Flyertalk iPhone App Feedback (all versions)
Dec 20, 2010 | 4:15 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold(OWE), QF LTG, MR Plat, IHG Spire, Hertz PC
Posts: 8,156
Dec 20, 2010 | 4:21 pm
#17
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 689
Mate,
They are drier than a dead dingo's donger!
kill the ads +3
Last edited by aussiechris; Dec 20, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Dec 20, 2010 | 4:55 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,934
Thanks to the developers for developing an app dedicated to FT.
After trying out the app for a short while I think I will stick with the mobile version as I can have several threads open at the same time and jump from one to another while others are loading in the background.
In the meantime some things I thought would be great to have as well would be:
- Refresh after add new post
- Quote function when posting
- Show complete list of subscribed threads, not just 20
- No need for the big welcome message at the top of the screen, it just takes up space.
After trying out the app for a short while I think I will stick with the mobile version as I can have several threads open at the same time and jump from one to another while others are loading in the background.
In the meantime some things I thought would be great to have as well would be:
- Refresh after add new post
- Quote function when posting
- Show complete list of subscribed threads, not just 20
- No need for the big welcome message at the top of the screen, it just takes up space.
Dec 20, 2010 | 5:17 pm
#19
Join Date: May 2007
Location: CLE
Programs: OnePass Platinum, Starwood Platinum, Avis First, Hilton Silver, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 2,751
The MyFlyertalk issue was discussed with some of our beta-testers, so I'm going to paste in my response to them here:
MyFlyertalk is basically a branded version of the generic vBulletin UserCP, so I'm going to speak to this issue in that context, mostly because this application is being built generically for all vBulletin forums, not specifically for Flyertalk. I also want to make note that I was only in a few of the many meetings where the application's IU was discussed, so I'm speaking from a general understanding. For more details, I can try to get some of the product team in here. Since I was present at some of the meetings, I was able to give feedback along the way specific to my understanding of Flyertalk use-cases, which I hope will benefit the community and the mobile product.
The UserCP is a nice portal where users can view subscribed threads, PM's, and settings. It's a really great feature of vBulletin. When building the iPhone app, they bounced around some ideas on how to handle the UI, and they found that the concept of a single consolidated UserCP is difficult to do on a mobile device. They decided to split the functionallity into separate sections because it makes the user experience better.
Pretty much all of the functionallity is there-- when you sign in, the first thing you see is your subscribed threads. If you want to view PM's, you should always be two clicks away via the ubiquitous button at the top. You're "notifications" should give you heads up of the various things that you might want to look at.
Obviously, some features, like editing your settings, are missing. This is very common among native apps, as I think the only time I actually log into Facebook or Twitter are to manage these types of things. I don't know which of these missing features the development team plans to implement, but I feel that those decisions will be based on feasibility and feedback from users like you. The reason why the vBulletin team asked us to offer this to Flyertalk is because they want to know from first hand users what your opinions are regarding functional requirements.
MyFlyertalk is basically a branded version of the generic vBulletin UserCP, so I'm going to speak to this issue in that context, mostly because this application is being built generically for all vBulletin forums, not specifically for Flyertalk. I also want to make note that I was only in a few of the many meetings where the application's IU was discussed, so I'm speaking from a general understanding. For more details, I can try to get some of the product team in here. Since I was present at some of the meetings, I was able to give feedback along the way specific to my understanding of Flyertalk use-cases, which I hope will benefit the community and the mobile product.
The UserCP is a nice portal where users can view subscribed threads, PM's, and settings. It's a really great feature of vBulletin. When building the iPhone app, they bounced around some ideas on how to handle the UI, and they found that the concept of a single consolidated UserCP is difficult to do on a mobile device. They decided to split the functionallity into separate sections because it makes the user experience better.
Pretty much all of the functionallity is there-- when you sign in, the first thing you see is your subscribed threads. If you want to view PM's, you should always be two clicks away via the ubiquitous button at the top. You're "notifications" should give you heads up of the various things that you might want to look at.
Obviously, some features, like editing your settings, are missing. This is very common among native apps, as I think the only time I actually log into Facebook or Twitter are to manage these types of things. I don't know which of these missing features the development team plans to implement, but I feel that those decisions will be based on feasibility and feedback from users like you. The reason why the vBulletin team asked us to offer this to Flyertalk is because they want to know from first hand users what your opinions are regarding functional requirements.
