Tapatalk?

2

Comments

  • t.m.h.n.e.t
    t.m.h.n.e.t Posts: 2,265
    nicklouse wrote:
    The main issue I would think is a corporate one.

    And it would not something Jeff would do.

    Easy to add to a one off personal forum but when you have many sites and many fora.....
    Not really. It's free, it doesn't change the forum in any way ,It can only help,hits are money and the ability to browse via smartphone only adds to that.
  • muran
    muran Posts: 105
    nicklouse I'm not sure I follow ....

    agree completely with T.M.H.N.E.T comments above.

    There is really nothing to lose by adding Tapatalk and as suggested, as hits are money - everything to gain! It's an easy addition I understand and costs nothing.

    REALLY struggling to see why this considered a bad idea / difficult process and would love some input from Jeff or anyone else that pulls the strings here.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Have to wait for them to see this and reply, little else I can do for you guys!
    GT ZASKAR CARBON TEAM

    VOODOO CANZO

    Come and see me at https://www.facebook.com/biketyke/
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    muran wrote:
    nicklouse I'm not sure I follow..
    I guess you have never dealt with a big multi national company then.

    They will have to dissuade if they are going to do it for one area what about the others? And then there will be the meeting to sort out when the meetings should be and when, UK time Europ time US time or Aus time.

    Like I said anyone can do what they want to there sites forums with out any thought as they are in charge.

    The fact that it maybe easy and free to add means nothing.

    Then there is the cost. The powers that be may have other jobs they consider more worthy of the Devs time than this.

    For all we know they may be looking at this or they may not yet we have no idea.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • muran
    muran Posts: 105
    Oh sure I have but I hadn't considered a forum for a cycling enthusiasts comparable to a multi national company!

    The forums I have frequented in the past have been run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. More often that not these have been individuals with a keen interest in the forum subject who enjoyed sharing their experiences with others - or at most a small group of like minded individuals.

    Your comments did however prompt me to delve into the pedigree of this particular forum and it wasn't until I did that I realised it falls under the control of the Future Publishing group. With this in mind I agree that anything even as insignificant as a font change will no doubt have to pass over the desks of several highly paid execs around the world before it is given the final go-ahead.

    I got to thinking about this stark realisation and concluded that surely the popularity of it and the multi national company behind it should only serve to build a stronger case for improvements such as the inclusion of Tapatalk which would undoubtedly grow readership and increase the frequency of existing member visits? All good, no?

    As mentioned ealier in this thread, cost will no doubt play a part in whether we see Tapatalk inclusion or not. I haven't looked at their t&c's but it seems reasonable that a company using Tapatalk for commercial purposes will not be granted the same entitlement to the basic (free) version of the tool - a point raised earlier in this thread which now actually carries far more relevance for me.

    As money drives most things in business and surely plays a part in the thinking of the company behind this forum (and no doubt many others under the same umbrella) it seems clear that the multi national execs will give little or no consideration to this 'request' and so it now seems a bit of a lost cause.

    Happy to leave this here, if nothing has happened in over a month it seems unllikely that it will!
  • Jeff Jones
    Jeff Jones Posts: 1,865
    nicklouse wrote:
    muran wrote:
    nicklouse I'm not sure I follow..
    Then there is the cost. The powers that be may have other jobs they consider more worthy of the Devs time than this.
    There are, especially at this time of year (and no I don't get to make the call on what happens and when).

    When I do get a chance to look at the upcoming dev roadmap, hopefully next week, I'll see where we are wrt site use on mobiles in general. I know we've got m.bikeradar.com but that's forumless (company decision for now)
    Jeff Jones

    Product manager, Sports
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    For what it's worth, Chrome beta on Android does a fairly reasonable job at making the forum more usable on a mobile device. Sorts the layout to be readable and zooms into things automatically as you need to type. Though I think you need ICS (Droid 4). There are bugs though. Locks up sometimes when typing a long reply. Very irritating.

    Tapatalk - never used it on a device other than Nokia and it basically just didn't work on Nokia phones. Seems they couldn't be bothered to keep it up to date. So not looked at it since.

