Let's talk about Tapatalk

PumpinIron

Well-known member
I've been doing a ton of reading about Tapatalk, the issue is that everything I find in Google searches is generally from 2012-2016, I don't see any recent discussions on it.

I've been running it on my forum for years now (my forum is https://wranglertjforum.com) and I would say a large number of forum members use it.

However, I also worry about whether or not I'm giving Tapatalk access to my database (and therefore my content) by having their add-on installed on my server. I also don't know what they are doing behind the scenes and whether or not they are a company that can be trusted.

If so many of my members weren't using it, I'd probably just delete it. However, if I delete it, then they'll just go to one of the other forums who uses Tapatalk and likely not come back (or not as often at least).

I honestly don't understand the appeal of Tapatalk. XenForo in mobile view works just great for me and so many others, but for some reason or another the modern generation has this idea that if it's an app, it has to be better than the internet.

Since there is no native app for XenForo forums, I'm left at the mercy of Tapatalk.

I'd like to have a recent discussion about who uses it, who doesn't (and if so, why you don't use it), and what others more recent experiences have been with Tapatalk.
 
Where to begin? I use Tapatalk on one vBulletin 4.2.5 site but only because there is no usable mobile version for that software.

I have never used it on a Xenforo site. It's unnecessary, for one thing. XF is responsive and works quite well on mobile.

There's a long list of things I dislike about Tapatalk and nothing I like.

What makes you think your members would leave? Have they even tried XF on a mobile device?
 
I’m not certain anyone would abandon the website if I ditched Tapatalk. I know there is a considerable amount of people who use it which is my main concern.

Most of these people have probably never once visited the website in a web browser. This is the crowd I am talking about though, they are so stupid that they 100% believe that just because it’s an “app” it’s better than a mobile website.
 
I’m not certain anyone would abandon the website if I ditched Tapatalk. I know there is a considerable amount of people who use it which is my main concern.

Most of these people have probably never once visited the website in a web browser. This is the crowd I am talking about though, they are so stupid that they 100% believe that just because it’s an “app” it’s better than a mobile website.
Exactly. That's nutshell what TT does, brings you the most web-nonsavvy people out there. They truly don't want to use their browser. They are married to apps.

When you drop TT you WILL lose some of these people. You just have to weigh the pros and cons of that. I'll never use TT again, just for the very purpose of not populating a site with app-junkies.
 
Give a long notice about removing Tapatalk, maybe 1-2 months, direct them to the website in their web browser every chance you get and use this: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/home-screen-installation.5887/

Any idea if that add-on is 2.1 compatible? Looks like it hasn't been updated since November 2017.

That is a brilliant idea though. Assuming that add-on works, it would be a fantastic solution.

Exactly. That's nutshell what TT does, brings you the most web-nonsavvy people out there. They truly don't want to use their browser. They are married to apps.

When you drop TT you WILL lose some of these people. You just have to weigh the pros and cons of that. I'll never use TT again, just for the very purpose of not populating a site with app-junkies.

I've tried on numerous occasions to tell these TT users how much better the mobile version of the site is, but it literally goes in one ear and come out the other. It just blows my mind the idiocy of some people.
 
Any idea if that add-on is 2.1 compatible? Looks like it hasn't been updated since November 2017.

That is a brilliant idea though. Assuming that add-on works, it would be a fantastic solution.

Yup, see it in action here. Latest XF version.
 
I've tried on numerous occasions to tell these TT users how much better the mobile version of the site is, but it literally goes in one ear and come out the other. It just blows my mind the idiocy of some people.
They just like what they like and that's all they want to know.
 
However, I also worry about whether or not I'm giving Tapatalk access to my database (and therefore my content) by having their add-on installed on my server. I also don't know what they are doing behind the scenes and whether or not they are a company that can be trusted.
If you're worried about this even slightly you want to stay well away from Tapatalk, they absolutely want your data and will exploit it in any way they can. They stole everyone's data for their services then decided to host everyone's content on their own site to compete in SEO for the content without notifying anyone for permission. Then months later announced what they were doing as a "feature" and only then giving forum owners an option of turning it off.
 
I have to agree with @djbaxter on the topic of Tapatalk.

I used it for many years on my vBulletin 4.2.x based forum. It worked decently, and my members did like it (I also used it personally from time to time). I have a fairly small niche automotive forum, around 9,000 members and 200K posts. I'd say that around 1,000 of my members are active within any one-month period.

In March of this year, when I migrated my forum from vB to XF 2.1, I did install Tapatalk on XF for consistency of experience for my members. It worked OK, but I was already of the mindset that I was going to get rid of it. Once I "checked out" the mobile capabilities of XenForo, it immediately made obvious that Tapatalk was not and would never be needed.

I gave my members one month's notice that I would be removing Tapatalk, and told them to start checking out XF on their mobile device in the browser. A few folks said they really liked Tapatalk, but once they did try XF on their mobile device, and learned how to use it (i.e. where the "New Posts" button was), they came to the same conclusion that I did.

