Weird video, but I love it! This is another review of an app that I said I would do a while ago… aw well it’s here now.
Taptu is another one of those news/social media aggregation apps, like Pulse, that allows you to pull all of the websites and blogs that you read into one app, making for easy reading. I have to say I’m yet to consume media regularly using apps like this because for years now I’ve got into the habit of searching blogs via my bookmarks (old fashioned you might think but trust me my Chrome browser looks cool because of all the favicons, and just favicons) at the top of the browser. Anyway enough of that! On to the app.
It looks really nice. The UI is different to Pulse in that it brings up the full screen story, rather than just using the fragments. The added advantage of which is that you have the story front and centre. You can then swipe left and right to view the other stories. Works well and with the light and dark themes there’s some customisation there too.
The ability to merge streams is nice too. So for example, if you want your Engadget and Gizmodo stories in the same stream, you can do that. The next great thing is the ability to share stories via social media straight from the full screen article page. I personally don’t like how it’s set up to open the Twitter, Facebook and Gmail apps, but gives you no choice to change those defaults. Yes, you can go to the share button in the top right and select which app you want to share the article on, but it would be nice to have the choice to change the defaults. On a brighter note there is a share to Instagram button, which for those Instagram users out there I’m sure is very nice. Finally you can also view in browser.
Now to probably the coolest bit of the Taptu app. The Stream Store. Within here you can add all your favourite blogs, social media, and websites just as you can anywhere else, but the cool bit for me is the curated by Taptu options. Why? If, like the majority of people there is something that you’re interested in, but you don’t know which websites to follow, Taptu curates the best ones for you. It’s a really nice feature and always brings me back to the app to see what I might have missed. I found a new Android app just before writing this review because of that feature!
Unfortunately, though the curated by Taptu feature is the best bit about the app. Not the UI, Pulse looks nicer and divides content up better for you. I’ve also seen the demo video of what the Taptu iPad app can do, and that app is far better developed with more functionality, such as the ability to resize streams. Until the level of customisation I saw on the Taptu iPad app comes to Honeycomb, you have to feel this app falls behind Pulse. For now at least.
On another note. Something that both Pulse and Taptu needs to fix is the unfinished articles that always pop up. I find it annoying, and it's part of the reason that I find it hard to use these apps over bookmarks and the browser. To have to jump off to the browser half way through a story makes it pointless for me to be in that app. Why don't I just go straight to the browser. Once that's fixed both Pulse and Taptu could find themselves closer to 5 stars.
