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

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Toddrickfl1

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I love using this forum and don't mind paying a few bucks a month to use it. I'm not sure everybody would though. First several months ago an excessive amount of ads appeared making the forum almost unusable, unless you donated to make them go away. Now with the app gone away, I hate to say it but it kind of seems like a ruse to get more people to pay to use the forum.
 

vladimir

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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.

well said. It makes me sad to think you'll be posting less rapidly or less frequently. I always admired how quickly you were able to respond to new posts with useful links and information.
 

Yvonne G

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well said. It makes me sad to think you'll be posting less rapidly or less frequently. I always admired how quickly you were able to respond to new posts with useful links and information.
Amen!
 

Josh

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. We will continue to improve the browser experience.
I'm truly sorry that Tapatalk isn't a good solution for us. They've been dishonest, uncommunicative, and very aggressive as a "partner" with us. They'd continually change our privacy settings without notifying me. They would change pricing to gouge us as our user group grew. It's bad news all around - not just the harvesting of our data.

I will continue to search for a good alternative but I am confident in saying there isn't one right now. A dedicated app developed just for us will easily cost five figures.

Thanks for your patience and understanding

You guys rock
 

Yvonne G

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I access the Forum either from a desk top computer or from a Kindle. I haven't noticed any difference. I'm not computer literate, so don't really understand the ins and outs of what's going on, but my Kindle is similar to your smart phones, no? I access the Forum through the web site on the Kindle and the picture is just fine.
 

Len B

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I access the forum several ways. An old XP lap top,an android phone or a new HP computer a 10. Nothing has changed since the app has stopped working. When I open the screen on the phone there is a rainbow colored G and a duck on the screen. I touch either one of these and can access the forum by just touching the screen 4 more times to get to the new threads. it only takes a second to get on. Both Google and DuckDuckGo remember your searches and they show up and I just click on tortoise forum and I get here. I'm doing this from my old XP which is the easiest way for me to get on with just one mouse click, and it has a large screen too. I have been calling the Duck and the G icons on my phone, but was just recently informed they are APPS. Good Luck to anyone having problems because If I was I wouldn't know how to fix them.
 

jmaneyapanda

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. We will continue to improve the browser experience.
I'm truly sorry that Tapatalk isn't a good solution for us. They've been dishonest, uncommunicative, and very aggressive as a "partner" with us. They'd continually change our privacy settings without notifying me. They would change pricing to gouge us as our user group grew. It's bad news all around - not just the harvesting of our data.

I will continue to search for a good alternative but I am confident in saying there isn't one right now. A dedicated app developed just for us will easily cost five figures.

Thanks for your patience and understanding

You guys rock

Speaking for myself alone- I dont care if it was an app, or on tapatalk. But trying to view this site on a mobile device now is grotesque. It may just be formatting to make it mobile friendly or similar. But I routinely misdirect where I am trying to go when attempting to access it. Its all so cluttered and jumbled and paced and Im not even going to comment on the ads. As I said earlier, it went from fun and useful to outright aggravating to use. I dont have the luxury of accessing from a computer proper but maybe once a week. I'd love to access it more beyond that, but I end up literally giving up with the thought in my head that its not worth my time.

In my opinion (and my opinion alone), if you want this forum to survive, and thrive, it HAS to be mobile friendly.
 

KarenSoCal

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I love using this forum and don't mind paying a few bucks a month to use it. I'm not sure everybody would though. First several months ago an excessive amount of ads appeared making the forum almost unusable, unless you donated to make them go away. Now with the app gone away, I hate to say it but it kind of seems like a ruse to get more people to pay to use the forum.
I agree with you, @Toddrickfl1. The data tracking excuse is a farce. How many of us don't use any Google services? How many of us have "location" turned off? How many of us never use a GPS driving/routing app? How many of us have never paid a bill with Android Pay,or Samsung Pay, or Apple Pay? How many have never shopped online and checked out with PayPal? The list is endless, but we continue doing these things in spite of the knowledge that we are being tracked and monitored every place we go.
How about explaining this to those who don't already
understand, advise them re' VPN's and malware/spyware blockers. Then reinstate the app and Tapatalk. Give people a choice...use the web version for free or a donation, OR after a 10 day trial period, use the app or Tapatalk for a mandatory fee of ? $$/year. This gives people options.
 
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