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Saturday 26 May 2012

Sunday, 22nd January 2012

Introducing Coffee House: the App

Fraser Nelson 3:14pm

The Sunday Times lists the ‘Top 500 Apps in the world’ (£) today, and I’m pleased to say that The Spectator’s brand new app ranks no.4 in its ‘news apps’ category. The newspaper describes the list as ‘the good, the mad and lovely’ and ours emerges as little of all three. What we have sought to do with the new app is combine our blogs and the magazine, and we are (I think) the first magazine to do so. The Sunday Times gives it the thumbs-up. It ranks us behind its own app, and those of the BBC and Sky News. Here’s its verdict:

‘The contents page may be slightly eccentric, but it’s worth persevering with them. Elegant page design and side-swiping navigation make it easy to digest the longer stories, while cartoons and illustrations provide a witty way to break up the text. A free preview includes posts from Rod Liddle and the well-regarded Coffee House politics blog, but to read the complete print edition you will need to pay £1.49 an issue.’

Subscribers get the whole thing for free, of course, and everyone gets the blogs for free. Our app is, like many on the market, a work in progress — and I’d be very grateful if those CoffeeHousers with iPads could download it (it’s free) and give their verdict: what we could do better, what it needs, etc.

It’s a different app to the Exact Editions version, which gives a simple and elegant reproduction of the magazine. The new app can be downloaded here, so do add your views to that of the Sunday Times.

P.S. Here's what the app looks like:

Filed under: Apple (6 more articles) , Internet (90 more articles) , Spectator (337 more articles) , Technology (24 more articles)

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William Jay

January 22nd, 2012 3:25pm Report this comment

Will there ever be an Android app?

Phil Chuds

January 22nd, 2012 4:05pm Report this comment

@ William Jay
Prob not for a while , the world seems obsessed with overpriced closed system Apple garbage .

Verity

January 22nd, 2012 4:27pm Report this comment

What an app, for those of us who don't like in Britain?

merlindragon

January 22nd, 2012 5:27pm Report this comment

Another wish for an android app from me.

Jeremy

January 22nd, 2012 5:58pm Report this comment

Just so long as you don't fall into the trap of assuming that all CoffeeHousers can afford (or even necessarely want) the latest in technology.

In other words...oi ain't got an app, an' oi ain't gettin' one, noiver!

Derbyshire_Ben

January 22nd, 2012 6:23pm Report this comment

About time too. It's good. Not very intuitive but I'm sure it'll get tweaked.

EC

January 22nd, 2012 7:02pm Report this comment

Fraser, Only meeja luvvies and/or expenses junkies can afford, or would possibly want, something as conspicuously flashy, limited and useless as an iPad.

Fraser, WHEN will you buy Pete Hoskin a decent CMS system for the Speccie blogs?

Dan Grover

January 22nd, 2012 8:21pm Report this comment

I like the general "I don't like it, therefore only idiots and thieves like it" mentality going on here.

I like the app, but use my Android phone far more than my iPad, so I, too, second an Android app. Then again, the market saturation in tablets for Android is so low that I can't blame you for holding back - at least for now.

Prodicus

January 22nd, 2012 8:37pm Report this comment

I don't recognise this description at all. (Redownloaded from iTunes today, same old same old.)

Much to fix. Sideswipes on long articles? Nope, vertical only.

What does the Favourites tab do? Nothing, on my iPhone.

There is no Settings or Prefs wossname. No text-size wossname.

As good as the Times app? No way.

Prodicus

January 22nd, 2012 9:23pm Report this comment

OK - fine on the iPad. Complain half withdrawn. Not impressed with the iPhone version.

C Cole

January 22nd, 2012 9:24pm Report this comment

Can I add my voice to that of Coffee Housers requesting an Android app? Thanking you kindly in advance.

Fraser Nelson

January 22nd, 2012 9:32pm Report this comment

E C - we're hoping to give Coffee House an upgrade in April. As you say, Pete has done a heroic job with technology that is about five years old now. With a less talented editor, we'd have lost traffic.

And other CoffeeHousers: I completely accept that iPads are bloody expensive, and a lovely toy for those who can afford them. But on Kindle, through the web, through Facebook and - my personal favourite - print there are many ways to read The Spectator. Different readers get their Speccie fix in different ways: my job is to make sure the content is up to scratch. And in Pete, we have an editor who will make sure CoffeeHouse offers the smartest debate on the web. Soon, he'll have a train set he deserves!

Alex Popplewell

January 22nd, 2012 11:03pm Report this comment

One point is that on my ipad hyperlinks don't seem to be working to click through even where it's clear the author intends that to happen

EC

January 22nd, 2012 11:09pm Report this comment

Pete, Congrats. It sounds like you could also be in the running for a Patek Phillipe watch from a grateful editor. :-))

George

January 23rd, 2012 12:14am Report this comment

At the risk of getting boring - how about an Android app? Maybe if enough of us ask....?

Fraser Nelson

January 23rd, 2012 7:53am Report this comment

Prodicus, can you say more about your complaints with the iPhone version? We're talking to the developer all the time (as Derbyshire_Ben says, these Apps work by constant upgrades and revisions) so I'd be grateful if you could list some bugs you'd like fixed...

John Moss

January 23rd, 2012 9:30am Report this comment

Where's the android app?

David L

January 23rd, 2012 10:06am Report this comment

Another vote for the Adroid app. I only mention it because Fraser, in his post, didn't.

oldtimer

January 23rd, 2012 12:13pm Report this comment

Android is now the dominant phone system. Without an android version the Spectator is only offering half a loaf.

Hexhamgeezer

January 23rd, 2012 12:19pm Report this comment

Call it the Chapp.

Hexhamgeezer

January 23rd, 2012 12:20pm Report this comment

All I need now is a mobile.

Prodicus

January 23rd, 2012 1:03pm Report this comment

@Fraser Nelson

I replied here but it didn't appear so have emailed you.

SG

January 23rd, 2012 3:31pm Report this comment

Which version of Android would you all want them to publish too? I suspect they did an iPhone/iPad app because a) it's easier to get a consistent app experience and b) the demographics are very attractive. (Wow, the iPad's selling a lot considering it's flashy, useless junk, no?)

Michael Campbell

January 23rd, 2012 4:45pm Report this comment

Three main bugs:

1. App is horribly S L O W... It takes enough time between clicking to content delivery to wonder whether it has crashed.

2. It crashes regularly.

3. Those maddeniong pop-up adverts. Nothing is guaranteed to stop one from viewing an app favourably than to have it pop up mid-article, mid-sentence, mid-word. It's like having a two year old continually butting in to a good conversation. By all means have ads, but please put them on their own pages like everybody else. I'm boycotting that wretched watch company for the rest of my life!

For now the Exact Editions app still has the edge...

Se1man

January 24th, 2012 4:25pm Report this comment

I'm neither a media luvvie nor an expenses junkie, yet I have an iPad. Tried the new App and it's not bad, but could be better.

Seems to have real trouble updating - after about 10 attempts I finally managed to get an update just now. My connection is fine, by the way...

Also, irritating to have to click on 'comments' and wait for them to load on a new page - conventional website works well because you can just scroll down.