Have not heard a peep from people after I removed Tapatalk, and around 60% of my site's traffic (per Google Analytics) is via phone or tablet. I don't know that I have lost ANY traffic/members due to removing Tapatalk, but I do not think so.

The more research I did into Tapatalk, and the longer I had it installed on my forums, the more unscrupulous and onerous I saw their business practices becoming. Tapatalk has inserted itself into the operations more and more of the forums it is on, all in the name of increasing their own advertising revenues. I did NOT like the fact that they had more and more access into my database, forum, and were mirroring elements of my forum on their servers. Meanwhile, I was getting little to no money from them (perhaps $5.00 every few months, from ads that would appear in their app -- my forum does and has never run ads) for my trouble.

Then there are the security issues they have, both with their "services" and with their app. It's downright scary and I've never really seen proof that they've fixed this. Instead, they've worked to get their tentacles further and further into the forums that are part of their ad-serving network.

Enough !!

1) Give your members a full month's warning that you will be eliminating Tapatalk from your forum. Encourage them to use and explore the browser-based XF on their mobile devices.

2) Remove it and don't look back. Enjoy greater security and peace of mind that you and your forum are no longer being taken advantage of by this virus of an app/ad service.

Here is the thread I posted to my forum about the removal of Tapatalk:
 
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If you're worried about this even slightly you want to stay well away from Tapatalk, they absolutely want your data and will exploit it in any way they can. They stole everyone's data for their services then decided to host everyone's content on their own site to compete in SEO for the content without notifying anyone for permission. Then months later announced what they were doing as a "feature" and only then giving forum owners an option of turning it off.

Yes, you're right. 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? Has anyone actually inspected the Tapatalk add-on to see what it's really doing behind the scenes? I'm not code savvy enough to know, but I would be very curious.

I have to agree with @djbaxter on the topic of Tapatalk.

I used it for many years on my vBulletin 4.2.x based forum. It worked decently, and my members did like it (I also used it personally from time to time). I have a fairly small niche automotive forum, around 9,000 members and 200K posts. I'd say that around 1,000 of my members are active within any one-month period.

In March of this year, when I migrated my forum from vB to XF 2.1, I did install Tapatalk on XF for consistency of experience for my members. It worked OK, but I was already of the mindset that I was going to get rid of it. Once I "checked out" the mobile capabilities of XenForo, it immediately made obvious that Tapatalk was not and would never be needed.

I gave my members one month's notice that I would be removing Tapatalk, and told them to start checking out XF on their mobile device in the browser. A few folks said they really liked Tapatalk, but once they did try XF on their mobile device, and learned how to use it (i.e. where the "New Posts" button was), they came to the same conclusion that I did.

Have not heard a peep from people after I removed Tapatalk, and around 60% of my site's traffic (per Google Analytics) is via phone or tablet. I don't know that I have lost ANY traffic/members due to removing Tapatalk, but I do not think so.

The more research I did into Tapatalk, and the longer I had it installed on my forums, the more unscrupulous and onerous I saw their business practices becoming. Tapatalk has inserted itself into the operations more and more of the forums it is on, all in the name of increasing their own advertising revenues. I did NOT like the fact that they had more and more access into my database, forum, and were mirroring elements of my forum on their servers. Meanwhile, I was getting little to no money from them (perhaps $5.00 every few months, from ads that would appear in their app -- my forum does and has never run ads) for my trouble.

Then there are the security issues they have, both with their "services" and with their app. It's downright scary and I've never really seen proof that they've fixed this. Instead, they've worked to get their tentacles further and further into the forums that are part of their ad-serving network.

Enough !!

1) Give your members a full month's warning that you will be eliminating Tapatalk from your forum. Encourage them to use and explore the browser-based XF on their mobile devices.

2) Remove it and don't look back. Enjoy greater security and peace of mind that you and your forum are no longer being taken advantage of by this virus of an app/ad service.

Here is the thread I posted to my forum about the removal of Tapatalk:

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. If they don't like it, then they'll either have to learn to live with it, or go somewhere else.
 
Yeah, that mobiquo folder is imperative to remove.

They will start bleating at you with e-mails about your forum being down/inaccessible, and do you need their technical help. Don't answer their crap.

Eventually you will get an email from them saying your site will be de-listed from their service. That's when you pop a beer and have a toast !!
 
You won't look back, and you will have happy forum members too. Look at my members' reactions on the Crapatalk thread that I linked to on my forum !! They were very pleasantly surprised.

I'll ignore anything they send me. I looked at it and I was only making maybe $5 per month off Tapatalk, which is absolutely pointless.

I made an announcement, but so far no one has responded to it. Perhaps once the Tapatalk users are forced to use the mobile site, then they will see what they've been missing out on.

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.
 
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