Is Tapatalk not going to be supported with the new forum?

[Deixi]

Tapatalk support is badly needed... It was my main source for TMC forums... Although the new design is much better on mobile devices now, I probably will just stop reading it if I have to use a browser version. It was just so much easier switching between my forums in tapatalk.
I hope the admins will come up with something...

 

[Electroman]

Anything the admins can feed us poor Tapatalk ex-users with some good news? timelines?

 

[HankLloydRight]

I have to admit that I will rarely be on the forums anymore due to the loss of tapatalk support as well as the fact that the mobile version of this web site from a mobile browser is just absolutely horrific. Therefore I will not be using my phone to come here anymore, and that was 99% of my usage.

I am finding it hard to get in front of a desktop to surf TMC and slowly and surely my participation will decrease.

Getting used to the new UI... Without Tapatalk access, I do find myself on the site less...

If this thread is a petition, I am chiming in requesting renewed Tapatalk support. Maybe it is a pain for the admins (and for that I am sympathetic and appreciative of their hard work), but my frequency here on the site has dropped by 90% because of it. I acknowledge the mobile web interface is a whiz-bang improvement over what it was before, but it is nothing compared to the tapatalk interface's speed. Is it because Tapatalk doesn't support adds?

These posts echo how I feel. I'm getting used to the new interface on the desktop, but that was maybe 15% of my access, the rest was all on Tapatalk. Whenever I had a spare minute or two, I'd be on TMC reading/posting from my iPhone or iPad. The web interface just is not usable on mobile, despite being "responsive".

I'd gladly pay for Tapatalk access, if ad revenue is the concern. I currently have dozens of "watched threads" with hundreds of new posts that I'm unable to catch-up on because I can't access the site on my mobile.

I don't know the specifics of why Tapatalk can't be used, but I sure hope Doug and Danny can work it out. My participation has dropped 90% because of it.

 

[InternetDude]

I find the mobile view just fine, bookmark the New Posts link or click that link when you come on the site. Put a icon on the home screen if you want "app-like" access to the bookmark.

 

[Zaxxon]

I find the mobile view just fine, bookmark the New Posts link or click that link when you come on the site. Put a icon on the home screen if you want "app-like" access to the bookmark.

The issue isn't speed at which one opens the site, but speed at which one can navigate the site. The mobile view (and, frankly, any web-based view) is inherently inferior to Tapatalk's app-based experience.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Agreed. Even using the iPad and the browser, the entire click/read/back button sequence is real tiring, real quick -- wait for each page to load all the HTML elements and images, etc each time (even when cached). And then going "back" to the topic list most times leaves it at a different position than where clicked. And then trying to click-hold on any link to "open in new tab" so the topic list stays intact is also a pain in the ass to go navigating and then closing different tabs -- also waiting for each of them to load the entire HTML page.

Tapatalk was far superior in these respects since it ONLY loaded the textual components of each thread, and context was always preserved.

 

[InternetDude]

The issue isn't speed at which one opens the site, but speed at which one can navigate the site. The mobile view (and, frankly, any web-based view) is inherently inferior to Tapatalk's app-based experience.

I was just offering a tip to give you a way to get to what's new faster, closer to what TT provides. New Posts gets you the list of recent topics since you visited last, tap on each to jump to the new post(s). What more do you want?

The mobile view is inherently more secure and less buggy than TT's experience. I use TT daily so I get it but TT only cares about TT.

 

[Zaxxon]

I'm not suggesting the mods blindly go back to Tapatalk, especially if they're not comfortable with that specific app. Your comment mentioned an 'app-like experience.' I was just pointing out that in no way does a homescreen bookmark replicate an app-like forum experience.

To make it more concrete (though Hank just did a good job of that), loading the 'new posts' page on my phone takes about 5-8 seconds. This compares to 1-2 seconds in Tapatalk, and in Tapatalk I can view all new threads, all unread threads, all subscribed threads, all participated threads, etc. I am then taken to the first unread post if I choose a thread (1-2 seconds vs 5-8). If one is following a large number of threads, it's just a lot less efficient to use the mobile web view, and adds up to many minutes of lost time daily for folks who are addict^Z^Z^Z^Z^Z visit the site frequently..

Again, I appreciate that the new web view is a vast improvement over the old (thanks!). I'd still like to see what the admins have in store for us going forward in terms of a native mobile experience.

 

[ecarfan]

To me the key advantage offered by Tapatalk was the dual scrollable column display of Unread posts, with the thread titles on the left and the posts in the selected thread on the right, and how rapidly you could scroll through unread posts in a thread and then select another unread thread and rapidly scroll through the posts. It was an extremesly fast way to scan unread posts to see if any were of interest.

The new site format on desktop or mobile (in my case meaning iPad or iPhone), while a definite improvement over the old site format. involves many more forward and back commands to accomplish the same thing, and takes far longer.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

The issue isn't speed at which one opens the site, but speed at which one can navigate the site. The mobile view (and, frankly, any web-based view) is inherently inferior to Tapatalk's app-based experience.

I agree.

