The Tortoise Forum App is going to be disabled on Oct 1, 2019

Status
Not open for further replies.

Miscally

Active Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Messages
248
I know many of you use the TFO Branded App and Tapatalk App and I have tried to keep it working as long as possible. I recently learned that Tapatalk has started to store user information from forums and sell advertising based upon this information. We don't sell your information and I don't like the fact that we can't have control over that aspect to keep others from doing it. Another reason is that we like to have control over site functionality and they don't support the full features of our forum. It leaves for an incomplete experience for some users at times.

As a result I have made the decision to remove Tapatalk support from TFO and remove our app from the app stores. The TFO App will stop functioning on October 1, 2019.
 

Miscally

Active Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jun 23, 2017
Messages
248
Yeah I prefer to use the computer to view the site, I have a hard time navigating the app and seeing alerts.



Thank you for protecting us and our information. I'll try to use the online version, I've got used to the app but definitely agree with your decision.
 

dmilam

Active Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
127
Location (City and/or State)
North Texas
If you're using the back button, it might not be refreshing because browser is pulling the page from cache. But clicking New Posts should refresh that page and only show new, unread posts.

When you open a thread, the "new posts" links is gone. You have no choice but to backspace and then press new posts again.

I figured it out, you have to open each page and let it load than you can backspace and press new posts again to refresh the thread list. So in the case of Cold Dark Room, there were three pages, I had to open each page, let it load and then backspace to show new posts and then press new posts to make it go away.

Its disappointing and will certainly reduce the amount of time I spend on the forum. It was quick and easy to browse the forums, now, not so much.

I don't I believe the reasoning behind disabling the application, you cant do anything on the internet without being tracked.
 

SweetGreekTorts

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
980
Location (City and/or State)
Tucson, AZ
Sorry I haven't been on much in the past week. Since the app went away, it's not as easy for me to navigate on this Forum using the internet on my phone. Tons of ads and pop-ups that grey out the entire screen now, which I never had to deal with in the app. The app was so much easier for me to use.
 

Toddrickfl1

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
7,103
Location (City and/or State)
Ga
Sorry I haven't been on much in the past week. Since the app went away, it's not as easy for me to navigate on this Forum using the internet on my phone. Tons of ads and pop-ups that grey out the entire screen now, which I never had to deal with in the app. The app was so much easier for me to use.
If you sign up to donate there's no more ads.
 

jmaneyapanda

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2012
Messages
68
I thought I could tolerate it. I can’t. This site is unusable on mobile without an app, Tapatalk, or formatting. Please do something. It’s turned this forums from a great resources to honestly unenjoyable now.
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,749
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
:(
Is anyone using the standalone Tapatalk app? How does that compare?
Not sure what you mean by standalone. I had Tapatalk on my phone before I knew anything about tortforum. I follow 2 forums on it.

Then I found and started tortforum. I went onto Tapatalk, searched, and found tortforum. I followed it.

If this is what you mean, I no longer receive posts from tortforum. If I open Tapatalk and try to join tortoiseforum.org (which is still listed), I get message:
"You are not logged in or you do not have permission to do this action."
Anything I click on I get the same message. It's gone, but not forgotten. :(
 

vladimir

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 18, 2017
Messages
1,484
Location (City and/or State)
Pennsylvania
:(
Not sure what you mean by standalone. I had Tapatalk on my phone before I knew anything about tortforum. I follow 2 forums on it.

Then I found and started tortforum. I went onto Tapatalk, searched, and found tortforum. I followed it.

If this is what you mean, I no longer receive posts from tortforum. If I open Tapatalk and try to join tortoiseforum.org (which is still listed), I get message:
"You are not logged in or you do not have permission to do this action."
Anything I click on I get the same message. It's gone, but not forgotten. :(

Ah, I understand. I was previously using the branded "Tortoise Forum" app. I tried installing Tapatalk and finding the forum to log in through the official Tapatalk app, but I wasn't able to find it. I suppose it wouldn't work even if I did find it.

:<3::tort:
 

TechnoCheese

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
4,505
Location (City and/or State)
Lewisville, Texas
I really thought I would adapt fine to this change and keep using the forum daily, but it appears not. I haven’t been here much at all since tapatalk was taken down, even though I’ve been tapping the tapatalk app instinctually wanting to be brought here.

The mobile website really is just a hassle to use compared to the app, and without notifications to tell me when and what people post, I’m finding it very hard to find motivation to come here. Usually I’ll use the notifications to answer questions and give advice soon after the post is made, but since I can no longer do that, it’s a bit harder to find fresh posts to address and even just navigate them. It also helped that the forum app was visibly there, reminding me that I need to check it, right next to the app for the reptile site I already moderate so that it is always visible to me.