    But I do find a lot of forums I try to browse on Android throw up a pop up saying I should use tapatalk to browse this forum on my mobile etc. I don't bother as I don't really want to install too many apps. But if tapatalk is actually any good and not bloated then I might consider it. Problem is only some forums use it so annoying to use it for some and not others.
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    I know nothing about tapatalk, but I find I can browse the forum just fine on android. Posting, on the other hand, is horrendous - typically the box jumps about in such a way as to ensure that wherever the text insertion point is is always just off screen, and if I try to edit what I have already typed, the cursor almost never goes exactly where I want. Slow and maddening.
    If tapatalk makes it possible then I for one would rapidly vote for it.
  • t.m.h.n.e.t
    t.m.h.n.e.t Posts: 2,265
    bompington wrote:
    I know nothing about tapatalk, but I find I can browse the forum just fine on android. Posting, on the other hand, is horrendous - typically the box jumps about in such a way as to ensure that wherever the text insertion point is is always just off screen, and if I try to edit what I have already typed, the cursor almost never goes exactly where I want. Slow and maddening.
    If tapatalk makes it possible then I for one would rapidly vote for it.
    It does. I use Convo which is a free equivalent hence ads. But you get the idea

    screenshot201206040950z.th.png
    screenshot2012060409501.th.png
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    I've been a tapatalk user for a few years, always niggled that it didn't work on bikeradar, but no big deal. That was until I drank the kool aid ( :roll: ) and bought an iPad last week. Since then I've spent less and less time on here because I prefer to catch up on forums using the fondleslab(tm) instead and this site isn't compatible.

    Just a thought, and maybe the start of a bigger shift.
  • muran
    muran Posts: 105
    I really think you are wasting your time dodgy, the powers that be either don't see or don't care about the trend towards the use of mobile devices. Most forums I frequent have adapted accordingly and have undoubtedly benefited from embracing the change - that isn't the case here and from what's been said I can't see that changing any time soon.

    As a result, my time spent in this forum is lessening but thanks to all that have suggested alternatives. As you may gather though, I've given up on this one in disgust!
  • josnor
    josnor Posts: 207
    We're actually acutely aware that mobile use of our sites is increasingly important to get right; you only have to look at the development of our main mobile site to see this. A mobile version of the forums is much trickier to implement, unfortunately, as there are many more things we need to consider. Rest assured that we are evaluating all the possibilities for mobile access to the forums and that it is important to us.
  • bowden769
    bowden769 Posts: 143
    josnor wrote:
    We're actually acutely aware that mobile use of our sites is increasingly important to get right; you only have to look at the development of our main mobile site to see this. A mobile version of the forums is much trickier to implement, unfortunately, as there are many more things we need to consider. Rest assured that we are evaluating all the possibilities for mobile access to the forums and that it is important to us.

    Whoop

    Hopefully soon lol. I know things take time!!!!

    I hate viewing forums on safari on my iPhone.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    bowden769 wrote:
    I hate viewing forums on safari on my iPhone.
    then get an iPad ;)
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • bowden769
    bowden769 Posts: 143
    nicklouse wrote:
    bowden769 wrote:
    I hate viewing forums on safari on my iPhone.
    then get an iPad ;)

    ok!!

    will u pay for it then
  • Toxic17
    Toxic17 Posts: 1
    Hi there. I have installed on my own forums a few years back.

    Tapatalk is free to install on any website. It takes less than 5 minutes to install. Then only cost is to the readers where they buy the Tapatalk Application from App world, Google Play or Apple Store depending on your phone.

    seriously I cannot see why this has not been implemented yet. It is a great utility for all phone users to access forums very easily.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    and again we all know how easy it is to add to a one man band.

    Future is aware of people requesting it but you try and get a big multi national company to decide on something. If it will happen it will but not over night.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    nicklouse wrote:
    and again we all know how easy it is to add to a one man band.

    Future is aware of people requesting it but you try and get a big multi national company to decide on something. If it will happen it will but not over night.


    Please tell them the internet is getting tired of waiting.

    Thanks :)
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    Any update?
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    dodgy wrote:
    Any update?

    I'll take that as a no then!