That said - I think it is still cool that you created this, and I have used it throughout the day... with just one crash. But that happens with lots of new apps - so that will get worked out shortly, I'm sure!
Dec 20, 2010 | 5:30 pm
#20
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP Gold
Posts: 2,733
Bizarrely, this app seems to be written with a "put the desktop version on a smaller screen" approach. This is sort of an inexcusable failure when considering modern mobile development. Here's my experience:
- First thread I tried to read crashed the app. Twice. Evidently this particular thread is damaging to iPhone apps.
- Second thread I tried to read did actually load, but on post 1. FT knows what the last post in a thread I've read is. Please just take me to the new content.
- Two ads on the screen at a time is overkill. Especially for paying users. It's amazing how those ads always show up, even when the content has difficulty loading.
- No horizontal orientation mode for when I would prefer to read content without it wrapping every 4 words. No excuse for leaving this out.
- Space, space, space. Look at the sheer percentage of space that is devoted to "chrome" - ie, controls and information that are NOT content. The title bar with Back/Home/+. The page numbers "bar" could be eliminated entirely. The title of the thread bar. The TWO ads. The subscribe/search bar at the bottom. In the midst of all this, there is the actual content. You know, the stuff the users type that actually makes IB money when other users read it. The actual valuable content is only allotted 50% of the horizontal space on-screen(!). To add further insult to injury, 15-20% of this space is then dedicated to a left-hand margin that only contains a mostly-useless user tile. The phone is not a desktop; those wasted bars and margins are sacrificing extremely valuable real estate for almost zero value.
After my quick perusal, it seems that this app is a slick way to deliver ads, but about 3 steps backward in functionality from the mobile website. I'll stick to the website for now.
- First thread I tried to read crashed the app. Twice. Evidently this particular thread is damaging to iPhone apps.
- Second thread I tried to read did actually load, but on post 1. FT knows what the last post in a thread I've read is. Please just take me to the new content.
- Two ads on the screen at a time is overkill. Especially for paying users. It's amazing how those ads always show up, even when the content has difficulty loading.
- No horizontal orientation mode for when I would prefer to read content without it wrapping every 4 words. No excuse for leaving this out.
- Space, space, space. Look at the sheer percentage of space that is devoted to "chrome" - ie, controls and information that are NOT content. The title bar with Back/Home/+. The page numbers "bar" could be eliminated entirely. The title of the thread bar. The TWO ads. The subscribe/search bar at the bottom. In the midst of all this, there is the actual content. You know, the stuff the users type that actually makes IB money when other users read it. The actual valuable content is only allotted 50% of the horizontal space on-screen(!). To add further insult to injury, 15-20% of this space is then dedicated to a left-hand margin that only contains a mostly-useless user tile. The phone is not a desktop; those wasted bars and margins are sacrificing extremely valuable real estate for almost zero value.
After my quick perusal, it seems that this app is a slick way to deliver ads, but about 3 steps backward in functionality from the mobile website. I'll stick to the website for now.
Last edited by baliktad; Dec 20, 2010 at 5:37 pm Reason: punctuation
Dec 20, 2010 | 5:32 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: ORD
Programs: AA Platinum, PC Plat, Hertz 5*
Posts: 350
Getting notification when someone posts something new in your subscribed thread
It would be great to see if anything new is posted in your subscribed threads. When I opened it, I saw all the threads I am subscribed too, even the ones that have not had a new posting in months.
Dec 20, 2010 | 5:53 pm
#23
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: SYD
Programs: DJ, QF, SPG, Hilton
Posts: 2,984
May I suggest getting rid of this bubble, and put the number of unread posts in there. We have the blue dot on the left hand side to indicate a thread with unread posts already - combine the two?
- Allow landscape mode, it's much easier to type long posts
There have been many long discussions on how to best handle landscape mode and the decision has been made to leave out the feature until we are sure that we can do it right. There are some big screen real estate problems that need to get worked out.
There have been many long discussions on how to best handle landscape mode and the decision has been made to leave out the feature until we are sure that we can do it right. There are some big screen real estate problems that need to get worked out.
