"Updated" ER App for IPAD

F

FIYes

Full time employment: Posting here.
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Apr 25, 2004
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Just updated the ER app for iPad and I do not like the new version. The old version showed when a thread was last updated...very handy I thought. The new version integrates sponsored links with the forum topics....perhaps needed if funding was an issue, but annoying.

If you haven't updated, my advice is DON'T!
 
Never mind. Some of my objections were because I had not signed in to the forum. I am channeling Roseanne Roseanna Danna!
 
Well I never updated the ER app and I got the new version also. I never had to login from iPhone before (ever). The ads intermixed with real posts are awful.
 
The android app is also updated. I was annoyed initially (because, you know, change is bad!) Then I got used to it.

I still prefer the old version - but I'm ok with the new version.

I definitely notice (and am annoyed by) the ads, though.
 
"Updated" ER App for IPAD

Yikes! The ads are thrown right into the timeline topics on the left side and disguised as User Names.
 
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I really don't like the way ads are mixed in now.
 
I use the Android version on my nexus tablet. I use dark mode, and it is very annoying in several ways. More ads, and bright pictures on the left interspersed in the topics list.
 
I never updated either. My phone said the app crashed. It did not. What's with the ads? Where's the timeline? I cannot look at the threads. I don't like the concept of "trending", since this entire forum is about not following the trend.
 
That is why I only use a PC with Adblock for Forums. Being as I have NEVER purchased anything based on an On Line ad I did not search for, or even read any for that matter, they are not losing anything from me.
 
rodi said:
The android app is also updated. I was annoyed initially (because, you know, change is bad!) Then I got used to it.

I still prefer the old version - but I'm ok with the new version.

....
Click to expand...

Maybe I should put this in the 'pet peeve' thread, but I'm really bothered by this attitude that we just need to 'get used to' updates, and that people are resistant to change. Maybe you were using some satire there, but your line ' I prefer the old, but ok with the new'. If developers go through the trouble to update something, it sure ought to be better, not just OK with people preferring the old. Why change?

I find people LOVE change, if it is positive change. Yes, sometimes in order to get to the positive change, you have to disrupt old habits, and that can take some getting used to, and create some problems while you adapt. But generally, many of the 'updates' we see are just not improvements at all, often go backwards, and often appear to be change for change's sake.

BTW, I turned ad block off for this site as a test (desktop version). The ads on it don't bother me, they aren't too intrusive, but I also can't imagine I'd ever click on one. They sometimes reflect something I've shopped for, so I've already looked at it. But I guess it pays the bills.

-ERD50
 
ERD50 - I was laughing at myself and my resistance to change for sure. But I wasn't being sarcastic when I said I was ok with the new version... There are toher things to get upset about... And since I have teenagers - I have a lot more pressing things to be annoyed by. It's a choice.
 
rodi said:
ERD50 - I was laughing at myself and my resistance to change for sure. But I wasn't being sarcastic when I said I was ok with the new version... There are toher things to get upset about... And since I have teenagers - I have a lot more pressing things to be annoyed by. It's a choice.
Click to expand...

OK, but upset or not, my point is that developers should be providing updates that people like, not something they can just tolerate. Maybe sometimes there are other issues they need to address, and that forces them to make other changes that affect the user, but I bet that is pretty rare.

There generally is no shortage of things that could be improved on just about any site, yet, things often go backwards for users, rather than forward.

-ERD50
 
ERD50 said:
OK, but upset or not, my point is that developers should be providing updates that people like, not something they can just tolerate. Maybe sometimes there are other issues they need to address, and that forces them to make other changes that affect the user, but I bet that is pretty rare.

There generally is no shortage of things that could be improved on just about any site, yet, things often go backwards for users, rather than forward.

-ERD50
Click to expand...

Disclaimer - the following is my opinion as a user and has nothing to do with me being a moderator. As a moderator, I have nothing to do with the app and how it works.

As a former software developer - you have to remember who's paying the app developers... the owners of the site - NOT THE USERS. Presumably the owners are trying to better monetize the app (which didn't have ads as overt before.) That is their right.

I worked developing cable tv settop boxes for a few decades... The end user had NOTHING to do with the features we worked hardest on - things like ad insertion, etc. The customer was not the end user... the customer was the MSO - Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Adelphia, etc... They were the ones buying the settop boxes from us. If they saw a way to increase revenues - they pushed for the software to allow capture of that revenue. The end user might not like it - but as long as they didn't cut the cord or need a truck roll... it was all good.

I'm not saying that the customer (er.org's owner) should discount the end user (us). But the reality is that these app changes likely increased ad revenue which is good for the owners bottom line.
 
rodi said:
...
I'm not saying that the customer (er.org's owner) should discount the end user (us). But the reality is that these app changes likely increased ad revenue which is good for the owners bottom line.
Click to expand...

Certainly - the owners need to balance their revenue stream with their user's satisfaction. And they don't need to be mutually exclusive.

From the replies so far, it sounds like some will not be using the mobile app, so maybe they erred too far on one side. Their problem though.

-ERD50
 
I don't mind the ads as much as the fact it seems to have slowed down
 
I've noticed that some users use the tapatalk app to read the forum. Is this a good alternative?
 
rodi said:
I'm not saying that the customer (er.org's owner) should discount the end user (us).
Click to expand...


Ok. Glad you clarified that because it is EXACTLY what I was thinking as I read through your post.
 
I have Tapatalk and I checked last night and it was still the same way it has always been - no ads.
 
You might give the mobile version of the site a try - no app needed. You can find this by going to the full site with a regular browser and then looking in the lower left for the style chooser. Select mobile. It's pretty good and a bit cleaner than the app.
 
Does anyone know of there is a description of the API used? Maybe someone would be interested in writing an alternative app...
 
Now that I have had several days to get used to it....I must say that I still don't like it!
 
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