Iphone/ITouch Owners - New Interface Installed - New England Patriots Forums

**Ian** · 06-29-2009, 01:43 PM

The software I had mentioned a while ago finally became available - and ended up being a free plugin for the forum, and as a result I have installed it into the forum.

There is an app available in the app store called "TapATalk" - which is designed for vBulletin boards (such as ours) - and costs $2.99. I have purchased it myself for my Ipod Touch and have been testing it, and I will admit that it's a clean and simple way to view the forum. However there is a significant amount of functionality missing, and there have been some things I've noticed that I'll point out before you decide whether or not to go buy it:

1) # of Replies to each thread - Non Existent on main page, but listed after you click on it.
2) Marking a thread as "seen" - Non Existent
3) Replying to an individual post with a quote - Non Existent
4) Private messaging - Non Existent
5) Arcade - Non Existent
6) Who's online - Non Existent
7) Forum Levels - Don't go in more than two deep, (Example - 'Patriot Nation' Sub Forums Not Available)

These are things being discussed in future upgrades by the developers (which would be free if you've already purchased it) but as of now they're not available.

If you purchase it - I have no connection whatsoever to this software or their developers, and don't receive any $$ - nor can I make any changes to the way it operates. In other words - purchase it at your own risk. However like the rest of the vBulletin owners out there, I will offer them and request any feedback you provide.

As for my review: I will admit it's a simple quick clean way to read the forum on the go and is the best I've seen so far that has been released. For those who hate having to view the forum in the Safari browser on your Ipod, this definitely makes it easier. For three bucks I'm not disappointed - although my expectations were a bit higher.

To find our forum - you'll have to search for it. The reason I have the forum hidden is due to the fact that from what I've seen, people who weren't aware this was coming (ie forum owners) have no idea what this app is. If you buy it and don't have a forum you use that has this plugin installed, it's obviously a waste of money. Since people purchase apps all the time without really reading up on what they're about - I didn't want a flood of random nitwits coming and registering into our forum (which is happening elsewhere).

After you install the app, click on "Search" and then enter "PatsFans" and you'll see the forum come up. Each time you open it, click on "Favorites" and it automatically will be there.

That's it for me on this. You can reply to this thread if you have any feedback or any questions and I'll be happy to help as much as I can. This thread will also be moving to the Help Forum later this evening for future questions, concerns, etc. so it doesn't get lost.

Ian

Disco Volante · 06-29-2009, 02:24 PM

Awesome, thanks a lot as always.

***jmt57*** · 06-29-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian

There is an app available in the app store called "TapATalk" - which is designed for vBulletin boards (such as ours) - and costs $2.99.

For that price it should be a no-brainer for anybody with an iPhone or iTouch, regardless of some of the limitations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian

To find our forum - you'll have to search for it. The reason I have the forum hidden is due to the fact that from what I've seen, people who weren't aware this was coming (ie forum owners) have no idea what this app is. If you buy it and don't have a forum you use that has this plugin installed, it's obviously a waste of money. Since people purchase apps all the time without really reading up on what they're about - I didn't want a flood of random nitwits coming and registering into our forum (which is happening elsewhere).

After you install the app, click on "Search" and then enter "PatsFans" and you'll see the forum come up. Each time you open it, click on "Favorites" and it automatically will be there.

Good call on keeping it hidden.

tombonneau · 06-29-2009, 04:39 PM

Posting now from the app. So far so good. Hopefully there is a setting to make this board my default when the app opens. Landscape is a plus. Though I'm noticing it does not autoscroll down as you continue typing. :-( but not bad and worth the $3

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

matt9071 · 06-29-2009, 05:19 PM

Chances are I will get this once they release some new patches.

scott99 · 06-29-2009, 06:14 PM

Not for nothing, but I've had Patsfans on my Iphone bookmarks for almost 2 years, and works just fine. It's just like being online on a computer, how is this better ? To use the app, do you have to have a connection anyway ? Or do the forum threads update offline ? If thy do, it's worth it, if they don't, I'll stick with the safari browser which does everything.

***Michael*** · 06-29-2009, 07:45 PM

Like scott99 I was a little skeptical. Safari was working OK for me. But, for less money than I spent for lunch I figured I'd give it a try. And I have to say I'm glad I did. Considering how many awesome apps are 99¢ or less $2.99 is a little high but, still it's worth it. Now you don't have to tap/zoom in and no more hitting hyperlinks unintentionally. Also subject lines are much easier to read. And it autoflows type to fit on your screen. Again without the need to zoom and scroll. The only real draw back is it is a little slower to load the info than Safari, but from what I read there is suppose to be a 1.2 that will have better iPhone 3.0 support.

**Ian** · 06-29-2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott99

Not for nothing, but I've had Patsfans on my Iphone bookmarks for almost 2 years, and works just fine. It's just like being online on a computer, how is this better ? To use the app, do you have to have a connection anyway ? Or do the forum threads update offline ? If thy do, it's worth it, if they don't, I'll stick with the safari browser which does everything.

No - they definitely haven't figured all that out yet

This was done for the people who asked for an easier to read interface. I came accross this one, and this is purely a choice for those who want to use it. As I said, they're the ones your $2.99 goes to, and you can definitely tell they didn't program it around large forums and certainly have a lot of work to do.

But I guess give them credit, after all they took the time to put it together. To your point - My take with Safari is I like it to view the forum page itself - I actually do like the app to read the posts - you don't need to zoom in to read them and it's certainly a littler easier. However - I don't like having to refresh manually each time I login. They need to fix that.

***Dragda*** · 06-29-2009, 08:50 PM

for you iPhone owners, does the phone start to slow down after installing a bunch of these cheapy apps like my PC does when I install a lot of tools and utilities? I am thinking that now is a great time to buy the iPhone.

**Ian** · 06-29-2009, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragda

for you iPhone owners, does the phone start to slow down after installing a bunch of these cheapy apps like my PC does when I install a lot of tools and utilities? I am thinking that now is a great time to buy the iPhone.

Not really - unless you go overboard and install a million of them. I remove the ones I don't use after a while (most of those are free - so it's not like I couldn't download them again later on if I wanted to) and you'll find there's only a handful you use regularly.