tgjapp.jpg

The New Garage Journal Mobile App

Posted by 141drew Posted onApr 24, 2018 at 12:23 AM and filed under News & Editorial


I’ve made no secret about my disdain for Tapatalk. In fact, I don’t know of a single forum owner that does appreciate the miserable little app. I’ve thought about nixing it entirely, but I know a lot of people actually do rely on it. So, what to do?

If you can’t beat them, join them. Sort of. Tapatalk will remain usable (for now) on The Garage Journal, but today we launched our own branded app using Tapatalk’s (still pretty miserable) self branded software. Doing this gives me a little more control of the functionality of the app and hopefully a little better capabilities as far as helping you guys when technical problems emerge. Plus, it just looks better.

Anyway, the app is now live… and free. Get it here:

The Apple App Store

The Google Play Store

The Amazon App Store

***

Obviously, these apps are still pretty green. I’ve done a lot of testing, but there might still be a bug here and there. In time and with any luck, they will mature to be a little less ****** than the stock Tapatalk offering.


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Ryan

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BBChevro said:
I'll be looking into that as soon as I get home (I hate Tapatalk).
Thanks Ryan.
Click to expand...

Frankly, this app isn't much better. In fact, the software behind it is the same. I just have more control over the look and feel (that's a work in progress) and I can help more when people do have problems (which is really often).
 
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Jmatlock88

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Tapatalk is not the best app, but it sure is nice having all your favorite forums in one place and in one interface.
 
3

38Chevy454

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I'll download it and see. I typically use my regular computer rather than the phone. Hate typing on a phone. But for just viewing, the app may be a nice addition for me.
 
4

4xdog

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Your sentiments and intentions are right on, Ryan. I gave up on Tapatalk a long time ago. A regular browser for me these days.

A good mobile app would be quite nice. It's outside my field of knowledge, but one of the other forums I'm active on uses IP Board as their platform. I'm not completely crazy about it, but it does have some nice features. It's mobile format is quite useful. I'm surprised vBulletin doesn't have a better offering.
 
L

LS6 Tommy

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Just put it on my phone. I have tapatalk, but I like this better. I don't care if the software behind it is the same...
 
B

BeachBoy

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I absolutely love tapatalk.
Notifications, all my forums in one app, logins, always the same interface (only selected forums, latest posts, etc).

PLEASE do not remove from tapatalk, whatever other app or mobile version you implement.

I have another forum K browse that did that and I simply do not visit it regularly anymore.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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Cruzan80

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Ryan, will this force users to receive updated versions, the same as Tapatalk? Overall, I don't mind their app, except when they update something and break 5 things in the process. If we can keep a stable version running (even if it is slightly out of date from the current Tapatalk), that would be great.
 
V

Vintage Veloce

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BeachBoy said:
I absolutely love tapatalk.
Notifications, all my forums in one app, logins, always the same interface (only selected forums, latest posts, etc).

PLEASE do not remove from tapatalk, whatever other app or mobile version you implement.

I have another forum K browse that did that and I simply do not visit it regularly anymore.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm exactly the reverse, I (on my phone) abandoned all tapatalk use and only use the browser based access. I just put a shortcut for each forum I frequent on my phone screen's homepage.
The garage journal is the only forum I use on phone, that isn't optimized for mobile browsing. It's a bummer.
 
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JohnnieMo

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I didn't realize Tapatalk was so difficult on the other end. I use it almost exclusively. The biggest reason I use it is the ease at which it posts photos. It resizes and hosts them and all I have to do is pick the image. After the great photobucket debacle, this is very appreciated.

Please keep Tapa supported. I stopped using forums which don't use it and I don't want to stop Garage Journaling!
 
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dusterdude

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I dont understand the hate for tapatalk,it works for me.

Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk
 
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Falcon67

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Downloading - haha, rated 5.0 in PlayStore by 1 user.

Hate Tapatalk, POS piece of software. And I thought iTunes was bad. I used to do software development and test - Tapatalk is pure ****. Plus it ***** your data. I'll play with the RyanApp and see what I think. I prefer a browser.

EDIT - pretty good, don't care for the ads. Speed is decent for things like the GIF thread in Free Parking on my new 9+, would be miserable on my older S6.
 
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gahrajmahal

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At night I use my 1st generation iPad not supported by apple anymore. Most new apps wont download as the software cant communicate. It crashes with most every website except yours. It currently works seamlessly in website mode and the Garage Journal and HAMB. Just a matter of time when it will not work with anything anymore which is a shame as the battery still holds a charge for two weeks or so from full charge.
 
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JohnnieMo

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This app seems exactly like Tapa but in a different colour. What should I be noticing?

If I use this app as opposed to Tapa, where do my photo uploads get hosted? Do they get hosted by GJ itself?

Again - the reason I use tapa is for simple file hosting. It makes a 3 step process into a single step, and on my phone (where the photos live to start with).

I also noticed the GJ app has advertising. I pay to avoid those on Tapa. If they are supporting GJ then I don’t mind.

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
 
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eyeball

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Jmatlock88 said:
Tapatalk is not the best app, but it sure is nice having all your favorite forums in one place and in one interface.
Click to expand...

I agree if it wasn't for the convenience of Tapatalk I know I would not visit this forum nearly as often as I do. Having all of my favorite forums in one place is very valuable to me.

While having a separate app for Garagejournal might be great for the site owner I fail to see the value to the end user.
 
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Ryan

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JohnnieMo said:
This app seems exactly like Tapa but in a different colour. What should I be noticing?

If I use this app as opposed to Tapa, where do my photo uploads get hosted? Do they get hosted by GJ itself?

Again - the reason I use tapa is for simple file hosting. It makes a 3 step process into a single step, and on my phone (where the photos live to start with).

I also noticed the GJ app has advertising. I pay to avoid those on Tapa. If they are supporting GJ then I don’t mind.

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal
Click to expand...

Yeah... it still ***** like tapatalk... BUT, at least your files are hosted by me and my privacy TOS rather than tapatalk's.

As for ads, I think they pay me for those? I'm still working on limiting those.

eyeball said:
I agree if it wasn't for the convenience of Tapatalk I know I would not visit this forum nearly as often as I do. Having all of my favorite forums in one place is very valuable to me.

While having a separate app for Garagejournal might be great for the site owner I fail to see the value to the end user.
Click to expand...

A change on that front is coming though. Tapatalk sites are dropping by a rate of something like 7% a month. Given that, many of your favorite forums are gonna stop supporting it soon. It's just such a hard thing to support from a site owner's perspective.

All that being said, I have no plans to discontinue tapatalk support.
 
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Dragfluid

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Just wondering,,,,,,,,,, don't any of you guys use a real computer anymore?

I guess that I just must be old, but I can't in my wildest dreams imagine enjoying looking at this or any other forum on a phone.:headscrat
 
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