Intending to remove Tapatalk support

[PranK]

Hi All,

This is a situation I have been going over in my head for several weeks and I have made the decision to remove SAU from the Tapatalk app as well as to remove the SAU native app (built by Tapatalk) from the app stores.

The reasons for removing it are pretty simple and are laid out below.

Tapatalk has a very unsavoury reputation when it comes to privacy and user data. It uses the user data from the forums it integrates with to work with online advertisers to sell the data and target ads. Ie, the track you. They also store all external link clicks from websites indefinitely with no ability to delete the data or stop the tracking. So long as we stay integrated with Tapatalk they can do what they wish with your data and thats not good.

There is also a cost involved in having the native, SAU branded apps which we could do without, along with the work involved to keep those apps up to date.

Note that all functionality provided by Tapatalk is still available through the web version of the site. Its fully responsive and you can do the same things on it and all without needing to use a native app. 

Please see links below from other forums making the same decisions. Also click the top link (Reef2Reef) to see how to add SAU to your home screen.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-reef2reef-tapatalk-app-is-going-to-be-disabled-soon.639203/
https://freevps.us/thread-16404.html
https://drugs-forum.com/threads/tapatalk-removed-due-to-privacy-security-violations.247751/
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/tapatalk-is-going-away.351617/
https://thephins.com/threads/tapatalk-support-to-be-disabled.91788/

And here are some other sites with relevant info.

http://www.sixcrazyminutes.com/threads/privacy-and-tapatalk.78293/

 

This one is particularly good as its from a reputable source; https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/09/07/dozens-of-ios-apps-secretly-collect-location-history-for-data-monetization-analysis-says

 

The last point worth noting is that we don't seem to get much of our traffic through Tapatalk so I'm not convinced that this will be too much of an issue to our users.

 

 

[GTSBoy]

Go for your life. Tapatalk has always been more trouble than it's worth.

[joshuaho96]

A proper mobile website is a lot better than the cancer that is Tapatalk.

[Robzilla32]

Looks like it has been disabled already?

I used the mobile app about 95% of the time so it's a shame that won't be available but it hadn't been working too well lately anyway

[Steve85]

@PranK I would be willing to volunteer my time to assist with the upkeep of the SAU website. I'm not sure what that involves. But I work in IT and have a Support (for a software product) background. If you think i might be of some use to you, please let me know. I can very quickly tell you if i'm in over my head of course.

[K_arlstrom]

On 05/09/2019 at 1:20 AM, joshuaho96 said:

A proper mobile website is a lot better than the cancer that is Tapatalk.

I prefer anything over tapatalk, even avoid forums that keep showing popups for it... Never seen the advantage of it ?

@PranK, thank you for valuing our privacy! 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Tapatalk is aids. Get rid of it.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

whilst you're at it, can you reduce/merge the amount of subforums?

I've put together a structure before that worked, however wasn't reviewed or actioned  

[PranK]

On 08/09/2019 at 10:51 AM, Steve85 said:

@PranK I would be willing to volunteer my time to assist with the upkeep of the SAU website. I'm not sure what that involves. But I work in IT and have a Support (for a software product) background. If you think i might be of some use to you, please let me know. I can very quickly tell you if i'm in over my head of course.

Oh cool, thanks mate, I'll keep that in mind! 

7 hours ago, K_arlstrom said:

I prefer anything over tapatalk, even avoid forums that keep showing popups for it... Never seen the advantage of it ?

@PranK, thank you for valuing our privacy! 

You're welcome!

50 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Tapatalk is aids. Get rid of it.

Agreed.

27 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

whilst you're at it, can you reduce/merge the amount of subforums?

I've put together a structure before that worked, however wasn't reviewed or actioned  

Oooooh, yes!! This is on my todo list. Do you remember where you posted it?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

34 minutes ago, PranK said:

Oh cool, thanks mate, I'll keep that in mind! 

You're welcome!

Agreed.

Oooooh, yes!! This is on my todo list. Do you remember where you posted it?

in the feedback forum  

[gumflapper]

you do intend on developing another app for mobile devices?

I only ever used the mobile app to read, never posted from it.

[PranK]

4 hours ago, gumflapper said:

you do intend on developing another app for mobile devices?

I only ever used the mobile app to read, never posted from it.

No. Theres no point as the mobile web interface provides all available functionality. 

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

All websites should be built mobile first and fully responsive so no matter at what break point you're at, it should just look normal.

A forum like this doesn't need to access any native features of a mobile device and should not need an app... I find people who are hell bent on stupid apps are crApple users.. they want a stupid app for everything, and in most freaking cases most of these so called apps are literally just a web wrapper! But hey, Apple users rejoice, there's another stupid app to download.

/rant 

lol

 

 

[The Bogan]

8 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

All websites should be built mobile first and fully responsive so no matter at what break point you're at, it should just look normal.

A forum like this doesn't need to access any native features of a mobile device and should not need an app... I find people who are hell bent on stupid apps are crApple users.. they want a stupid app for everything, and in most freaking cases most of these so called apps are literally just a web wrapper! But hey, Apple users rejoice, there's another stupid app to download.

/rant 

lol

 

 

SAU needs a Toyota 86 App......

And a Tiguan App.......

Sorry, I'll leave now ??

[Steve85]

22 hours ago, mlr said:

SAU needs a Toyota 86 App......

And a Tiguan App.......

Sorry, I'll leave now ??

And a BMW app... ?

[GTSBoy]

I can't imagine using any forum** on a phone. Typing is balls on any touchscreen.

 

** Website in general, unless in desperate need to look something up.

Edited September 11, 2019 by GTSBoy

[Steve85]

1 minute ago, GTSBoy said:

I can't imagine using any forum** on a phone. Typing is balls on any touchscreen.

So I guess I was the only heavy user on the app then... ? 

I have just added the page to my home screen as a shortcut. It's ever so slightly different, but not really an issue. 
I found that the app (and mobile) are waaaaayy more convenient for uploading images. None of my pictures are on my laptop.

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Most people who are hell bent on "apps" are generally Apple users (I work in the tech/dev space, but not a dev).

[Steve85]

2 minutes ago, Dose Pipe Sutututu said:

Most people who are hell bent on "apps" are generally Apple users (I work in the tech/dev space, but not a dev).

I 100% concur with this statement. Apple people seem to be obsessed with apps to a fault. Instead of doing a decent web app/site they chose to release an iPhone and iPad app, then acted all surprised that it needs a billion years of development/support just to keep it running. ? (Source: I used to work for the example above).

[niZmO_Man]

Maybe because they use Safari