I opened the TA app and I saw a little add under the front page article and then a full screen add popped up. Are there always goin to be the adds you have to close, cause I really don't like those. I like the smaller one. Can we have them more like that?
Seconded, I'd rather have no adds at all, but I realize you guys and gals need some funding to keep the site in the air. Please just get rid of the godawful popups.
Might I suggest a small compromise? How about an in-app purchase that removes the ads? I am not quite sure how the economics would work, such as the benefits of ad revenue over a series of one-time purchases, but it's a thought. Or, to take it further: a weekly/monthly/yearly recurring IAP? That could allow for those who support the site but hate the ads to get what they want, AND support TouchArcade. Thought and planning on pricing would, of course, need to be taken into consideration. In any case, the thought would be to allow iOS peeps on the App and not the website proper to give monetary support. In short, the IAP could be the equivalent of a PayPal donation. Any thoughts on the idea?
Ugh paying to remove adds is really a gimmick that many devs use. You get dual income then from sponsors and users. I don't like devs that focus on profit.
Hey guys Yes the app can display ads. There are a couple of kinds. The full screen one and the simple banners. The full screen one has a lockout measured in days, so it shouldn't be a daily burden. Given the realities of supporting a site like this, I think we did a reasonable job balancing the experience, but, of course, I may be a little biased. arn
Ok glad you aren't just spamming adds down our throats to make some profit. TA staff just gets smarter and Cooler
yea, I had noticed it but it doesn't seem to pop up to the point of me cringing when I open up the app. Like arn said, its fairly well balanced as not to be too annoying to keep me from using it.
The app gets locked up sometimes when the banners load. Also, if you want to put ads in the app, pick one and stick with it. Three different versions of the same ad is just annoying. No, I still don't care about that same ad that I have seen six times already. Makes me want to avoid the advertised item more than anything else.
The main reason I suggested this was because there wasn't a way to donate to TA from inside the app. The hypothetical ad unlock IAP (or monthly/yearly unlock IAP... >_>) could be seen as a donate substitute for the TA app users. Thus, people can "donate" right from their iPhones and directly benefit both themselves and TouchArcade, even if the benefit is only in aesthetic for the user. In other words, it would allow users of the TA app to subscribe to the "shut up and take my money" attitude without having to leave the app and go to Safari, switch to non-mobile format, click the Paypal donate button, enter info, etc.... It was just a thought, and I do honestly believe that, on average, TouchArcade deserves this "dual income" strategy. They are all dedicated reviewers for the most part, they go out of their way to make this awesome app (which I use exclusively ) all for free. Why CAN'T I just do a quick IAP to support them? That, essentially, is how I feel. I think TA has EARNED the "dual income" approach through their dedicated efforts to expand mobile gamers' horizons. Yes, I COULD just go to the site via P.C. and donate via Paypal. But that takes a little time, and isn't as slick/easy as simply tapping a button and putting in a password. And that ease of use DOES make a difference. If there is a specific reason why TA decided not to do this, then I respect that. This is simply my $0.02 ^_^ -Mr. Album
I can't speak to any specific plans we have for the future of the app, but across the internet it seems like ad-free options are rarely utilized. I just did a little informal poll of friends of mine that are with either sites and/or apps that offer subscription-style things to remove ads and adoption rates across the board seem shockingly low. Like, well below 5% of the total users low (many even below 1%). At the end of the day, we're a small outfit with an even smaller development team working on this. If we were prioritizing features, I'd put something like a media player for watching the TA Plays videos or listening to the podcast, or quite a few other things well above all the complications of adding IAP so a few people can remove ads since those are functions everyone can use. And, who knows, you might just find a cool game being advertised you wouldn't know about otherwise. Hell, it's my job to discover cool iOS titles and I've even stumbled across things I wouldn't have otherwise from ads on the front page and forums.
I was navigating between pages, looking at different games. Everything was moving smoothly. I hit the 'back' button and got a loading indicator in the top status bar. After about 5 seconds, the form shifted down to make room for the top-loading banner, the banner filled in the white placeholder area, and the 'back' action finally activated. So, I had to wait for a banner to display on a form I was trying to navigate away from. Also, the when the top loading banners appear and shift everything else downward, it's very disconcerting. Many times it has happened right before I was going to click on something. Once the form moves unexpectedly, I nearly click the wrong thing. It's annoying. Seeing as how I use this app to mainly find out about new games, advertising seems redundant. The way the ads are displayed in this app are just too intrusive.
Another issue I'm seeing with the banner ads at the top of the page: I clicked on a review, got through the first paragraph or so, then the banner appears, shifting everything down. I scrolled back up to what I was reading and continued down the page. By the time I got to the end of the article, I couldn't get the article to stay at the bottom of the page. It kept bouncing back up. There was a space about the size of the banner that it wouldn't let me keep on the screen. I had to leave the article, come back in, and go back to the bottom of the article to click the link I was originally trying to get to.
