Arseblog Apps
As I’m sure many of you know, we have apps for iOS and Android. We’re in the very early stages of planning some updates to them, but we’d really appreciate your feedback and comments.
What would you like to see in the apps that isn’t there now?
What’s there now that you’d like to see improved?
If you have suggestions or feature requests, please leave a comment below and we’ll use this thread as part of our planning as we get development underway.
We can’t promise to include everything, but all suggestions are welcome.
Arseblog News on match days
As many of you have pointed out to us on social media, email and in the comments, we’ve been having some issues with the site being slow/inaccessible for periods after we play a match.
First and foremost, we just want to apologise because we understand it’s inconvenient and a pain in the arse when you want to read the report, player ratings, and so on.
I just wanted to let you know we are aware of it, we’re still trying to find out exactly why it’s happening, but Tom has made some progress in that regard, and we’re confident we can get on top of it sooner rather than later.
It’s as annoying for us as it is for you, but just bear with us and we should get it sorted. It may require us to limit some functionality as we go through a process of elimination but as ever we’ll keep you posted as to what we’re doing and why.
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Thanks, Andrew ?
The app is pretty good as it is but maybe could do with the comments section, a tab with all the fixtures and the video tab from the website. Also maybe some info on match times and what channels they’ll be shown on.
Yes, please include channels for the UK at least, as I’m often having to frantically hunt for streams just before ko if it’s not shown.
That’s not something we’re going to be able to do. Firstly, to display fixtures you have to licence them from the Premier League. And it would mean updating the app for each game when there are already sites which provide that info.
http://liveonsat.com/los_foot_br_eng_ALL.php – for example, lists all Premier League fixtures and every channel they’re on.
In the US – worldsoccertalk has a tv schedule page for all major football competitions. Have that bookmarked. Decent blog by an English expat in the US. Emphasis on US and football in the US and on tv there.
Also the official PL App/website lists local times and local channels for each PL match.
Does it? I know it does in the UK but wasn’t sure about internationally.
Yes. I am based in South Africa. Updates each game with local kick off times as well as local channels (Supersport)
https://www.arsenal.com/usa/news/features/where-to-watch-arsenal
The official Arsenal app (on Android) tells you what channel the game is on.
@arseblog
When you choose to reply to someone, can their name automatically show up so I don’t look like a nonsensical prat? Cheers mate.
Grateful for everything the app does already. One thing that would be a nice addition is the ability to download content to read offline – like before you get on the tube. Thanks.
I think you csn already, on the android app at least as long as you refresh the articles whilst online you can then still read them when offline
I would like the ability to access the comments on the app (IOS). At least read them, if unable to comment myself.
WOuld be great if you could incorporate the patreon content onto the app somehow
Bit of a mad idea, but how about player ratings before games. IE rating of 1-10 on players starting. Be interesting for yourself to use in certain situations. An example being we the fans give Iwobi an average rating of five before Sundays game before he goes out and makes a mug of us. I’m not saying we would of by the way, just using it as an example. Would work well for players benched too.
This makes no sense.
Sorry
If they haven’t stepped on the pitch yet, what in the world are we going to rate them on? Stories from the S*n? Social media rumors? Fashion sense? How good of a punching bag they are for our own lives’ frustrations?
Hi Andrew,
This is for the iOS app:
* any images are stretched full width, so your thumbs up emoji at the end there is a few pixels high but the whole width of the screen;
* the new player ratings system crashes the app on my iPad Mini;
* no arses;
* the liveblog doesn’t really work on mobile. It’ll stop updating if the phone sleeps without an automatic, or an obvious manual, refresh upon wake up.
Keep up the good work,
Hendo219
Have similar issues with the live blog on Android sometimes.
Any chance it could be integrated into the app, a bit like the ones you do on Transfer Deadline Day?
Am otherwise a big fan and appreciate everything you guys do.
Cheers!
How about integrating the comments section in the app?
I’d like the ability to adjust the font size and style on the app. I use the web version for this exact reason as I like to activate reader mode on Safari.
A loading bar for any external/internal links would also be useful as it feels like links can take a long time to load and you don’t know whether it’s crashed.
The ability to download podcasts within the app, instead of having to stream.
The ability to read/contribute to the comments on articles.
The comments section can be better.
Also I’m having trouble with the (arses) comment, they don’t always load.
android app here
1. when I hit the refresh button, it frequently just attempts but doesn’t do anything. I need to kill the app, open again, hit refresh again and it refreshes.
2. standardize to android functionality – e.g. pull down to refresh
3. links to other arseblog articles/comments integrated to use app versus browser/web
BTW – thanks for even having an app and asking for feedback!
Same problem for me with the infinite loading/”Couldn’t load. Are you connected to the internet?” message. Recently I discovered if I turned wifi off there are no loading problems. Had the same issue with my previous phone and new one, and on different wifi networks.
