Wanted: beta testers for El Reg’s Android app Dear Reg reader. Do you have an Android phone? Maybe you downloaded our Android App? Found it wanting - a lot? Help us make it better by joining our beta testers group. it is easy-peasy although you do need a G+ account. 1. Apply to join the private G+ community group El Reg Alpha Test. 2. Once accepted you can download the …
I too have been disappointed with apps for news sites as I have found them bloated, slower loading than the mobile websites and typically, far more ads.
I was about to ask what advantages there were to the app over m.theregister - you just answered my question. The offline reading is a definite plus.
I do hope, however, that m.theregister doesn't get neglected as a result of development on this app.
"I do hope, however, that m.theregister doesn't get neglected as a result of development on this app."
I use m.theregister every day (I really don't see any point to apps for news sites) and it would be hard to see how it could be any more neglected! I haven't seen it change for years and most of the quick links at the bottom are broken.
I would love to see this mobile site updated (instead of the app) or better yet, el reg could go all modern and make their main site responsive. That would brighten up my (admittedly rather sad and boring) life!
Responsive is the way to go - and we are prepping - but there is a ton of work for us involved. But in the meantime...
Functionally, m.theregister.co.uk has just about everything that www. has - so I am not sure what needs updating.
On apps - plenty of people like to read via apps, especially for offline reading. So if we - or our readers - can facilitate this, then why not?
"Mobile doesn't show icons, doesn't let you put an icon on your post, and doesn't let you edit..."
That would be a deficiency in the coding of the mobile website, not a requirement for developing an app.
I'm with the many other voices here; dump the mobile apps and concentrate on the mobile website. If people want offline reading, I suspect a little thought could make that possible from the mobile website (it is all just data, ya know).
I think the only reason news sites like to have an app version is because they are still surfing on the "There's an app for that" buzz from the old iPhone launch however many years ago, and there's an expectation of appyness, and branding, and Siobhan from Perfect Curve suggested it.
But mostly...
Because....
Your ad blocker will not be able to block ads in a news site's app.
You know what'd be better and less work? Making the website work well on small screens. I won't be using your app, not because I dislike apps but because I read the headlines via an RSS app and use the links to read the articles.
The other thing you could do is include the whole article in the RSS feed. Then I can read it without leaving that one centralised app, and the formatting is generalised. Which is nice.
I would love to beta test the new Reg Android app and as a developer I can probably help more than most but I will not join Google+ (or FB, etc) for anyone. You have your own forums you can use for feedback so why ignore them and insist on being assimilated by Google?
Oh and while we're talking about apps, your Win8 / Metro / WinRT / whatever we're supposed to call them now app sucks bear balls.
Yet MS can release their own launcher beta as an apk download from OneDrive?
For a publication so intent on (rightfully) lambasting Google+, you'd think they wouldn't drink the kool-aid so readily.
Considering el Reg's readership is technical folks by nature, potential beta testers wouldn't be afraid to check that "...unknown sources" box.
I'm not trying this because fuck google+, but when the red in my vision subsides, I'm back to asking: what's wrong with the desktop aite? It's rendered fantastically on android for several years.
The requirement of G+ is a dealbreaker for me too.
Shame there can't be a "here's the APK, have fun" link on El Reg itself, along with a forum here for discussing the software. And don't talk to me about "unknown sources" - for anybody involved in a beta test ought to know how to turn that off, and anyway it isn't as if Google exactly curates the applications on Google Play - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/22/android_malware_badnews/
I guess, then, I'll wait until the release version is available.
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