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We're getting ready to push out a new release of the iOS app and need beta testers.

If you're a beta tester who has switched to the App Store version, please hop onto the beta build and let us know what needs improvement. If you're already a beta tester and you've been actively using the app, high five, you're awesome. If you're neither but have an iPhone and strong opinions, you can sign up here.

Here's what's coming up:

  • A hot question widget in the Today view.
  • Revisions view with diffs.
  • Realtime comment updates.
  • Realtime achievement and inbox updates.
  • Better question listing behavior on portrait iPads.
  • Boatloads of bug fixes.

Also, if you've used the beta app and stopped because of something specific, let us know. We have pretty much the slowest release cycle of any team, so I want to keep as many eyes on beta as possible.

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    > Revisions view with diffs !!!!!!!!!!!!!
    – Kasra Rahjerdi
    Jan 14, 2015 at 22:47
  • @Kasra is right, the revisions is the awesomest feature ever! :D
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Jan 14, 2015 at 22:49
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    @KasraRahjerdi But not in the Android app? Come on, stop wasting time on meta and get on it! :P
    – Doorknob
    Jan 14, 2015 at 23:21
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    Maybe thaw the dedicated chat room and pay more attention to it? Not that important, but it can be used as a quick channel. I tried using it and stopped when realizing nobody was there to listen.
    – Shadow Wizard Is Sad And Angry
    Jan 14, 2015 at 23:24
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    I had the same problem as @ShadowWizard with the chat room. Little issues or questions not worth a whole post, or at least a discussion first, so I just ended up doing nothing :(
    – mhlester
    Jan 15, 2015 at 4:35

4 Answers 4

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Also, if you've used the beta app and stopped because of something specific, let us know.

I stopped because when I want to use it, I don't want to upgrade to the latest version - I want to see the item it notified me about. I'd be happy to update after performing my task, but it was annoying to not even have a choice, particularly since I "lose" the notification once the app opens.

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    Originally we made it mandatory only because the app was prone to crashing and we did frequent daily releases, this isn't really required anymore so I think we're going to make the dialog dismissible now.
    – Kasra Rahjerdi
    Jan 14, 2015 at 23:02
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    @KasraRahjerdi Yay! I'll load it back up right now and await a future update. I have to admit, having the ipad version before the general announcement was very nice.
    – Pollyanna
    Jan 14, 2015 at 23:03
  • Yep that URL should work! Give it another try. Sometimes the download just gives up.
    – Kasra Rahjerdi
    Jan 14, 2015 at 23:16
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    Done. We'll show a cancelable alert (because updating beta is important) and put an item in your feed so you don't have to hunt for the link.
    – Brian Nickel
    Jan 15, 2015 at 0:38
  • Agreed. I actually use the beta app exclusively to the "release" version, but this is damned annoying. Glad it's changed!
    – jscs
    Jan 15, 2015 at 20:45
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I have started using the app ever since I bought my first iPhone, but now I tend to use the browser a bit more. I edit quite a bit (less so on mobile if I have to make a large edit), and I've found that both "behave" differently, particularly when I'm trying to edit a title. However, that may just be me not knowing the proper way of moving the cursor through out-of-view text.

I also wish it had links to a respective site's meta and chat in the sidebar, even if these options have to be expanded from the default view. I don't expect the app to actually support chat, though. I'm okay with it just opening it in a browser.

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The app is pretty cool. I don't use it for one big reason: tabs. I like keeping several things open at once that i'm reading / waiting to respond to. This can only be done through the browser, not the app though.

So, yes, a big , but please add something like this!

In case you don't want to add a full tabs feature, how about a "reading list"? Like, if you bring up the context menu on any SE link from the app, it would have "add to reading list". The reading list would be available from the site list, sort of like a custom search.

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  • Right now favoriting a question has a similar behavior to what you're describing. It saves the post for offline viewing and puts it in a special "favorites" tab. If this is what you're looking for, we need to be doing a better job with discoverability.
    – Brian Nickel
    Jan 15, 2015 at 14:58
  • Is that so? I'll have to check that out.
    – Scimonster
    Jan 15, 2015 at 14:59
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The app is really solid. I've been using it for 90% of my SE interfacing.

One consideration you might make now that inbox and reputation have their own notifications, is remove them from the feed.

And allow horizontal swiping between a few hot network questions like how the desktop has its random list.

I wish there were a way to view the questions from my email feeds (where the whole network is searched). Of course, launching the app from the website would help in that regard too.

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    I really really like the notifications being in the feed. It allows me to preview the comments without marking my whole inbox as read. When I don't have time to properly respond yet I can quickly look at what the comment is about (the context) and know if I need to respond any time soon or not.
    – Martijn Pieters
    Jan 15, 2015 at 7:54
  • I guess you're right. I had thought about that a little but reached the conclusion you could see the message in notification center and use that to decide. But if you're in the app you lose that option
    – mhlester
    Jan 15, 2015 at 15:15
  • The moment I tap on the message in the notification center, it takes me to the inbox marking the whole inbox as read. In the feed I can just tap the message and go to the context.
    – Martijn Pieters
    Jan 15, 2015 at 15:18
  • Yup I was wrong. Hadn't thought it through all the way
    – mhlester
    Jan 15, 2015 at 15:21

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