Hong Kong
Very
good
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Tapatalk HD – The forum app for tablet users
Tested version: 1.0.1
Latest version: 1.1.1
Requires Android: from 3.0
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Summary
Many Android and iOS users will be familiar with the forum app Tapatalk. The app has, after all, been around for a while and been installed hundreds of thousands of times. An HD tablet version was recently released, promising to make writing and reading forums posts easier and more comfortable than ever. If you’re an avid forum user and proud owner of a 7-inch or more tablet: read on! Tapatalk HD may be just the ticket for you.
Features & Use
Section rating:
Tested on: Acer Iconia A500 with 4.0.4 Custom ROM
For those who are not yet familiar with the Tapatalk concept, here’s a brief intro:
There are currently nine forum types – such as vBulletin and phpBB – for which plugins exist. Forum users must install this plugin, thus making their forum available for Tapatalk and accessible via a native app. What this means is that you can then access the forum via an app rather than having to go via the website—nice and easy. What’s more is that this also enables you to set up several forum accounts at once, meaning you can switch from one forum to the next.
The main display lets you sign up for a Tapatalk account, which will grant you access to all forums you’ve got an account in, and from all of your devices. And if you need to reinstall you won’t need to manually set up all of your forum accounts again.
Should you wish to add a new forum, browse the categories (automotive, sports, technology, etc.) or make use of the search feature. So for instance, if you’re interested in the xda developers forum you can simply tap it into the search field and then pick the correct forum from the results. To sign up simply hit the login button on the top right.
The great thing about using a tablet is that everything is a bit bigger and generally easier to grasp. The categories are listed on the left hand side, the content on the right:
- Photos
- Search
- Topics
- Unread
- Participated
- Subscribed
- Timeline
- Forums
- All
- Subscribed
- PM
- Inbox
- Sent Items
Threads appear on the right when you’ve selected them for reading, making it easy to catch up on all new posts. Check the navigation bar at the top: this is where you’ll find the reply button, an option for sharing a thread, copy the URL, unsubscribe, etc.
When replying to a post you can insert smileys or images, as well as insert forum codes for links or images.
All this means that you can use a forum – read/write posts, follow/create threads, send messages, look at pics, search for stuff – in the most optimal way possible. Moderators can also do their job (monitor threads, edit them, block, etc.).
To switch to another forum simply use the dropdown menu—so much easier than having to go via the main menu, so thanks, developers!
Go to settings to make adjustments to the overall appearance and notifications for new posts/PMs.
Bottom line:
Tapatalk HD is a very nicely made app for the smartphone’s big brother (you know: the tablet). Landscape or portrait format—it’s all good and easy to navigate. Writing and uploading images is child’s play, and using forums is fun and easy overall.
The drawbacks: there are two versions for this app, one for the smartphone and one for the tablet, meaning that as a user you have to purchase it twice. Granted, the devs have obviously put a lot of work into both versions, so I would conclude that €3 is not too much for what you’re getting.
I would definitely recommend this app to tablet+forum users.
Please note: our AndroidPIT forum isn’t part of the Tapatalk service, seeing as its an autonomous forum system. You can use the App Center instead.
Screen & Controls
Section rating:
The Tapatalk HD design is good on the whole, the best thing about it being that is makes for very easy controls, and the downside being that the designers probably spent more time on the iPad app.
Hardly any space is hogged by buttons and the like, leaving the display nice and clear and optimising a large view of lists and threads as well as text.
Speed & Stability
Section rating:
Tapatalk HD is both stabile and very fast. Loading threads and pics can take a moment, but overall we are more than satisfied with the app’s speed.
Price/Performance Ratio
Section rating:
Tapatalk HD usually costs €3.01 but as our app of the weel we’re happy to offer you a special deal of only €1.49, only until February 10th.
Developer
Top App:
Tapatalk - Community Reader
Discover great internet communities or stay connected with your favourites community (...)
Discover great internet communities or stay connected with your favourites community (...)
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Market Comments
A Google User, May 3, 2013
Frustrating Layout is good, looks nice, but it's still buggy as hell. You'll be in the app, leave for a few minutes, and once you get back the app is "frozen", can't go forward, have to hit back a bunch to get all the way out of the forum and then proceed to go all the way back. Lots of issues like that, frustrating.
A Google User, May 3, 2013
Nice UI but... Can't upload pictures and slow startup. Those are things that work well in the non-tab version.
A Google User, May 2, 2013
Great but misses out on a core function! The upgrade from the normal tapatalk app to the HD version would be a brilliant and excellent way forward if it were not for one core function that they decided to leave out. They cut out the option for forums to receive notifications by the "pull" method, which means only forums that use the "push" method can receive notifications. 99% of the forums i use only use the pull method which means all but one of my forums do not receive notifications. The developers also refuse to implement the old method and insist that forum moderators update their forums....which most wont. So now I have an app that has far less functionality that previously. Good going tapatalk! A forum app that is useless for reading forums....latest update is also slow and forums take forever to load...if the ever do!
A Google User, May 1, 2013
Really good Never going to read a forum in a web browser again. Sometimes I have problems trying to create accounts through this app. Would be great to have a universal account for many forum sites that can be auto registered on new sites.
A Google User, Apr 30, 2013
If you have problems read this. I did actually post some comments on here last week regarding how buggy it was I would like to update people on here that are having problems with the app. Try signing up the the Tapatalk fourum as I did and ask people for help I have found out that all my problems was dut to the fourum sites I visit as they have not got the latest plugins that they require to use this app.all I say is sign up to Tapatalk fourum and use this app and see what a difference it makes.
A Google User, Apr 28, 2013
Broken Picture Links After the release of the latest version I have found that all picture links are now broken. You can't see pictures in any of the forums. Uninstall / reinstall doesn't fix the problem.
A Google User, Apr 28, 2013
No gifs Maybe just me, gifs don't seem to work right on nexus 7. Also embedded links to YouTube clips don't show correctly.
A Google User, Apr 27, 2013
2 Problemz. Pictures don't load sometimes in forum topics, I have to uninstall and reinstall the app. That's the only solution I've found. I can't subscribe to certain forums either, for example; on XDA-Developers, I can't subscribe to device specific forums like I used to. I can only "Create Shortcut." Please fix, works fine on regular Tapatalk.
A Google User, Apr 25, 2013
Works well with a few quirks Works well on my Touchpad running Android cm10. Navigation of topics is good once you're in the forums. Doesn't seem to always grab subscribed topics for all forums for alerts, but this might be a forum specific issue. Some improvements in navigating between forums and topics would be welcome. Better than the phone version but room for improvement. One more item. Allow higher res smart phones to use tablet version. My GS 3 has about the same results, but is limited to the phone version.
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