Dec 20, 2010 | 5:57 pm
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 959
Bizarrely, this app seems to be written with a "put the desktop version on a smaller screen" approach. This is sort of an inexcusable failure when considering modern mobile development. Here's my experience:
- First thread I tried to read crashed the app. Twice. Evidently this particular thread is damaging to iPhone apps.
- Second thread I tried to read did actually load, but on post 1. FT knows what the last post in a thread I've read is. Please just take me to the new content.
- Two ads on the screen at a time is overkill. Especially for paying users. It's amazing how those ads always show up, even when the content has difficulty loading.
- No horizontal orientation mode for when I would prefer to read content without it wrapping every 4 words. No excuse for leaving this out.
- Space, space space. Look at the sheer percentage of space that is devoted to "chrome" - ie, controls and information that are NOT content. The title bar with Back/Home/+. The page numbers "bar" could be eliminated entirely. The title of the thread bar. The TWO ads. The subscribe/search bar at the bottom. In the midst of all this, there is the actual content. You know, the stuff the users type that actually makes IB money when other users read it. The actual valuable content is only allotted 50% of the horizontal space on-screen(!). To add further insult to injury, 15-20% of this space is then dedicated to a left-hand margin that only contains a mostly-useless user tile. The phone is not a desktop; those wasted bars and margins are sacrificing extremely valuable real estate for almost zero value.
After my quick perusal, it seems that this app is a slick way to deliver ads, but about 3 steps backward in functionality from the mobile website. I'll stick to the website for now.
- First thread I tried to read crashed the app. Twice. Evidently this particular thread is damaging to iPhone apps.
- Second thread I tried to read did actually load, but on post 1. FT knows what the last post in a thread I've read is. Please just take me to the new content.
- Two ads on the screen at a time is overkill. Especially for paying users. It's amazing how those ads always show up, even when the content has difficulty loading.
- No horizontal orientation mode for when I would prefer to read content without it wrapping every 4 words. No excuse for leaving this out.
- Space, space space. Look at the sheer percentage of space that is devoted to "chrome" - ie, controls and information that are NOT content. The title bar with Back/Home/+. The page numbers "bar" could be eliminated entirely. The title of the thread bar. The TWO ads. The subscribe/search bar at the bottom. In the midst of all this, there is the actual content. You know, the stuff the users type that actually makes IB money when other users read it. The actual valuable content is only allotted 50% of the horizontal space on-screen(!). To add further insult to injury, 15-20% of this space is then dedicated to a left-hand margin that only contains a mostly-useless user tile. The phone is not a desktop; those wasted bars and margins are sacrificing extremely valuable real estate for almost zero value.
After my quick perusal, it seems that this app is a slick way to deliver ads, but about 3 steps backward in functionality from the mobile website. I'll stick to the website for now.
That's correct, however this app is being built with all vBulletin forums in mind. While FT uses the most accurate method of keeping track of which posts a user has read and which it hasn't, not all forums do, as it's quite resource intensive. As I've stated in a different post, a more elegant solution is being worked on.
Very good excuse for leaving it out: Screen real estate problems are significantly exacerbated when using landscape mode without drastic UI changes. It was decided to not roll it into the product until it was more polished. I'm sure that if we had added it it would have been on this list.
Dec 20, 2010 | 6:03 pm
#25
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Lost in Space
Programs: MR Plat, AA EXP, Hertz Presidents Club, SPG Plat
Posts: 170
Crashes a lot
I have been navigating around a lot and I have found specific posts that the app will crash on every time. Otherwise I like the app.
Dec 20, 2010 | 6:10 pm
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 959
I read FT on my own laptop, my work computer and now on the iPhone. Sometimes, I mark all threads as read so the next time, regardless of which computer, I know which threads have new posts. It'd be nice if the iPhone can tell me which threads have new posts since the last time I visited (regardless of device).
Personally, I don't think this bubble serves much purpose. The number in the bubble is the number of replies (as I compare my desktop version on the iPhone version). While I can kind of see why you'll want to pick the threads with more replies to read, on a mobile device, screen real estate and bandwidth are still king. I'd still read a thread with a title that appeals to me, rather than one with lots of replies.
May I suggest getting rid of this bubble, and put the number of unread posts in there. We have the blue dot on the left hand side to indicate a thread with unread posts already - combine the two?
Now that I've used it a few times, 'Home' isn't empty, just takes a little while to load. But I'd still like to see 'My FT' there as the first screen.