I have no doubt that it works amazing on computers, and it even looks fine on my iPad, but (most) computers and (most) iPads cannot be used away from WiFi, and I personally use the forum most when I’m away from home.

I discovered the forum through the app. Little 12 year old me had just finished setting up what I thought would be the best tortoise enclosure ever, and I decided to search the word “tortoise” in the App Store to see if I could find anything related. Little did I know, that would lead to the greatest source of tortoise information on the web, full of great people and information that everyone should read. I know that I cannot be the only person to discover it this way.

The deletion of our mobile app definitely is an inconvenience to those without access to a computer. I definitely hope to still use this forum, maybe just not as avidly.
 

dmilam

Active Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
127
Location (City and/or State)
North Texas
I thought I could tolerate it. I can’t. This site is unusable on mobile without an app, Tapatalk, or formatting. Please do something. It’s turned this forums from a great resources to honestly unenjoyable now.

unusable is correct... its a step backward.
 

Toddrickfl1

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
7,103
Location (City and/or State)
Ga
I donated $10 on my second day. I still have all the ads?
IDK? That's what I was told when they started popping up. I signed up to donate $5 a month and soon as I did no more ads.
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,749
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
Ah, I understand. I was previously using the branded "Tortoise Forum" app. I tried installing Tapatalk and finding the forum to log in through the official Tapatalk app, but I wasn't able to find it. I suppose it wouldn't work even if I did find it.

:<3::tort:
No, it no longer works.
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,749
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
I really thought I would adapt fine to this change and keep using the forum daily, but it appears not. I haven’t been here much at all since tapatalk was taken down, even though I’ve been tapping the tapatalk app instinctually wanting to be brought here.

The mobile website really is just a hassle to use compared to the app, and without notifications to tell me when and what people post, I’m finding it very hard to find motivation to come here. Usually I’ll use the notifications to answer questions and give advice soon after the post is made, but since I can no longer do that, it’s a bit harder to find fresh posts to address and even just navigate them. It also helped that the forum app was visibly there, reminding me that I need to check it, right next to the app for the reptile site I already moderate so that it is always visible to me.

I have no doubt that it works amazing on computers, and it even looks fine on my iPad, but (most) computers and (most) iPads cannot be used away from WiFi, and I personally use the forum most when I’m away from home.

I discovered the forum through the app. Little 12 year old me had just finished setting up what I thought would be the best tortoise enclosure ever, and I decided to search the word “tortoise” in the App Store to see if I could find anything related. Little did I know, that would lead to the greatest source of tortoise information on the web, full of great people and information that everyone should read. I know that I cannot be the only person to discover it this way.

The deletion of our mobile app definitely is an inconvenience to those without access to a computer. I definitely hope to still use this forum, maybe just not as avidly.
I agree completely with you. I'm not on here nearly as often as I used to be. And as you said, the loss of push notifications is a large part of the inconvenience. The alerts on the web page are ok, but no substitute for a notification, especially if watching for answers to a question. The interface is just not fun anymore.
 

SweetGreekTorts

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
980
Location (City and/or State)
Tucson, AZ
With the app, I had an icon on my phone screen. I was logged in automatically. I could open it many times a day. Now, I have to log in every time I go to the website on my phone, even though I had checked the box to "stay logged in." I'm flooded with ads that are tailored to my other internet use, which tells me I'm being tracked in here (internet cookies, definitely no fault of the TFO app). After I had searched for eyeglasses and tactical jackets elsewhere, I'm seeing "Galls" and "EyeglassesUSA" ads everywhere in here, more than I see actual TFO content. I never had that with the app, it only displayed a simple, clean ad for Mazuri.

And I understand that making a monthly donation gets rid of the ads, but the ads themselves shouldn't be so overwhelming. Maybe 2-3 ads per page, not 2-3 nestled in between every Forum content link.
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,749
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
With the app, I had an icon on my phone screen. I was logged in automatically. I could open it many times a day. Now, I have to log in every time I go to the website on my phone, even though I had checked the box to "stay logged in." I'm flooded with ads that are tailored to my other internet use, which tells me I'm being tracked in here (internet cookies, definitely no fault of the TFO app). After I had searched for eyeglasses and tactical jackets elsewhere, I'm seeing "Galls" and "EyeglassesUSA" ads everywhere in here, more than I see actual TFO content. I never had that with the app, it only displayed a simple, clean ad for Mazuri.

And I understand that making a monthly donation gets rid of the ads, but the ads themselves shouldn't be so overwhelming. Maybe 2-3 ads per page, not 2-3 nestled in between every Forum content link.
I paid the $40.00 for a 5 year no ads deal. I don't think $8.00 per year is very much, and the ads stopped immediately. For the login, maybe put a shortcut to the forum on your home screen? I don't have to log in each time...I hope you can get it solved. That would be a real irritation!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top