    This lack of agility is going to bite BikeRadar in the arse one day. I don't care how big you are, I work for a company with 320,000 employees, we still do new stuff. You lose customers if you don't innovate. In this case, not so much innovation - but keeping up!

    Anyway, I'll drop it and when I'm mobile, on business, travelling or whatever, I'll just use forums that are tapatalk friendly instead.

    Good luck.
  • Jeff Jones
    Jeff Jones Posts: 1,865
    As Josnor said, it's tricky to get right. We do have a large slab of development work scheduled for next year and part of that will be a better experience for our mobile users.
    Jeff Jones

    Product manager, Sports
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,459
    Jeff Jones wrote:
    As Josnor said, it's tricky to get right. We do have a large slab of development work scheduled for next year and part of that will be a better experience for our mobile users.

    I've no idea what's involved in terms of the development work required but having recently bought a smartphone (I'm not what you'd call an early adopter :roll: ) the heartbreak involved in trying to post on the forum means it just isn't worth the hassle.......that may not be a bad thing....
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Jeff Jones wrote:
    As Josnor said, it's tricky to get right. We do have a large slab of development work scheduled for next year and part of that will be a better experience for our mobile users.

    I've no idea what's involved in terms of the development work required but having recently bought a smartphone (I'm not what you'd call an early adopter :roll: ) the heartbreak involved in trying to post on the forum means it just isn't worth the hassle.......that may not be a bad thing....


    quite agree, its barely worth the effort of being on here compared to Cyclechat and their lovely integration with tapatalk.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    I just got a new smartphone, xperia s, no problems using the site normally. Then again I have never used tapatalk - and as am not the main site developer have no input for you here guys on the story with what is going on.
    GT ZASKAR CARBON TEAM

    VOODOO CANZO

    Come and see me at https://www.facebook.com/biketyke/
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    shouldbeinbed wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Jeff Jones wrote:
    As Josnor said, it's tricky to get right. We do have a large slab of development work scheduled for next year and part of that will be a better experience for our mobile users.

    I've no idea what's involved in terms of the development work required but having recently bought a smartphone (I'm not what you'd call an early adopter :roll: ) the heartbreak involved in trying to post on the forum means it just isn't worth the hassle.......that may not be a bad thing....


    quite agree, its barely worth the effort of being on here compared to Cyclechat and their lovely integration with tapatalk.

    Yup, that's my new home when I'm mobile, they've done a nice job of it. The guy who runs it does it from his bedroom :lol:
  • adowling92
    adowling92 Posts: 225
    Anything ever come of this?
    Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. --John F. Kennedy
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    It's frustrating. The majority of forums I participate in have tapatalk integration. So I spend my time in the evenings browsing those on my phone. Whereas if I want to get to BikeRadar I have to load up the web interface, which on a mobile is clunky and slow.

    You can install Tapatalk in 15 mintutes, most of that time filling in a form saying what your website is, it's that easy. No excuses, as it doesn't involved any 'development' work.
  • Velonutter
    Velonutter Posts: 2,437
    For what it worth Lads, I have never used or heard about tapatalk on any forum until I read it on here, I use my iPad and iPhone 4/5 all the time on forums and never have a problem, it's a piece of cake, can't see the point in using something like that when Safari does fine!
  • adowling92
    adowling92 Posts: 225
    Velonutter wrote:
    For what it worth Lads, I have never used or heard about tapatalk on any forum until I read it on here, I use my iPad and iPhone 4/5 all the time on forums and never have a problem, it's a piece of cake, can't see the point in using something like that when Safari does fine!

    Loading the full website for the forum on my iPhone becomes incredibly data hungry.
    Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. --John F. Kennedy
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    Velonutter wrote:
    For what it worth Lads, I have never used or heard about tapatalk on any forum until I read it on here, I use my iPad and iPhone 4/5 all the time on forums and never have a problem, it's a piece of cake, can't see the point in using something like that when Safari does fine!

    haha.

    That's a bit like someone saying "fwiw lads, I've never tried ADSL or cable, I get by on dial up, I never have a problem". But when you try broadband, you never want to go back.

    Honestly, try tapatalk on an ipad and you will not want to use safari for forums.

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