Fair enough - However, I'd echo others' comments (and I've also touched on it previously). With the ads and the menu system, about 1/3 of the screen is lost already. Can we lose one of the ads (at least) and have a smaller bottom menu or implement something like Mashable's app or the Huffington Post's app where the menu automatically hide unless you tap the screen?
Personally, I don't think this bubble serves much purpose. The number in the bubble is the number of replies (as I compare my desktop version on the iPhone version). While I can kind of see why you'll want to pick the threads with more replies to read, on a mobile device, screen real estate and bandwidth are still king. I'd still read a thread with a title that appeals to me, rather than one with lots of replies.
May I suggest getting rid of this bubble, and put the number of unread posts in there. We have the blue dot on the left hand side to indicate a thread with unread posts already - combine the two?
Now that I've used it a few times, 'Home' isn't empty, just takes a little while to load. But I'd still like to see 'My FT' there as the first screen.
Fair enough - However, I'd echo others' comments (and I've also touched on it previously). With the ads and the menu system, about 1/3 of the screen is lost already. Can we lose one of the ads (at least) and have a smaller bottom menu or implement something like Mashable's app or the Huffington Post's app where the menu automatically hide unless you tap the screen?
Great feedback! It will be shared with the team!
Dec 20, 2010 | 7:10 pm
#27
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Washington, DC (DCA)
Programs: UA, AA, AS, SPG.
Posts: 3,464
Sorry but the ads are a deal breaker. They are distracting and take up too much space. I deleted the app 15 minutes after installing it. I'll stick to the ad-free mobile site.
Dec 20, 2010 | 7:24 pm
#28
In Memoriam
Join Date: Jun 2000
Programs: Honors Diamond, Hertz Presidents Circle, National Exec Elite
Posts: 36,111
I'll stick to the ad-free mobile site.
Dec 20, 2010 | 9:18 pm
#29
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Southern California
Programs: DL: 3.8 MM, Marriott: Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 24,575
I'm willing to pay handsomely for an ad-free version of any app that I use on a regular basis.
That's why I studiously avoid apps that are "free" because nothing, obviously, is free and the ads on a small iPhone screen are beyond annoying.
I'll be glad to use the new app when/if I can buy an ad-free version.
That's why I studiously avoid apps that are "free" because nothing, obviously, is free and the ads on a small iPhone screen are beyond annoying.
I'll be glad to use the new app when/if I can buy an ad-free version.
Dec 20, 2010 | 10:47 pm
#30
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Body in Downtown YYZ, heart and mind elsewhere
Programs: UA 50K, refugee from AC E50K, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 5,169
A slightly different slant - I tried the app on my iPad.
1) It's way too small on my iPad. Even at 2x resolution, everything just looks far too jaggy. OTOH I can use the SPG app on my iPad just fine (even though it too is a bit jaggy).
2) The double ad thing takes up too much real estate on an already too-small screen.
3) The way the ads flip is kind of annoying too. A static ad would be much more bearable.
4) I like the way the threads just kind of keep scrolling as opposed to having to hit "next page" then wait for it to load. Having said that I'm not sure how easy / hard it would be to navigate a monster of a thread.
5) The functionality of tapping a response and posting in general is good. I particularly like the easy access to smilies.
6) Broadly speaking, for an iPad user I think there's limited gain in using the app vs just surfing in on Safari. It's not a bad app, but it's not an app which immediately offers incredible gains either. In the end I think it's just going to be personal preference that drives app use.
1) It's way too small on my iPad. Even at 2x resolution, everything just looks far too jaggy. OTOH I can use the SPG app on my iPad just fine (even though it too is a bit jaggy).
2) The double ad thing takes up too much real estate on an already too-small screen.
3) The way the ads flip is kind of annoying too. A static ad would be much more bearable.
4) I like the way the threads just kind of keep scrolling as opposed to having to hit "next page" then wait for it to load. Having said that I'm not sure how easy / hard it would be to navigate a monster of a thread.
5) The functionality of tapping a response and posting in general is good. I particularly like the easy access to smilies.
6) Broadly speaking, for an iPad user I think there's limited gain in using the app vs just surfing in on Safari. It's not a bad app, but it's not an app which immediately offers incredible gains either. In the end I think it's just going to be personal preference that drives app use.