iPhone/Android app?

[Troll_Star]

Is there one in the works for this forum?

[Razi]

Not that I know of, but browsing Nico on the phone's browser works well enough for me.

[Kompresshun]

No there isn't. Mobile Apps are very expensive to develop and NICO is expensive to keep up and running as it is. Even putting that aside - it would be hard to make it play nice with everything that makes the site work.

Also, before anyone brings it up again - Yes, we've considered Tapatalk too and it still is not a viable option, so it's still is out of the question.

As Razi said - NICO works just fine in mobile phone browsers and many of us have confirmed that, so there's also not really a need for a mobile friendly version. There is so much content on NICOclub, that you couldn't fully enjoy the site through a mobile app anyways.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, there are tons of them. They're called web browsers.

I've never understood the demand for smartphone apps for web forums. Smartphones are designed with web browsing as a central function. An Android forum app makes as much sense as a Windows forum app.

Tapatalk is clunky and awkward, and feels like it was designed for past generations of smart phones with tiny, low-res screens and limited memory. But anything capable of running tapatalk can also run Opera Mobile, or Dolphin HD, or even Chrome, all of which work far better than any forum-purposed app.

[IanS]

Yeah, there are tons of them. They're called web browsers.

I've never understood the demand for smartphone apps for web forums. Smartphones are designed with web browsing as a central function. An Android forum app makes as much sense as a Windows forum app.

Tapatalk is clunky and awkward, and feels like it was designed for past generations of smart phones with tiny, low-res screens and limited memory. But anything capable of running tapatalk can also run Opera Mobile, or Dolphin HD, or even Chrome, all of which work far better than any forum-purposed app.

Every time I go on NASIOC or any other tapatalk site, I have to wait that extra 10 seconds while it loads up the stupid little window to ask me if I would like to use tapatalk. Then I have to click no, and wait some more. When will they learn

NO I DONT WANT TO USE YOUR CRAPPY FORUM RUINING JUNK

Its the most intrusive, and annoying advertisement that I see on a daily basis. For this reason alone, I will NEVER use crapatalk. Even if the feartures did make it worth it, which they dont.

Thank you Nico, for not caving to the demands of the app whores.

[AppleBonker]

Every time I go on NASIOC or any other tapatalk site, I have to wait that extra 10 seconds while it loads up the stupid little window to ask me if I would like to use tapatalk. Then I have to click no, and wait some more. When will they learn [...] Its the most intrusive, and annoying advertisement that I see on a daily basis.

This. Exactly this.

I've actually been browsing NICO more on my mobile phone than any other device the last few days without any issues.

[AZhitman]

Thank you Nico, for not caving to the demands of the app whores.

It's how we roll.

[C-Kwik]

Yeah, there are tons of them. They're called web browsers.

I've never understood the demand for smartphone apps for web forums. Smartphones are designed with web browsing as a central function. An Android forum app makes as much sense as a Windows forum app.

Tapatalk is clunky and awkward, and feels like it was designed for past generations of smart phones with tiny, low-res screens and limited memory. But anything capable of running tapatalk can also run Opera Mobile, or Dolphin HD, or even Chrome, all of which work far better than any forum-purposed app.

We've discussed the primary reason for not allowing tapatalk access already. Security concerns.

But I disagree with your assessment that forum apps make no sense on phones. Browsing on a phone is a whole lot more cumbersome than browsing on a PC. A 10 inch tablet is also a ton easier than a phone. Unless you have stylus sized fingers and magnifying glass eyes, its not easier to view a full browser page on typical websites on a ~4 inch screen. Sure you can zoom, but the primary purpose for a forum from a user perspective is to read threads. An app (perhaps even a web page) that allows one to see just the body of the threads makes a huge difference. I can't speak for Tapatalk personally, but I do use the Phandroid app on my phone to view android forum threads (and also the news section). I can get to the forums I have saved as favorites quite quickly and I don't have to struggle in trying to press on links or zoom in to read the contents. I don't use the app for the sake of using the app though. I use the stock browser on my Android tablet.

As for Windows not having an app for forums, it makes no sense because relatively few Windows devices have touchscreens. I have a convertible tablet and browsing by finger touch is not ideal mainly because browsers aren't really optimized for it. But readability and finger size is less of an issue than on a phone. But when I'm in tablet mode, I usually have my stylus in hand so its usually not that big of a deal. My android tablet is pretty acceptable because of Samsung's modification to the stock browser's interface.

Ultimately, most people are going to use phones more like they might use a tablet than they would a PC. Tablets and phones will be used much more as consumption devices rather than productivity devices. Anything that streamlines a particular process will likely be favored more than the alternatives. Which is why I use apps to browse news articles rather than using the browser. And why I would type a response this long from a PC rather than my phone or tablet.

Lastly, another consideration for an app over a browser may be data limits and throttling. Those who don't have unlimited data plans may be more concerned about minimizing data. Before I moved close enough to school to ride a bike, I was easily going over 2GB each month (which has become the limit for AT&T and VZW). This was primarily from using Pandora. With the likelihood that unlimited plans are not going to be as commonplace in the future, all applications and websites are going to be competing to some extent with each other for each consumer's bandwidth allotment. I'm not sure how big of an issue this is overall but none of the major carriers have unlimited data for new business anymore. Even then, AT&T is throttling data if a threshold is crossed. Verizon's doing so when necessary on 3G connections (4G will probably follow when it becomes more widely used). That said, minimizing the amount of data transferred at all times reduces the chance of getting to the point of being throttled and makes it easier to get the same data across a slower connection.

[MinisterofDOOM]

My personal experience with my G1 and G2 has left me irritated with tapatalk and the XDA forum app (based on tapatalk). Opera Mobile supports compression and data limiting. Pinch zoom means links are easily accessed regardless of screen or page element size. I've never felt the NEED for a forum app. I've experiemented with them and found them unsatisfactory.

It's certainly a matter of taste, but to me it feels like nothing more than putting the forum through a Big Text filter and asking me to wait while it refreshes the thread list twelve times as often.

[Stev0n]

I hate tapatalk.

But would a mobile version of the forum create the same concerns as an app?
I ask because, while they do lack some functionality, I love the mobile versions of my Harley forum & LS1 forum.

They're the same because both sites use the same bb/forum type. The mobile version is basic & I love it. They also have word wrap so I can zoom as big as I want and not have to scroll side to side constantly.

I have bad eyesight & even with glasses or contacts, the amount of zoom I have to use to see everything clearly makes it annoying with the constant side to side scrolling to read a post.

It's sad actually. There's nothing wrong with it, we've just become lazier as a society and want everything to be as physically & mentally easy as possible.


Oh, I typed this all on my iPhone 4s. Lol

[hitbychance]

TBH i would rather scroll then have functionality taken out for mobile. I'm not a big fan of mobile versions.

[S133P3R]

love browsing the forums from my iPod4... when i have wifi. works great every time.