Swellnet App

Thanks for the feedback mate.

These most recent changes are short term bug fixes while we rebuild our Apps from scratch natively (not a small project). We also had to change our surfcam players due to a switch in licensing arrangements.

For what it's worth, the App work really well if you're a Swellnet Pro subscriber - the surfcams have long time outs, no ads, and use a better player. It's a relatively seamless experience when you're logged in. 

Also, all development work for our website and Apps are done with a focus on our subscribers. That is, we spend all of our effort trying to create the best experience for those people that support our business by way of a subscription.

Whilst we'd love to be able to please everyone, unfortunately we don't have the resources to build awesome free products.

Can you guys make the new app so it only loads a favourite forecast when first opened up? I never use the app because it takes too long to load up all the articles etc. especially when I’m O/S and I only want a forecast.

I have no idea why anyone would bother using the app when the website has everything and more already.

CM - the articles aren't on the App. They were removed ages ago. 

The App does have a 'favourite location' feature which is meant to be the first thing that shows when it loads, but it's a little buggy. It's working fine for me (latest iOS), but we are getting reports of it not working elsewhere.

FWIW, I've never been happy with the App. But, it's always been a tricky proposition, mainly because it doesn't directly generate any revenue for the business (only keeps existing people happy because they have that option, instead of the website and mobile site).

Worse, we spent a lot of time and money on this build, so as a small business it's a tough pill to swallow to know you've gotta write off the whole thing and start again (in a business environment where revenue streams are shrinking). We tried for ages to fix it up, but fundamentally the software we used to create the App is flawed in many ways, and it's just not viable for us to continue using it.

So we've already made the decision to move ahead, building brand new, dedicated apps in their native platforms (iOS and Android). It's another long, expensive gamble but we know it's the right decision. 

Search engine bookmark vs an app.

I tried using the app but maybe the lack of articles with comments got me and I simply found the homepage bookmark to the website had everything I needed to know. And now thats what I'm used to.

In the spirit of genuine curiousity,
What can a 'swellnet app' give me that I haven't already got from the current mobile version website?

Edit: I just had another go with the app.
A couple of things stand out.
I couldn't access my favourite cam as it wasn't listed. When I selected favourite report there didn't seem to be a save function. {edit} I now see the save 'star' once I select a (listed) cam.
On a brighter note I really liked the big picture graphics in the forecast, but then got a bit disappointed again when I realised I couldn't scroll across to any extended forecast. {edit} Now I can scroll across for extended forecast. (Maybe I was having a moment when I previously tried)
From a home page visual perspective I would have a WOTD pic between every story.

Hope you don't mind me putting my 2 bobs worth. And I guess you already know about these issues, hence the 'total rebuild time' decision. All the best.

Yeah! Stick it to the man!