Windows 10 app for thurrott.com?

There’s been some discussion elsewhere about whether there should be a Windows 10 app for thurrott.com.  This site, Paul & Brad are major supporters, reporters and of course critics of Microsoft technologies so it seems appropriate for the experience to extend into a rich experience on Microsoft devices.

Such an app could feature articles, video, podcasts, polls, events, notifications of new content, etc.  It could work on desktop, laptop, tablet, xbox, HoloLens, etc.

Is this something people would like?

Are there particular features that people would like to have?

Are there any features that would seem appropriate just for premium users aside from premium content (perhaps the notifications or no ads)?

On which device types would people be most likely to use the app?

Your feedback on ideas for such an app is very welcome and food for thought for Paul & Brad.

Colin

Microsoft Regional Director

Conversation 24 comments

  • 5496

    04 October, 2016 - 7:23 pm

    <p style="padding-left: 30px;">this is the problems with apps. If they have a website they do not need an app.</p>

    • 661

      05 October, 2016 - 5:29 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#17831">In reply to lordbaal1:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>is this a well designed website?</p>
      <p>I have problems viewing articles on Mobile Edge – they are too wide for the screen and I cannot scroll sideways.</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>I use the Windows 10 Thurrott App now but it throws articles to Edge to read.&nbsp;</p>

      • 1

        Premium Member
        08 October, 2016 - 9:22 am

        Simard57 Posted

        is this a well designed website?

        I have problems viewing articles on Mobile Edge – they are too wide for the screen and I cannot scroll sideways.

         

        Can you give it another go? I think we have addressed these issues.

    • 706

      Premium Member
      05 October, 2016 - 5:40 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#17831">In reply to lordbaal1 et al:</a></em></blockquote>
      <blockquote><em>So can you explain the existance of so many other apps for large brands and institutions&nbsp;that also have websites, or only exist as apps?&nbsp; </em></blockquote>
      <blockquote><em>For example, does offline availability (for use where there is no wifi, e.g. while driving, and large content is expensive to download) of content justify the use of an app?</em></blockquote>
      <blockquote><em>Does response performance matter?</em></blockquote>
      <blockquote><em>Do local features like push matter?&nbsp; Do people prefer notifications to another thing in their inbox?</em></blockquote>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>

    • 5114

      Premium Member
      07 October, 2016 - 8:51 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#17831">In reply to lordbaal1:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>You make a good point. The Yahoo Mail app and the Amazon app is just the website. So what’s the advantage of that over just opening up a new tab in my browser?</p>

  • 4563

    04 October, 2016 - 10:39 pm

    <p>An app would be a gread addition and would enhance the experience. The app should be available on Mobile, Desktop and Xbox.</p>
    <p>It should have push notifications, it should let the user browse the podcasts. For paid users the ads need to be removed.&nbsp;</p>

    • 706

      Premium Member
      05 October, 2016 - 5:42 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#18127">In reply to kitron:</a> do you think push notifications should be a premium feature?</em></blockquote>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>

      • 124

        Premium Member
        08 October, 2016 - 9:13 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#18552">In reply to colinizer:</a></em></blockquote>
        <p>I don’t see why you would make push a premium feature.&nbsp; But it is not my site or app.</p>

      • 5615

        08 October, 2016 - 4:23 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#18552">In reply to colinizer:</a></em></blockquote>
        <p>Depends on whether you want everyone to get notifications&nbsp;about updates and check out the site, or just premium subscribers. I would think the more, the merrier.</p>

  • 2371

    05 October, 2016 - 5:39 am

    <p>Windows Central and MSPoweruser both have UWP apps that work great and look good.&nbsp; That would be a good spot to start to get ideas.&nbsp; Notifications are a must.&nbsp; For me it needs to support W10 and W10M.&nbsp;&nbsp; Xbox One would be a bonus.</p>

  • 5496

    05 October, 2016 - 6:49 pm

    <p>and what would an app offer that this website can’t.</p>
    <p>if you design the site good enough, you do not need an app.</p>

