Cruise Critic mobile app

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

What’s the point of using it? (Inquiring minds want to know.) 🤷‍♀️

 

Some people, especially younger people, like apps (I don't; I don't trust them). CC used to have an app that made it easier to read the forums on a phone or mobile device; it was just for reading forums, nothing fancy. When CC moved to new platform a few years ago that app was not compatible. The new platform was necessary as CC had outgrown the old one.

 

If I wanted to be really snide, I would say that the point of using apps is so that the developer can make money selling your data and pushing advertising. For the record and so that I don't get sued for libel, this particular app says that it does not sell/give data to third parties.

 

This new app is more than a forums reader. It is also sales and advertising -- 'everything users need to plan (and book?) their next cruise' kind of thing.

 

In the meantime, mobile browsing has gotten better. So, I'll stick with the browser, the TA and the search & organize system I already have in place. Fortunately, using the app is optional -- because I don't trust apps or their developers and I don't want to be a beta tester for one either. Moreover, there is no version for my desktop, where I see and type much better than on mobile devices.

 

On the other hand, if other people using this app is a money maker for Cruise Critic, then I am not going complain (as long as using the app is not mandatory). It costs money to run a website like this and if we aren't paying to participate then there has to be some other source of income to keep the doors open.

[photopro2]

15 hours ago, dd57 said:

I downloaded the app when prompted while I was using Chrome browser on my Android tablet (in the US).  It looks just like it does when using a browser.  It took me straight to the forums when I opened it. When I check the app in Settings, it says it was downloaded from Google Play Store.

This was my experience exactly. I think the link from the cruise critic site opens the app in the forums section. The link in this thread I think goes to the homepage which has mainly adverts.

I didn't know what everyone was talking about at first when they said that it was purely a 3rd party marketing tool because I had not seen that section of the app. Now that I have explored I have found my way back to the home page which is, indeed, full of advertisements for cruises.

However by scrolling down into the cruise critic section of the home page there is a link saying something like "go to forums" and once I have clicked on that the app looks just like the cruise critic site. 

It comes back to the same section when I close and reopen the app which is why I had never seen all that marketing stuff before.

Like you I'm using an Android device and maybe we are getting a better experience and those with Apple products?

Edited August 27, 2023 by photopro2
Added information

[photopro2]

14 hours ago, dd57 said:

On my tablet it is faster than using my browser

I find the same on my Android phone.

[photopro2]

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

On the other hand, if other people using this app is a money maker for Cruise Critic, then I am not going complain (as long as using the app is not mandatory)

I totally agree with you and you will see from my comments above that I, for one, am very pleased with it 🙂

[1985rz1]

12 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

This new app is more than a forums reader. It is also sales and advertising -- 'everything users need to plan (and book?) their next cruise' kind of thing.

 

I'm not sure which app you referring to.  The one downloaded from the CC page on the web browser (not the link posted on this thread) goes directly to the CC forum site with no ads or any enticements to plan or book.  Maybe it's an Android thing or a US thing, but the app is simply called Cruise Critic Community.

Edited August 27, 2023 by 1985rz1

[dd57]

If you go to cruisecritic.com as opposed to boards.cruisecritic.com, you also get ads and ways to book cruises.  The Android app that @1985rz1, @photopro2 and I are talking about takes you directly to the boards.  Just like thru a browser, you can get to the main Cruise Critic page if you want to.

[1985rz1]

2 minutes ago, dd57 said:

If you go to cruisecritic.com as opposed to boards.cruisecritic.com, you also get ads and ways to book cruises.  The Android app that @1985rz1, @photopro2 and I are talking about takes you directly to the boards.  Just like thru a browser, you can get to the main Cruise Critic page if you want to.

Yes. I should have added in my post, no ads more than are on the website now.

[Twitchly]

No app called “Cruise Critic Community” for Apple.

 

I’ll stick to the website for now.

[dd57]

I sent email to Cruise Critic thru the Contact Us option asking about the Android "app"  (the Cruise Critic Community app, not the My Cruiseline app some people were talking about).  The response is that there is not an app, just a way to create an item on the tablet that goes straight to the boards thru the default browser.  Like a shortcut.  This explains why when the app freezes, Android tells me Chrome is not responding.  I suspect that the reason that the "app" appears snappier is that the instance of the browser is using less memory.

 

So people who stick to the browser to access Cruise Critic are not missing anything.

 

I uninstalled the "app".  The next time I went to Cruise Critic thru Chrome, the banner came back recommending to install the app.  Is everyone using the "app" using Chrome?

[photopro2]

14 hours ago, dd57 said:

I suspect that the reason that the "app" appears snappier is that the instance of the browser is using less memory.

That makes some sense and I am using Chrome.

The "app" is not just a conventional shortcut to the browser though 

You will see from the screenshot that I have a shortcut BA lounges which I know launches in Chrome. That shortcut includes the Chrome logo. The item on my desktop for the cruise critic "App" is different and has a a logo which looks just like all my other apps. I also have an app in my apps folder called "Cruise Critic" Creating a shortcut does not create an item in the app folder.

This does beg the question if the "app" is exactly the same as creating a shortcut why have cruise critic or whoever put it out there?

Edited August 30, 2023 by photopro2
Missed word

[dd57]

I guess it is some sort of front-end that ties into Chrome in the back end.  More than a shortcut but less than a full blown app.  If you click on "App details in store" under APP Info in Settings, it tries to take you to a page in Play Store for the app but fails.  But if it is a bad app, why does Chrome keep telling us to install it.  And I have "only install from play store" turned on, so where did it come from?  Very strange.

