Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (January 2024)
This is a recurring topic for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app, which is currently in alpha testing.
I'll summarize the previous month's updates at the start of each topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care about more frequent updates and user feedback.
Recently:
Android v0.9.1: Fixed crash double-tapping comment in profile, and other rare crashes and minor bugs.
iOS hotfix v0.9.1: Fixed a possible crash opening the Notifications tab.
Android and iOS v0.9.0 (Jan 22, 2024)
- View user profiles ("all posts" feed; more options like bios coming in the future)
- Tweaked app theme colors
- Fixed various layout bugs
- (Android) Fixed crash tapping links in comment reply preview
- (Android) Fixed missing Share button on topic OP if logged out
- (Android) Fixed black background setting on Android 9 and earlier
iOS hotfix v0.8.1: Fixed keyboard blocking the Exemplary prompt dialog.
Android and iOS v0.8.0 (Jan 9, 2024)
- Apply comment labels (Exemplary, Offtopic, Joke, Noise, Malice)
- Tap an Exemplary label you've received to see messages
- Added Reply to text selection context menu
- Quote selected text when replying
- Fixed app incorrectly treating user as logged in after restoring a Google Drive or iCloud backup
- (Android) Added Share button to OP in comments section
- (Android) Support Android 14
- (Android) Fixed rendering non-breaking spaces
- (iOS) Fixed logout bug if no connectivity
- (iOS) Fixed markdown table layout and CPU idle bugs
- (iOS) Fixed rare crash collapsing a comment
iOS hotfix v0.7.2: Fixed crashes in Notifications tab, and fixed crash inserting emoji in reply
Android and iOS v0.7.0 (Dec 27, 2023)
- Added a markdown formatting bar when composing a comment
- Edit comments after posting them
- View markdown of other users' comments
- (Android) New setting: Quit confirmation
- Fixed comment reply preview bugs
- Fixed bugs viewing direct linked comments
- Fixed numbered list bug
- Fixed rate limit error message
- Fixed crashes and UI bugs
Android and iOS v0.6.x (Nov/Dec 2023)
- In-app notifications of comment replies
- Highlight and jump to linked comments
Last month's topic: December 2023
Where to get it
Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes
iOS version on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy
I know you know, but asking again for labels. I love the app and use it as my primary way to interact with Tildes but it's always weird switching back to the website to throw someone an Exemplary.
Love the new markdown button, thank you for that. The two things I wanted were labels and this and we are half way there!
Labels will be coming soon! Thanks for the feedback.
Just wanted to add that I am yet another user that uses yet another one of your apps to interact with social media as my primary method.
Thanks for all your work mate
They added comments label today. :)
Yes indeed!
Writing this from the app. :D thank you it looks amazing so far
I never used your other app (stuck on another one didnt want to learn new one) but I always heard fantastic things about it, and it's a privilege to see your new one in action.
I have no complaints against the Tildes default web format at all. In fact I don't want any extra bells and whistles and I always love how fast Tildes loads: just clean no junk. Text (not icons) as buttons is something I've sorely missed.
But. The nativity of it being on mobile just feels right, and it maintains the lightweight nature of the site quite well, I think.
Just wanted to say thanks.
Question: how do I search in threads? Saw the group search button but want to search for keyword across all threads
Thanks for the compliment!
Search functions are not there yet. That includes sitewide search and also the Ctrl+F find-in-page. They'll be added eventually.
Oh there's no rush of course! Please don't worry about it - I just wasn't sure if it's there and i didn't see it :) thank you
Update: iOS hotfix v0.8.1 is under review, fixing the bug with the keyboard blocking the Exemplary prompt dialog.
Android and iOS v0.8.0 (Jan 9, 2024)
The Android update is available now on Google Play, while the iOS update is
awaiting reviewavailable on TestFlight.Thanks for adding labels!
They are a great way to provide additional interactions with the community and one of the things that sets tildes apart from other communities.
Love the work you are doing!
Loving the app, fantastic to use.
Feature request if it's not already on the list: can we have a "copy comments url to clipboard" button in the menu next to the "open comments in browser" option?
I've wanted to share with freinds few times and I have to open it in a browser and copy the link from there, minor whining but seems like a low hanging fruit!
Thanks for pointing that out. iOS has a Share button but it's missing on Android! I'll see about adding that in.
How are you getting on with the iOS side of things? Not sure if you were mainly Android before? Not that I was complaining, long term RiF subscriber and all that. BTW any plans for a donate option? Keen to get you some beers/coffees to fuel future development!
iOS development has its ups and downs. I've been messing with it for a year or more at this point, greatly intensified the past 6 months, and I'm getting a decent handle on it now.
Apple does some things well compared to Android development. The way everything is integrated in Xcode is very nice, and it's easy to tell at a glance when there are layout bugs or stray processor usage. Their visual layout inspector is really good. The simulator works very smoothly too (aside from things like not being able to disable wifi).
The biggest downside compared to Android is how everything is coded into the OS, instead of a compatibility library like Android has. So a user on iOS 15 will be stuck with iOS 15's bugs forever. Meanwhile on Android, since they've moved more and more code out of the OS and into application-level libraries, if Google fixes a bug then even a user on an 8-year-old Android version can get those bug fixes.