  • 907

    05 October, 2016 - 7:19 pm

    <p>Colin, you make a fair point for mobile apps. I agree an Android and IOS app would be welcome by many. Although not sure why Thurrott.com would waste their time and resources on a WMobile app when MS themselves have it on life support.</p>

    • 5664

      Premium Member
      06 October, 2016 - 12:24 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#18896">In reply to anchovylover:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>A UWP app would function on desktop, XB1, and Win10 IoT as well.</p>
      <p>You know, in the event you wanna browse Thurrott from a Raspberry Pi.</p>

  • 5664

    Premium Member
    06 October, 2016 - 12:29 am

    <p>I’d love to see a UWP app with great offline capabilities, as well as maybe an easy way to view Paul, Brad, and Raf’s podcasts all in one spot. A good premium feature I could see would be some kind of "Thurrott Direct" that gives a daily digest only available to Premium members via the app.</p>

  • 266

    Premium Member
    06 October, 2016 - 4:01 pm

    <p>Having First Ring Daily as a UWP app available on Xbox, Phone and PC would be of benefit. The rest of the site should remain as it is, afterall it is a Website.</p>

    • 2015

      08 October, 2016 - 9:35 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#19090">In reply to Suberungoer:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>I concur. While the First Ring Daily podcast is nice, it’s major downside for me is that it’s locked to only being viewable through a web browser as it’s a Premium only feature. I want to watch it on my TV as I do with Windows Weekly, but given the fact the Xbox One browser isn’t particularly easy to use, that’s not really a friendly option at present. An app you could log into and then watch the podcast through would be nice.</p>

  • 469

    07 October, 2016 - 12:23 am

    <p>An app where you can customise the layout and it keeps that setting between page swaps would be good :-)&nbsp; Plus I like the idea of being able to get notifications when new content arrives.</p>

    • 1

      Premium Member
      08 October, 2016 - 9:23 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#19225">In reply to Redbreva:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>I think we could acomplish this on the website.</p>

  • 1475

    07 October, 2016 - 9:43 am

    <p>Yes I think it would be cool. But the site is pretty functional as-is, though I tend to "enjoy" reading from an app better than in a browser.</p>

  • 265

    Premium Member
    07 October, 2016 - 3:30 pm

    <p>There already are a few half-baked Thurrott-centric apps available on W10M which aren’t bad for a glance but certainly are not up to a "Premium" standard. &nbsp;The better of the apps, a newsreader, is clean and current but doesn’t allow you to log in or particiapte in the forums or comments. &nbsp; And I still can’t log in to this site on Mobile Edge, it would be nice to have an app that allowed me to do so from my smartphone. &nbsp;And why not UWP while you’re at it. &nbsp;If I’m on a desktop/laptop, I get to here through Feedly, but not before a lot of other stuff. &nbsp;I wouldn’t mind having a direct pipeline when there is something big going on Windowside. &nbsp;And a well designed app can provide things a well-designed website rendered onto a small screen can’t. &nbsp;I also follow Windows Central and they put some considerable effort into their W10M app, without seeming to have to remind and berate everyone about app-gapp, market share, etc. &nbsp;I can find WC articles and discussions, and threads and post to them faster through their app than through Edge. &nbsp;And it’s nice to see some committment to the platform. &nbsp;</p>

    • 124

      Premium Member
      08 October, 2016 - 9:11 am

      In reply to mmcpher:

      “And I still can’t log in to this site on Mobile Edge, it would be nice to have an app that allowed me to do so from my smartphone.”
       
      Just tried that and yep it is a mess. Have you reported it?

  • 706

    Premium Member
    07 October, 2016 - 9:13 pm

    <p>So offline reading, offline media, search &amp; notifications seem to be the most desirable features so far.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>

  • 699

    08 October, 2016 - 9:24 pm

    <p>Yes, I would love a Windows 10 Universal app for Thurrott.com 🙂 WindowsCentral and MSPoweruser have one, so why not. I think for premium users there should obviously be no ads. That should be part of our subscription. So yes, count me in ;)</p>

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