[photopro2]

17 hours ago, dd57 said:

The response is that there is not an app,

It is really strange that you got that you got that answer from someone at cruise critic saying that there is no app when this thread was started by people because they had received an email from cruise critic to say that there was an app???

To quote from Alice's adventures in Wonderland: Curiouser & Curiouser......

Edited August 30, 2023 by photopro2
Typo

[longterm]

3 hours ago, dd57 said:

I guess it is some sort of front-end that ties into Chrome in the back end.  More than a shortcut but less than a full blown app.  If you click on "App details in store" under APP Info in Settings, it tries to take you to a page in Play Store for the app but fails.  But if it is a bad app, why does Chrome keep telling us to install it.  And I have "only install from play store" turned on, so where did it come from?  Very strange.

Not exactly; Chrome isn't the back end. Chrome, Safari, and other smartphone browsers are simply displaying data from web servers and database servers. Message boards are actually powered by databases that contain all the data that you see here--this post, for example. Even Facebook and other social media, including the mess that used to be Twitter, are powered by databases.

 

The app is just a front end that gets a feed from the same database that powers this message board. It's similar to the hurricane apps that you can find on the App Store; they simply access existing hurricane maps and fashion them into rather clunky apps.

 

This app has access to the CC database, which is why the app recognizes our logins and shows the same threads. CC has apparently partnered with this developer, and given them access to the message board database.

 

When I tried it on the iPhone, I quickly saw that it was badly written; I write iPhone and web apps professionally, so I know good programming when I see it--and this is not that. When you quit the app on the iPhone, and then return, it doesn't put you back in the forum, but back on the front of the app, where it's nothing but a barrage of ads. Perhaps it works better on Android, I don't know, but from what I saw of the iPhone app, it was clearly designed to sell cruises, not to help CC users access this forum. That, combined with the shoddy work on the icons, which on didn't even line up properly on my iPhone, led me to quickly dispose of the app.

[photopro2]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

When you quit the app on the iPhone, and then return, it doesn't put you back in the forum, but back on the front of the app, where it's nothing but a barrage of ads. Perhaps it works better on Android

I can certainly understand that that would be annoying.

 

When I close and reopen my android version of the app it does return to wherever I was when I closed it - on a board or even in a particular post, so I am not normally seeing the ads that you saw. In my experience the general performance of the android version is better too, as you suggest might be the case, hence my preferring it to the browser site.

 

What is really puzzling me though is why, on one hand, Cruisecritic sent out emails promoting the app and, on the other hand, they are saying that it doesn't exist when asked about it????

 

Does anyone have the text of the emails that Cruisecritic sent that they could post to this thread by any chance?

[millybess]

A couple of weeks ago, I got a prompt from CC on this website about the app.  Since you all have been talking about it, I was intrigued and I've looked into it further -- app store, CC website, etc. and can no longer find any info on it.  Given this dialogue it seems to be more trouble than it's worth and I think I'll stick to the browser.

[LindaS272]

37 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

What is really puzzling me though is why, on one hand, Cruisecritic sent out emails promoting the app and, on the other hand, they are saying that it doesn't exist when asked about it????

Sounds like Viking “Customer Service” 😂🫣🫠

[longterm]

53 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

I can certainly understand that that would be annoying.

 

When I close and reopen my android version of the app it does return to wherever I was when I closed it - on a board or even in a particular post, so I am not normally seeing the ads that you saw. In my experience the general performance of the android version is better too, as you suggest might be the case, hence my preferring it to the browser site.

 

What is really puzzling me though is why, on one hand, Cruisecritic sent out emails promoting the app and, on the other hand, they are saying that it doesn't exist when asked about it????

 

Does anyone have the text of the emails that Cruisecritic sent that they could post to this thread by any chance?

I never got an email, but I did find the app in the iPhone App Store, called "My Kind of Cruise." I re-downloaded it just now so people could see the awful design flaw at the bottom, as well as the CC logo clearly displayed.

 

I circled the logo, and also the awful flaw at the bottom. Deleted the app... again... 🙂

[millybess]

4 minutes ago, longterm said:

I never got an email, but I did find the app in the iPhone App Store, called "My Kind of Cruise." I re-downloaded it just now so people could see the awful design flaw at the bottom, as well as the CC logo clearly displayed.

 

I circled the logo, and also the awful flaw at the bottom. Deleted the app... again... 🙂

Exactly 👍

[OneSixtyToOne]

“Powered by Cruise Critic” could mean they are just using the website for content. Seems like a low quality startup operation.

[dd57]

It is clear that the apple app and the android app are 2 completely different things.

[photopro2]

13 hours ago, longterm said:

I circled the logo, and also the awful flaw at the bottom. Deleted the app... again... 🙂

I now see what you mean and understand why you binned it.

12 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Seems like a low quality startup operation.

And yet cruise critic have been promoting them via banners and emails.......

8 hours ago, dd57 said:

It is clear that the apple app and the android app are 2 completely different things.

That certainly seems to be the case. One of the criticisms of the Apple app is the number of adverts that appear. I don't normally see adverts using the app on my android mobile but I always do when using the browser on my MacBook. see screenshots.

Edited August 31, 2023 by photopro2
Clarification

[longterm]

15 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

“Powered by Cruise Critic” could mean they are just using the website for content. Seems like a low quality startup operation.

Yes, but in order to access the database, they had to have been granted access, which means CC worked with them in developing the app.

 

For example, Amazon's site is powered by a database; they won't let just any company get access to it, but do sometimes allow developers to "hook" into it and use data from their database. Another example is UPS; they allow shipping apps to hook into their database, which is how the apps are able to let you know when your packages will arrive.

 

Other companies explicitly forbid programmers from accessing their databases; I've had mixed success implementing interfaces with various sites--some welcome it, some flatly deny access.