After a few days using the mobile web view, TMC is just sluggish compared to the old site with a Tapatalk interface, and honestly it is less enjoyable to use. Reading through the forum with a web browser also consumes a lot more battery energy than Tapatalk did.

 

[Electroman]

InternetDude: If you like Mobile web site, please continue to use it. Leave the rest of the folks in this topic who have been using Tapatalk for a long time and are missing it very badly.

Don't get me wrong. This new mobile site is many times better than the old site. No doubt it. It is better than many other websites I visit on my iPhone. If I hadn't used Tapatalk at all, I would be thinking this is the best. But unfortunately Tapatalk is that much more better in not only speed, but in terms of navigation. It takes the fluff out and just gives the content in an easy to consume fashion and makes maneuvering a breeze. I can go in and out of Tapatalk 50 times a day and catch up on all the relevant topics and replies with ease. Not on the mobile website, although from a pure browser rendering perspective it actually does a good job.

You can give a zillion short cuts and workarounds to get to close to Tapatalk feature. But workarounds are just that.

 

[tomy]

Are there any plans for suporting Tapatalk any time soon? As mostly I'm on the train when browsing through various forums, I miss TMC quite a bit. The only client which works fine on mobile and iPad for now is Tapatalk.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I was browsing another forum on Tapatalk that I previously spent all my time on (pre TMC, that is), which I'm now finding myself migrating back to much more often.

And it is a constant reminder of how great Tapatalk was for browsing TMC used to be.

The web interface just doesn't cut it. It works, but is painful.

Are there ANY plans to revive Tapatalk, or use some other tool/app like Forumrunner?

I just can't surf TMC nearly as fast, efficient, or enjoyable as it was on Tapatalk. PLEASE bring it back!

 

[HankLloydRight]

One more thing for Doug and/or Danny -- if you're absolutely dead set against Tapatalk, can you please tell us exactly what your beef with it is? What is the security hole? Can we help in any way to work with the Tapatalk folks to address whatever concern you have?

It really sucks to be told "nope, we're not doing it just because we say we're not" really without any logical reasoning. I think we're mostly reasonable people. If there is a valid security exploit or hole, please tell us what it is, and we'll leave you alone.

 

[Ryan MF]

I've also started using more of the reddit mobile app. Reddit has a teslamotors subforum not as much content as TMC but very easy to read and navigate with their app.

 

[Electroman]

I am patiently waiting and hoping that the site admins would atleast take a minute or two and tell us what steps they have taken to get back Tapatalk support, so that I can keep my hopes alive. There were some mumblings early on about some security hole and getting in touch with the Tapatalk developers and such, and after that it's been two weeks now and nothing.

While the inaction and disinterest shown by the owners of this site to address this issue is frustrating and quite upsetting, the lack of any updates is a bit insulting.

I know, I know. I am just a guest here and I have zero rights. The owners have every right to tell me to take it or shove it.

 

[FloridaGary]

The likelihood of Tapatalk support with the new Xenforo this forum is using is close to zero. I did some searching and there is a plug-in but there are numerous security problems and bugs with it and Tapatalk is slow/dismissive in addressing them.

A lot of forum admins using Xenforo have apparently abandoned Tapatalk completely (even knowing they might lose some users if they do so).

I reached out to TapaTalk and TMC and only TapaTalk responded. They want to fix this, but need communication from TMC. I wouldn't call that "slow/dismissive" from the TapaTalk folks.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I reached out to TapaTalk and TMC and only TapaTalk responded. They want to fix this, but need communication from TMC. I wouldn't call that "slow/dismissive" from the TapaTalk folks.

This has nothing to do with TMC specifically, but rather to do with Tapatalk and Xenforo support (or even forum admins) in general, here is a long thread about that:
Tapatalk Forum App for xenForo - iOS / Android / Windows Phone Mobile App [Deleted]

Basically Tapatalk listens quite well to end user concerns, however, for site owners it's different (I think most site admins agree Tapatalk is slow in responding to site owner concerns). They have pulled a bunch of unannounced changes that anger site owners (for example adding "View on Tapatalk" buttons to Xenforo emails, adding Chatrooms for forums without site owner approval). So basically while Tapatalk has lots of end user fans, more often than not site admins hate Tapatalk.

 

[Electroman]

Gary: TMC admins have been silent. Can you please ask Tapatalk folks to come here and chime in?

I am finding it hard to believe that Tapatalk developers would simply let security holes unplugged and let popular customers like TMC to leave. It is not in their best interest.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Gary: TMC admins have been silent. Can you please ask Tapatalk folks to come here and chime in?

I am finding it hard to believe that Tapatalk developers would simply let security holes unplugged and let popular customers like TMC to leave. It is not in their best interest.

I take it TMC admins are busy fixing much more critical issues with the overall site design (which represent the vast majority of their users) than focusing on Tapatalk. I don't think they are purposefully ignoring the concerns of those here; they have responded in this thread and said they will be looking into offering something that supports some of the features of Tapatalk (but I think it is pretty clear it won't be Tapatalk).
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