Any chance of getting a mobile app back?

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, vettecruiser1 said:

So I just noticed the app is working again and you can read the post.  It keeps asking for the password, which is not working and you can not do any posting.

 

at least you can read again.  When did they crank it back on and when will the app work again for posting.

 

Running thread here:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2603113-any-chance-of-getting-a-mobile-app-back/

[PhoenixCruiser]

Android user

I went to the settings page as suggested and I'm now able to navigate the app again.

Laura and crew thank you so much!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Iamcruzin]

On 11/23/2018 at 2:17 AM, POA1 said:

Since you asked.

 

I am a member of a couple of forums that use the same version of IPBoard/Invision Community as Cruise Critic - but who have the Tapatalk plugin installed. One of the forums has their own app which is written using Tapatalk white label. (That's what the CC app was written on. However, the version of the old CC app would not support the current version of IPBoard, which is why it won't work anymore.) The other forum does not have a white label app, so you'd have to use the Tapatalk app. On the first forum, you can use either their app or Tapatalk. 

 

The speed of the mobile browser is noticeably slower when compared to the app versions. The data overhead, or bandwidth usage is quite a bit higher for the browser version. That might not be a big deal if you have unlimited data on your mobile plan, but not everyone does. 

 

There are display issues on the mobile and tablet versions of the browser based site. It's most noticeable in font support. (This should be a relatively simple fix since it can be done via CSS.) 

 

In any case, there's a pretty big difference between "mobile responsive" and "optimized for mobile." 

 

People miss optimized. I know that I do, and I figured out how to do most things in the mobile browser version. (I'll go out on a limb and say that I can probably do more than average.) 

 

That still does not change the fact that I'd be happier with a mobile optimized version of the site. There are people like my wife, who used the site 4 or 5 days a week via the app. She stopped using CC completely - and she has the site bookmarked on her phone and tablet - and I set up her custom activity streams. I can only imagine what it's like for people without in-house technical support. 

 

Thanks for the explanation. I am one of the everyday app users and have stopped using my phone due to the data usage and the battery drain. Hopefully others who insist that the mobil version is just as good will understand. I have also noticed that the boards have been much less active since the change. My guess is that the participants such as your wife were app users and just gave up.

[Iamcruzin]

On 11/30/2018 at 7:50 AM, POA1 said:

Me either, but I'm pretty sure that I used to see small ads on the CC app. Of course, I can't actually verify that now.

There were small ads embedded in on line in the middle of a page. Mine were usually items that I had searched on Amazon. They were very subtle but if you clicked on it you would get a full screen shot of the ad.

[POA1]

23 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

My guess is that the participants such as your wife were app users and just gave up.

 

Yep. That's it. The mobile friendly version of the site uses a ton of data/bandwidth. We just got off a cruise and CC was the biggest data consumer on our account. It beat Facebook, which is crazy. 

[POA1]

4 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

There were small ads embedded in on line in the middle of a page. Mine were usually items that I had searched on Amazon. They were very subtle but if you clicked on it you would get a full screen shot of the ad.

 

You're correct. The ads were there. 

[MisterBill99]

1 minute ago, POA1 said:

 

Yep. That's it. The mobile friendly version of the site uses a ton of data/bandwidth. We just got off a cruise and CC was the biggest data consumer on our account. It beat Facebook, which is crazy. 

 

That doesn't seem very (mobile) friendly.

Edited December 30, 2018 by MisterBill99

[POA1]

50 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

That doesn't seem very (mobile) friendly.

 

They were small ads, embedded in the post list. You now have side-loaded ads and and extraneous photo galleries. The current topic lists top 1 MB per load. The old ones were under 160 KB, including the ads. 

[MisterBill99]

51 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

They were small ads, embedded in the post list. You now have side-loaded ads and and extraneous photo galleries. The current topic lists top 1 MB per load. The old ones were under 160 KB, including the ads. 

 

I will admit to not paying attention to how much data websites use while on mobile devices. Is CC considerably worse than others? I will admit it seems strange for a site that was advertised as being mobile friendly to be such a data pig.

Edited December 30, 2018 by MisterBill99

[Host Hattie]

Still able to post here

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

[lr657]

10 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Android user

I went to the settings page as suggested and I'm now able to navigate the app again.

Laura and crew thank you so much!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

 

What did you change in the settings page that allowed you to navigate again?

[POA1]

5 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

I will admit to not paying attention to how much data websites use while on mobile devices. Is CC considerably worse than others? I will admit it seems strange for a site that was advertised as being mobile friendly to be such a data pig.

