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Tapatalk vs Forums for Android? - Forums for Android

Rob

Rob

Galaxy S20 Ultra
News Moderator
Administrator
Over a MILLION people have installed this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tapatalk.androidforumscom

This is a massive upgrade! But curious to hear what new and old members think of this app vs Tapatalk?

Full disclosure: I think this app beast modes all over Tapatalk - and just wait until the website rolls out its new theme - but I'm also the owner of the site/app. Little bit bias, I admit!
 
As an elderly, confused nun once said of my family "they are simple folk", she may have been right. I am a TT girl and will continue to be, mostly for simplicity. I don't like a bunch of different apps when one can do the job. I use TT for a few forums and it's just convenient to have 'em all in one spot.

I'm sure the app is nice but I've never checked it out, just don't have a need or want for another (semi-duplicate) app.
 
Tapatalk x 1000

Now the Android forums app has updated to the new channels version, all of the lounge and social forums are missing... I can't see discussions for applications that aren't installed on the device I'm using... And I don't see information about other devices.

And I don't get a chance to interact with the awesome collection of androidforums.com members which makes this a fun place to hang out.

I wasn't going to mention it... But you did ask.
 
Feedback is good! Even negative feedback. Personally, I kind of hate Tapatalk because of how poorly it organizes our content and how annoying all the different logins are.

We have feature updates planned that would solve the above problems :) Once we nail down the basics, we will likely add more topics/communities and allow users to explore topics beyond what's on their phone. Autodetecting and generating forums for what's on your device gives people an amazing starting point.

I'm hoping that sub-communities will form within different app/game channels which would greatly extend the usefulness.

What other forums do you visit regularly? What other communities would you like to see in this app?
 
Tapatalk is a mess. Their updates for the past couple of years have been annoying and unnecessary.

I don't know how many times the UI has been changed but it confuses users and creates more bugs.

I only use it for my other non Android forums.

I'll have to check out this Phandroid one.
 
I tried the new app, it's broken for me- force closes as soon as I log in. Channels does the same thing although it was working before. Cleared data, uninstalled Channels since it's redundant now, app is still broken.
So I'm still using Tapatalk, but I would be anyway since I have multiple forums on it so it's more convenient.
 
Rob said:
Even negative feedback
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I wasn't being negative, just giving my opinion 'cause you asked and all :)

Rob said:
What other forums do you visit regularly? What other communities would you like to see in this app?
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I visit a guitar and snake/reptile forum as well.
See, that's the thing, I don't care about the whole 'communities' or sub-forums or social aspect. I open/view in unread/new posts and see what's there, doesn't matter what grouping it's under. I don't follow forums or even discussions. If it's a new thread or reply I see it, some I ignore and some I read.

tube517 said:
Tapatalk is a mess. Their updates for the past couple of years have been annoying and unnecessary.

I don't know how many times the UI has been changed but it confuses users and creates more bugs.
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Yep. But if you turn all the crap options off you just end up with a decent forum viewer.
 
Actually I deleted Tapatalk a couple of years ago. The ever-growing amount of UI clutter was bad enough, but when I met a version in which the "tapatalk id" seemed to be obligatory I just gave up. I do still have a copy of the old Tapatalk-powered XDA app (based on an earlier version of Tapatalk), but just use a mobile browser otherwise.

As for the Forums app, I personally prefer to keep my online IDs separate, so when the only option I could see was to sign in using my Google account rather than my AF account I didn't bother going any further.
 
I think the new app is better than tappa... At least in theory. Obviously it's missing features and functionality, but performance-wise I gave up on tappa a long time ago. They constantly change where buttons are located and it got slower and slower all the time. I've used chrome on my mobile to browse AF for some time now. The new app is nice, and streamlined, and fast. It's minimal though. You still need to access the website for the full forum experience.

TL;DR
The new app is great for what it is. It's fast, sleek and to the point.

If you're looking for an app to replace AF altogether, there's no way in hell...
 
Am I being stupid but where has my posts gone I can't see any sub forums where I have posted in the last week, does this mean I need to use the website?
 
Think I'll stick with Tapatalk for the moment, especially if the new app requires to be signed into Google rather than just my regular AF account. And I've never made a Tapatalk account.

Frankly Tapatalk does what I need in a forum app, basically to look at new posts, and keep track of threads I've replied or subscribed.

At the moment it's about 50/50 if I'm using my phone with the app or using laptop for the full AF website.
 
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Just tried another uninstall/reinstall of the Forums app and it still FC's on my phone. I suspect it's a 4.4.2 compatibility issue, but there are a lot of people still using KK so a fix would be nice.
Unfortunately the device forums are now gone from Tapatalk as well so the only way to see them (for now at least) is via browser.
One issue with being limited to device detection is it makes it impossible to see/use the forums for other devices than the one you are currently using. Many users here own and/or have interest in multiple devices so there should be a way to accommodate that.
I realize it's a work in progress, just wanted to throw these things out there. Don't want to see things go too far backward before they go forward again.
 
Apart from a brief trial of Tapatalk (not impressed!), I use only browser access, more than 95% of the time on my phone and, at least for the time being, have no intention of doing anything else.
 
It's more clean... Easy to work with... But it can be nicer to edit my profile from here... Have PM and check status of Members. Able to see the actual devices forums knowing that i have over 8 devices that i follow. Im not to happy to see that my Username has been change when i signed in.
Otherwise I can get used to it.
Thank you for your time Administrating the forum.
 
Phases said:
Taps drove me nuts. Love where this is going, as a user not forum admin!
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Ohh the benefit of the inside track....

I don't know where this is going, but I trust you guys have a plan...

Anyway at the moment its not all there, but I'll reserve my judgement till we get to play with the real deal...
 
For me I just don't get how this is a improvement, there is no forums for apps or themes etc... unless it's going to be added later?
 
I just updated to the new version and here's my two cents. The app doesn't seem to lag the way the old version did and I like the material design. However, I think as far as functionality goes, that this update was a huge step in the wrong direction.

My only dislikes about the old version were that sometimes I would see my profile picture imbedded in everyone's posts or there just wouldn't be any profile pictures visible. Performance has began to lag with the old version over the last 18 months or so. Also, sometimes I would get a toast notification saying that I "need a valid forum id" or that I "must be logged in to perform this action" and I would have to logout, force close the app, and login again to fix the issue.

Really, what I was hoping for was for an update similar to the XDA Legacy app (formerly known as XDA Premium which was basically identical to the old Android Forums app) where the ui is updated with a material theme and the bugs are squashed, while keeping all the functionality that the app has had for as long as I have used it.

My personal opinion, scrap the new version of the AF app and go look at the XDA Legacy app and the Devs Base app. This new update is a perfect example of what happens when you try to fix something that isn't broken. All that's needed is to take the old AF app, fix the bugs and optimize it for newer android versions, and give it a material theme. There is no need to radically change the ui or functionality of the app like what has been done.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
This new update is awful! I've never seen an update be so bad. Everything that I was following is gone! Every post I've made is gone! Unbelievable!
 
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