all done?
Hmmmm
For the record, I turn most push notifications off on my phone. Can't stand them.
 
Only notification I keep up for Tapatalk is for private conversations, everything else is disabled.

I also barely use my phone to read forums :p.
I use my phone to look up stuff and view my own forum. If I happen across a forum that has the information I need and it has a design that works well on my phone, great. If I want to be notified about something from a site, I'll likely have it sent to my email. Unless I regularly browse the site, in which case, I don't need a notification. Simple as that. Notifications are overrated.
 
The only real advantage the app has is uploading images from your iphone. I think the new imgur add on takes care of this if you have a responsive design... Also you can sell apps, which could be great if you have a large forum base...
 

For some reason, I'm reminded discussions I participated in about 10, almost 15 years ago. We had a lively listserv group with about 6-700 regulars, a few hundred new posts/day, etc. Years and years of archived emails, etc. Somebody started up a vB1 site with a similar subject matter. Furious arguments ensued about the future of the listserv group. One group wanted a forum site where we could post photos alongside our messages. Others preferred the low-bandwidth text-only requirements of the listserv. In the end, a group splintered off, bought their own URL, and within a year, maybe two, the listserv was essentially dead. A few years after that, it was quietly shut down.

The forum was later sold to one of the big corp aggregators for a hefty sum. Last I checked, it had millions and millions of posts, despite a big falling out (and second splinter group) around 2005ish.

PCs are dead.

Our most active users are posting from their phones. Nearly all of the useability complaints we get are actually Tapatalk complaints.

We let anybody upload photos to a thread, but if you read the classified ad forums, lots and lots of ads just say "text me for photos".

The younger folks don't even understand why (or how) they would want to upload images to the site. They just put them on Facebook or Photobucket (using the app on their phone) and post a link.

It's the way things are going, like it or not.
 
I use my phone to look up stuff and view my own forum. If I happen across a forum that has the information I need and it has a design that works well on my phone, great. If I want to be notified about something from a site, I'll likely have it sent to my email. Unless I regularly browse the site, in which case, I don't need a notification. Simple as that. Notifications are overrated.
When I'm away from computer I try to avoid anything relating to work stuff :p.
 
Hmm i might buy the responsive design but i'm torn on the fence too between that or just waiting for 1.2... :P
 
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