Discussion: TB, FT and Mobile Apps
 

Quick show of hands - how many TB members access Flyertalk from a mobile device or tablet? Now, keep you hands up if you are happy with the mobile FT experience.

Seeing zero hands, let us proceed.

What can TB do to push the implementation of a usable FT app for both iOS and Android? With an increasing percentage of browsing occurring away from the computer, is TB concerned that other websites with superior mobile experiences are going to start taking eyeballs away? As the voice of the common poster, what can be done by the TB?

I use the iOS app (which is just a skinned version of vBulletin's stock app it seems) fairly frequently on my iPhone 5 and it's a clunky experience at best. Navigation isn't great, formattings don't transfer properly, and the app isn't made for the 5's screen so it gets letterboxed.

The absolute best FT experience would be via Tapatalk. I (and others) have asked for this access, which would be possible via a trivial-to-install plugin, but IB has said they will never implement it. They claim security is the reason, but I'm guessing ad views are part of the equation.

As someone who uses Tapatalk with other forums, trust me when I say that access in this manner would eliminate the need for a dedicated app.

I'm bumping this up & looking for input from FTers & TB members on the mobile experience and/or suggestions that we can bring to IB so they can make the current lousy mobile app better. As more FTers check FT on mobile devices, to me it's a no-brainer that if FT wants to stay at the forefront of travel IBBs they need a better mobile experience.

Cheers.

The mobile app is worthless. I use my mobile devices' web browsers to view FlyerTalk on them.

I'm guessing that IB likes it that way for whatever reason. <shrugs>

I've made my view clear. When I'm away from home, I either look at FT through a browser on my device or, more frequently, visit the forums with Tapatalk support.

Yes, this.

I've been using Sarafi on my ipad2 even though I have the mobile app installed.

What specifically would you (and others) like to see in a mobile app? Perhaps if we went to IB w/ a specific list it would help to get the ball rolling. They (eventually) did wikis; maybe they'll eventually get the mobile app to work better.

But saying it's worthless w/o details doesn't provide much helpful info. I know this is something jackal said he'd eventually detail, but he's been busy. Hopefully he will put something together. But in the meantime it doesn't mean we can't ask for specific input from TB & other FTers. If someone likes another app better, what specifically about that app do they like?

I don't check FT much on my phone, but I'm on a Nokia. Most companies do their programming/mobile apps for iOs or Android.

Cheers.

Unfortunately, while I really like the IB staff, I have no faith that such a list will avail. Consider this: It was almost a YEAR AGO that this hugely annoying usability problem was reported and even though it would be a VERY TINY FIX zero has been done to address it. Zero. The following three posts describe the problem.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18785138-post257.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18785147-post258.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18880353-post260.html

First off, when I use the app, it's almost exclusively on my iPad. In general, i find using iPhone apps on my iPad annoying and inconvenient. I want it to rotate, and I want a full iPad keyboard, for example.

That said...

No way to make a general view of what's going on across the site. Newest post list only has ten items, and all seem to be actual brand new threads, not a roundup of all the newest posts as can be found on the browser version.

Newest and top post lists give no indication of which forum each post/thread is in. If the majority of posts are likely to be in a forum that's of no interest, those lists are relatively useless.

Clicking "last unread" in threads never seems to get me even to the right page, much less the actual most recent unread post.

Titles in replies don't show. Many posters put key info here and don't repeat the info in the body of the post. Tends to make many posts unintelligible.

HTML not properly rendered in titles. E.g., &quot;Good Deals&quot; in Economy -- annoying, fixable.

Just a few things that readily come to mind. For starters.

Thanks for the input, cblaisd & aBroadAbroad.

I'm also going to suggest this thread get placed in the next TalkMail newsletter in hopes of garnering more input. Perhaps if we get enough we will get IB to eventually put something together that's worthwhile.

Cheers.

And not to beat a rented mule* but I agree 100% with what cblaisd & aBroadAbroad posted ^


*that's a hockey term (and one that I do not like ;))

I don't want to get everyone too excited, but I noticed this in the Technical Issues forum posted on Sept 8th posted by IBobi.

"We hope to have a new mobile solution before too long; meantime you can use the full site, or the limited m.flyertalk.com."

I posted a reply asking if 'before too long' was Q4 '14, Q1 '15, or sometime before 12/31/15 ;) :D

Cheers.

+1 - I'm not sure I even have the FT app on my phone anymore.