 

We were just on a ship and the internet plans monitored usage. You can also see the it if you know where to look or install a usage monitoring app. 

 

Mobile friendly simply refers to the fact that the site can reformat for smaller screens. The term is actually mobile responsive. 

[POA1]

I was able to get Tapatalk working again. In order to do so, I had to Unfollow CruiseCritix, which deletes it from Tapatalk and then re-follow and login. But it works.

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

 

I was able to get Tapatalk working again. In order to do so, I had to Unfollow CruiseCritix, which deletes it from Tapatalk and then re-follow and login. But it works.

 

 

Not working using that method on my iPhone.  Just tried, and still get a login failure

[POA1]

Don't feel bad. You get logged out as soon as your screen lock comes on and off in Android. I don't think it is ready for prime time yet. 

[broberts]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

 

Not working using that method on my iPhone.  Just tried, and still get a login failure

 

App is still not available for Apple platforms per

 

[h20skibum]

20 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

App is still not available for Apple platforms per

 

 

Hadn’t checked back there for a while, but it had been reported in post 125 that they were able to get it working on IOS. Looks like bugs still need worked out. 

 

 

[POA1]

The problem I'm having is that I get sort of logged out when my phone's screen locks. I see my notifications, but I can't see my subscribed threads. I have to click on log out, and then log back in again.

Could be a secret strategy. "If we make the app annoying enough, people will say, 'Hey, the web version is not so bad after all.'" ;)

[Turtles06]

May I interrupt with a question, as I've never used Tapatalk (when I access CC on my iPhone, I do it via the web site): what is it that makes Tapatalk superior for accessing CC on a phone?   Thanks!

[POA1]

13 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

May I interrupt with a question, as I've never used Tapatalk (when I access CC on my iPhone, I do it via the web site): what is it that makes Tapatalk superior for accessing CC on a phone?   Thanks!

 

Faster, less data use, and a posting screen that's optimized for the software keyboard. You can also hide the stickies. 

 

I would wait until they get the bugs worked out until I tried it out if I were you. Perhaps even wait until the CC app comes out. It will be built on Tapatalk "white label" but more than optimized for Cruise Critic. 

[POA1]

I should also add that you can attach multiple photos at once, something you cannot do with the browser based file picker - at least in Android. 

[broberts]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

 

Hadn’t checked back there for a while, but it had been reported in post 125 that they were able to get it working on IOS. Looks like bugs still need worked out. 

 

 

 

Yes, initially success was reported with iOS. The post I quoted is subsequent.

[Turtles06]

18 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

Faster, less data use, and a posting screen that's optimized for the software keyboard. You can also hide the stickies. 

 

I would wait until they get the bugs worked out until I tried it out if I were you. Perhaps even wait until the CC app comes out. It will be built on Tapatalk "white label" but more than optimized for Cruise Critic. 

 

Thanks.  I'm in no rush and can certainly wait.  (It really is working fine for me via the web site.  Knock wood.)  Much appreciated.  

[boblerm]

4 hours ago, POA1 said:

Faster, less data use, and a posting screen that's optimized for the software keyboard.

Posting from home using wi-fi, I find the mobile site to be faster.  Can you explain what "optimized for the software keyboard "means?  On  my android phone, the keyboard is the same and seems to work the same on tapatalk and on the mobile site.

4 hours ago, POA1 said:

I should also add that you can attach multiple photos at once, something you cannot do with the browser based file picker - at least in Android. 

I find it to be a breeze to attach multiple photos using the browser, easier than using tapatalk.

 

 

No trying to be argumentative, only wish to know what you mean.

Thanks,

Bob

Edited December 30, 2018 by boblerm

[POA1]

Just now, boblerm said:

Posting from home using wi-fi, I find the mobile site to be faster.  Can you explain what "optimized for the software keyboard "means?  On  my android phone, the keyboard is the same and seems to work the same on tapatalk and on the mobile site.

I find it to be a breeze to attach multiple photos using the browser, easier than using tapatalk.

 

 

No trying to be argumentative, only wish to know what you mean.

Thanks,

Bob

 

 

The file picker for Android isn't drag & drop. It's a single selection picker. If you want to use three files, it's three separate multi-step processes.  Tapatalk's file picker is a multi-select picker. I can post screen shots if you're not sure what I mean. I'm not sure if iOS has the same single file issue, but from what I've read, it may.