I've been doing Android development long enough that checking for OS version and writing different versions of the code isn't a big deal, since that's what Android development was, too, for a very long time. Apple has been making a little bit of progress here, by having some of the code upgradable together with the Xcode and Swift versions, but it doesn't feel as intentional and app-developer-controlled as I've gotten on Android.
This comment is getting long, and I could write about these at length. Maybe another time. Thanks for asking!
And thanks for asking about donations, but beer and coffee are both gross, so I'll have to decline. :P But maybe I'll add a way to donate to my wine and tea budget at some point.
Wine and tea are both very suitable replacements!
Thanks for the long reply, very interesting to read.
Just downloaded the Android app. So far I'm loving how it looks. Very clean and responsive. My only complaint is that the themes present on the website are not present in the app. I would love my Atom One Dark if possible :P. That's my only real compliant though and it's a pretty minor one. Will keep using for the foreseeable future!
Thanks for creating the app!
Wondering if you’d consider opening YouTube links in the YouTube app without using open links in external browser option?
As a counter to this, I vastly prefer youtube links opening in the app using my web browser. In my case that's mobile Firefox with healthy adblocking that the youtube app would only let me have if I paid for premium services.
I can see value in both use cases! Maybe an option for all links and then one specific for YouTube would allow for both?
I agree having the option to choose would be the best of both worlds
Thank you :)
The only thing I want in the app is a sort function, I don't currently understand the rhyme or reason as to what order the threads are presented in.
Otherwise I have no complaints about it. I'm not a heavy user though, just browse a lot.
Sorting is on my todo list. Thanks for the feedback.
For the site itself:
https://docs.tildes.net/instructions/tildes-front-page#sorting-the-topics
https://docs.tildes.net/instructions/navigating-tildes#sorting-comments
I think it's set to Activity with posts from all time.
Sort is definitely something I'd like to see. Only other feature I want is being able to check my own comments/profile which he said he's already working on.
I was trying to file a bug report for 3C from 3C, but was really confused why I couldn't find this thread when browsing ~tildes.
Turns out, ~tildes seems to default to Votes (All Time) when you navigate to it (not a 3C issue, I can repro on the web)!
One thing I really liked in RIF was the button that skips to the next/previous root comment. Also the "root" and "parent" buttons on child comments. Is it possible to include those buttons in the 3CFT app?
I agree, would like to add those next/prev/root/parent buttons at some point.
It's looking great so far, thank you!
I'm sure this is on your radar already, but the only improvements not mentioned here would be in replies.
Having any text selected before the "reply" button is tapped automatically inserted at the top as a quote would be great.
Also, there is currently no way to view the comment being replied to without exiting the comment pop-up. Having it displayed above the writing area would be a great help, especially when conversations get more complex. Thanks!
This is coming in the next update!
Good point. Will have to give this some thought. When comment drafts eventually get implemented, that might help with this; close the reply sheet and reopen to where you left off.
I figured that was coming, thanks!
Saving as drafts is one approach, but it's an awkward workflow. One might as well just write the reply in Keep and then flip back and forth at that point before pasting it in.
The Joey reddit client had the best approach I've seen. Essentially it's the same as the existing 3 Cheers reply layout, except instead of a pop-up overlay it took up full screen, using the new space at the top to display the content being replied to in a separate area that could be scrolled independently of the reply text box. That way you could copy further bits if necessary and review the finer points of your reply without leaving the screen.
In my experience, having to go back and forth between screens in order to write a good reply usually just results in my abandoning the effort.
If it gives you a headache ..........
Then take some acetaminophen obviously
@wervenyt APAP is inescapable on Tildes.
Bug report: I switched phones (android), and after the transfer was done it already had me logged in, but I couldn't actually vote.
Logging out and back in fixed it, though.
Thanks for the bug report. During the holidays people were changing devices a lot apparently, based on my having gotten a couple reports of this. There's a similar bug on both Android and iOS, which I've fixed for the next update. (The username was backed up but not the credentials. I'm still not backing up the credentials, but will detect when credentials are missing from a new device.)
Bug Report: Clicking a link in a reply's markdown preview crashes the app.
Description
When authoring a comment reply that contains a URL (e.g.
[link](https://google.com)), clicking on that link in the reply's message preview causes the app to crash.This is a relatively common this for me to do when authoring a reply, since I like to double check that I link to the correct page.
Reproduction Steps
[Google](https://google.com)Expected Outcome
Clicking the link navigates to the webpage in an external browser. Backing out of the browser brings you back to the comment you were authoring
Actual Outcome
Three Cheers crashes and loses the draft you were working on
Device Info
OS: Android 11
Version: 0.8.0
Thanks, this is fixed in Three Cheers v0.9.0.
Thank you for your work on this app. It's become my primary way to interact with Tildes.
Feature request: would it be possible to get a "share" button or popup for links on the front page, so one could open articles in Firefox/Edge instead of the inbuilt browser? I get issues with some sites, and on top of that sometimes I find articles I'd love to share with my friends through {messaging app of choice}.
As always, muchas gracias!
Changing the setting "Settings > Browser > Browser Type" to "External Browser" will make links open in your default browser, where you can copy the link.
Android and iOS v0.9.0 (Jan 22, 2024)
We're at v0.9 now, but the next version probably won't be v1.0; probably v0.10.
Can I get an invite code or how does this work?
You can use these links to get access:
Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes
iOS version on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy
Ah thanks...sorry I didn't get that from the description in the post