Users browsing the new Rum Ration on their mobile phones or iPads may come across the ever so cryptic message “This forum is Android/iPhone Native! Click OK to learn more about Tapatalk for xxxxx”. Those brave enough to select OK will end up in the appropriate Android Market or Apple App Store being invited to download an application about which you probably know nothing. Unsurprisingly most people seem to have selected cancel and continued browsing as normal.
For those of us brave enough to try Tapatalk we’ve had the pleasure of discovering a mobile phone app that is designed to directly interface with web forums (like Rum Ration) in a super fast manner that makes them extremely simple & quick to use. The key to its success is that it only downloads the content from the individual threads and then presents them without any of the padding you get on normal websites.
Like many mobile phone apps it comes in two versions; a free one designed to entice you in and the the paid one which has full functionality. Being something of a scrooge this approach is definitely the most effective one for me as I’ll always need some convincing before I hand over the $2.99 that you pay for the full version. For the last month or so I’ve been trialling the free version on my HTC Hero (Android 2.1) in a variety of locations, some with wifi access but a considerable number only possessing 3G signals of varying quality. Obviously my forum of choice has been ARRSE which with its vast numbers of boards and posts you’d expect to give the app a hard time particularly on a low strength signal. Overall though its performance has been extremely creditable with significantly less delays than I got when using the mobile browser.
The interface is worthy of mention offering as it does quick links to latest posts, categorised forums, subscribed threads and even private messages. On the free version you are limited to read only but this certainly gives you a feel for how good a piece of software this is. If like me, you end up paying for the full version you get the ability to send private messages, create and reply to topics and even upload pics from the camera. I haven’t tried the latter but I can imagine it adding a whole new dimension to interaction on here!
As you already guessed I’m a big fan although all areas access (...) is causing domestic difficulties in chateau Bad CO. An app like this is also so clearly the way forward that we’ve paid the company the $999 that they wanted to produce a branded version for us that we can offer via the Apple App store to all those of you who own an iPhone. Unfortunately we’re not rich enough to do the same for those of us of Android, Blackberry, Windows or Nokia phones ..... but IMHO $2.99 is a small price to pay for what you get. Try it you won’t be disappointed.
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