Archive for May, 2008
Google Reader for iPhone: A Step Backward
Google announced yesterday that they have a new version optimized for the iPhone and MobileSafari. They mention that the new version is better for the iPhone than their standard mobile version in that it utilizes javascript to do more from one view. “Starring, sharing, and keeping unread are done in place, so you never have to leave the list view or refresh the page.”
I think that all sounds well and good. But the truth is that the mobile version was actually better because it wrapped the original article in javascript and stripped out everything but the text and pertinent graphics. This was useful on EDGE and made it easy to keep up with my RSS feeds while away from my computer. I’ve been happily using the mobile version since I bought my iPhone almost a year ago and I wasn’t even asking for a change. The mobile version was such a great iPhone application. You just got the text, perfectly presented in your browser.
My biggest gripe about the new version is that they actually took features away. The mobile version has a Settings link that allows you to “Reformat linked web pages for mobile browsers.” You can turn that on or off as you see fit. I could choose to display 5, 10, or 20 articles at a time on the old version. The new iPhone version doesn’t even give you settings at all.
On both versions, there are 2 links at the bottom of your feed list: “Load More” and “Mark These Items as Read.” On the mobile version these links are stacked on top of one another and take up the same amount of screen space. Clicking either link is easy. But on the iPhone version the “Load More” link is left-aligned and significantly larger than the “Mark These Items as Read” link which is right justified. The first time I tried to click the mark-as-read link I actually clicked the load more link because that link spans the width of the iPhone’s screen. It’s awesome that they do that so I don’t have to be so specific with my touch but the mark items as read link doesn’t span the width of the iPhone and you must be very specific with your touch on that link. And the space it takes up is so much smaller than the load more link that it’s too easy to accidentaly touch the load more link.
Obviously the iPhone version is still in beta and these things can be easily fixed. But I wish more developers would remember that it’s never a good user experience to take features away (unless it’s proven that the feature is little-used and gets in the way of completing tasks). You should start with you already have and then add functionality to improve the user experience. I just hope they add those settings back. I won’t be able to use the iPhone-specific version until they do. Luckily for me, the mobile version was already an awesome iPhone app to begin with.