Let's talk about Tapatalk

[gerryvz]

I have no idea why people use Tapatalk to begin with. I think it's a horrible app that takes away so many of the native forum functionalities.

Like was said, most people (especially mobile device users) these days are lazy and just want a single use app for everything. Banking? Use the app. News? Use the News app. LinkedIn? Use the LinkedIn app. and so it is with Crapatalk.

XF is indeed somewhat of a rarity in that it is well designed for mobile devices from the ground up and the get-go, and IMHO actually provides a better experience than a focused app does. A lot of sites that have their own apps, just rely on those apps and neglect their browser based sites, unless you're on a desktop.

Users are lazy, but they will adapt. In the case of Crapatalk vs. XF, once folks get used to the XF site you won't hear a peep about Crapatalk anymore. Not to mention that it often crashed and was not a well made app to begin with. Never was.

Only thing you lose with XF on an ios (Apple) device is push notifications (you can get them on a desktop browser). But this is very definitely an Apple issue, not a XF issue. XF has the capability to do mobile browser push, but Apple won't accommodate it.

 

[Max Taxable]

I looked at it and I was only making maybe $5 per month off Tapatalk, which is absolutely pointless.

TT was probably making a lot more than that off you, serving its adverts to your members!

 

[m1ne]

I think this is about all I needed to hear. I'm just going to remove it today and tell my members to get used to the mobile site.

Hopefully they know the exact URL. If they found your forum through Tapatalk, all they know is that it's "Jeep Wranglet TJ Forum", the URL is never exposed on Tapatalk.
Also, you should consider converting your PWA to an APK and publishing it on Google Play. It's a small fee for a developer licence but worth it.
This service does the conversion for free -> https://appmaker.xyz/pwa-to-apk/

 

[Max Taxable]

Hopefully they know the exact URL. If they found your forum through Tapatalk, all they know is that it's "Jeep Wranglet TJ Forum", the URL is never exposed on Tapatalk.

Yep he will lose most of his TT users exactly this way. Seldom is the app-junkie who can find his way to the site, without the crutch the app represents.

 

[djbaxter]

Mass email or PM the members.

 

[PumpinIron]

TT was probably making a lot more than that off you, serving its adverts to your members!

I don't doubt it!

Only thing you lose with XF on an ios (Apple) device is push notifications (you can get them on a desktop browser). But this is very definitely an Apple issue, not a XF issue. XF has the capability to do mobile browser push, but Apple won't accommodate it.

I agree. I long for the Apple push notifications, but as you mentioned, that's an Apple issue, not XF.

I would say that's probably the only missing piece of the puzzle here. I hope Apple eventually allows it, but knowing how Apple is, I doubt they will.

Mass email or PM the members.

Good idea!

 

[Mr. Jinx]

This service does the conversion for free -> https://appmaker.xyz/pwa-to-apk/

Nice! And to turn your site into a Progresive Web App, you can use this free site:

PWABuilder

All the tools you need to build and deploy your Progressive Web Apps.

www.pwabuilder.com

ps: I ditched TT a few months ago. I explained why I uninstalled it, nobody complained...

 

[m1ne]

Nice! And to turn your site into a Progresive Web App, you can use this free site:

PWABuilder

All the tools you need to build and deploy your Progressive Web Apps.

www.pwabuilder.com

Yep! Or continue to use this and retain the prompt on mobile devices: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/home-screen-installation.5887/
It uses a manifest.json which is all you need.

 

[PumpinIron]

Yep! Or continue to use this and retain the prompt on mobile devices: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/home-screen-installation.5887/
It uses a manifest.json which is all you need.

This is definitely the easier route if you ask me.

The ones mentioned above require a Google Play Store developer account.

 

[m1ne]

This is definitely the easier route if you ask me.

The ones mentioned above require a Google Play Store developer account.

Your app will be a lot more visible on Google Play vs a prompt on your website.
I'm combining both of them. Prompting visitors to add to homescreen when they visit directly and also having the app on Google Play for further reach.

 

[PumpinIron]

Your app will be a lot more visible on Google Play vs a prompt on your website.
I'm combining both of them. Prompting visitors to add to homescreen when they visit directly and also having the app on Google Play for further reach.

Gotcha. I don't have a Google Play Store developer's license, but maybe I ought to. The extra exposure doesn't hurt.

I assume it doesn't work the same way for the Apple App Store?

 

[m1ne]

Gotcha. I don't have a Google Play Store developer's license, but maybe I ought to. The extra exposure doesn't hurt.

I assume it doesn't work the same way for the Apple App Store?

Apple doesn't allow PWA's in the store.

 

[PumpinIron]

Apple doesn't allow PWA's in the store.

I should have known, haha.

 

[RobinHood]

My main concern was that by giving them access to my data, they can simply steal it. I mean how do I know they aren't making a literal copy of my database in the background?

I think they were caught doing this, duplicating sites under their own domain for SEO purposes. Lots of the old links are now dead though.

Tapatalk content duplication - copying all our site data

Just an FYI to you but Tapatalk is now further monetizing everyones content by duplicating your content on their own site and capturing seo for ad income. From a quick google https://www.tapatalk.com/topic/57581-30086 This is something they added in July as an opt-out scenario. Just another...

forum.beyond3d.com

 

[gerryvz]

Funny enough, I got a spam mail from Tapatalk today (after not hearing from them for months). Needless to say, I clicked on the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email.

 

[mh7]

I installed tapatalk because I had a bunch of users request it. I don't know why they think it's better. I was paying $5 a month to remove ads and branding and just got an e-mail today that they are no longer going to support removing ads with the $5 basic version and the $10 version will only allow you to remove ads from 20,000 impressions per month. They are also removing support for serving your own ads in their app. What a joke. I want to remove tapatalk but I have a relatively new forum and the people who requested it push good content.

 

[djbaxter]

I would dump Tapatalk anyway. Let your users know about the security and other concerns.

 

[gerryvz]

Definitely remove it. If you lay out a well-reasoned explanation and give a couple weeks' notice, no one can complain. You won't regret getting rid of that virus !!!

 

[Mr Lucky]

I dumped it way back. Most members who used it were OK once they found that xenforo was nicely responsive.

A couple lost intérêts and their reasons was that once in tat-stalk they had access to these other forums that were also on tatatlk, so one place to get all their forums.

 

[PumpinIron]

So far the feedback is positive

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/no-more-tapatalk.24538/