I’ve also had this issue regularly. Particularly when I’m on the blog section and I move to the news section.
I like all three points.
Update to Google’s Material Design for Android please.
Hi Andrew,
As an iOS user, I’d love a redesign of the UI to better follow Apple guidelines (the reddit app Apollo could be an example). I ended up switching to the website cause it was more reliable and better looking, which doesn’t really help Arseblog at all imo.
Otherwise, thank you for all the great content and coverage of the best team in the world (and with a Basque manager!)
The only issue I have with the app is when scrolling down on longer articles I often accidentally scroll to the left or right very slightly and it brings me to the next or previous article. It could just be me, and is very mild, but it can be annoying for sure.
I always do this too
Yeah I have this problem often with the Android app, it’d be better if you swiped smoothly between articles.
When articles have images as well they don’t always resize to the width of the screen
Happens to me too on the Android app too often. The vertical scroll gesture just needs some extra left-right tolerance.
^^THIS. This is the most frustrating thing. I can’t really fault the app otherwise, it’s all good & does it’s job but reading Tim’s post on the tube home and I accidentally swipe right and loose my place.. Fuck! It’s the most frustrating thing.
Would be interesting to see if the swipe feature actually adds value for anyone when it’s not driving people crazy. Input encouraged below please.
Now I think of it, an option to turn swipe off in the settings would be perfect for everyone I guess.
It’s not just you. It happens to me all the time. I was just going to say that if it would be possible to disable swipe for next/previous article that would be fantastic.
Thanks for all the work blogs, much appreciated.
I get this too (clumsy fingers). Maybe Tom can add placeholders for where you were on the article when changing or modifying the swipe tolerance?
I would pay £3 for a premium version of the app that removed all ads. Apart from that, maybe better comment integration on app.
I agree. It is very annoying to see those stupid and absolutely uninteresting ads taking up space on my phone. I would pay for a premium version without ads.
the premium version is a good idea, but i don’t find those ads very annoying, they are about the right size and with a little scroll you can skip it just fine. im even glad when they load because i feel like im helping them sustain their content
Hi, when listening to the podcasts in app it doesn’t seem to let me divert off the page whilst still listening. Would be great if this could be looked into. Otherwise you’re doing a great job.
You should listen to the pods on the podcast app if you’ve got an iPhone. Probably a similar version for android
This may just be me, but I find that if my fingers veer even slightly when scrolling in the Android app, it switches to the next or previous article. Gets annoying. Otherwise I’m very pleased with the app, thanks!
Agreed. Maybe change the swipe to a tap or double tap. Other than that and the fact that sometimes the comments don’t load it’s excellent! Best Arsenal site around!
Surely just an adjustment of the deadzone?
The app on Android is a bit buggy, specifically the “refresh” part. Other than that, it’s just wonderful
For Android the menu could be moved to the bottom of the screen, as most modern phones are a bit tall
A comment session on Android app will be really appreciated
As has been mentioned, it would be really handy if comments were an option to be read and posted on the app. I also don’t know if it is possible to view the live blog on the app. I feel like sometimes I can find it and other times I cant. Other than that, I really like the way the app is set out and its functionality in general, obviously some issues with the loading speeds (which as you mention sound like are a server issue) but more often than not it works just fine. Thanks, and keep up the… Read more »
I’m on Android 9 on my Pixel. The app is not great to be honest. Design/experience wise, it would benefit from adopting Google design guidelines (material design), which is pretty simple to incorporate from my own app development experience.
However the bigger issue is that when you launch the app you just get spinning wheel until you click somewhere else and then the content loads. this happens all the time spinning wheel constantly until you click elsewhere.
Great ‘content’ though as always.
Think the design just needs a fresh lick of paint (android).
Some random suggestions for Android: – When reading a blog/news post on the app, the swiping left or right to read previous or next story feature can be very sensitive. Like, I am casually scrolling the post, and the most minute right/left movement of the finger gets picked up and the article changes. It can get annoying at times. One (slightly tedious) way to combat this could be by making the article change animation fluid instead of abrupt, like the Tinder swipe. – By default, only the latest 10 posts/news articles are kept in device memory and visible to the… Read more »
Firstly thanks for all the excellent content. Speaking from an android perspective: 1. Agree with the swipe to the next article issue. This happens to me particularly when one or two lines in an article do not wrap correctly on screen and I try and scroll across to read the full sentence. 2. I’ve not been able to load arses on blog posts once for a few months now which I miss as there are some real gems there. 3. Regarding your performance issues, I’d recommend running a free trial with one of the Application Performance Monitoring vendors. I know… Read more »
The ability to download arsecasts and any other streaming media so I don’t lose them when in and out of service areas.
How about a section showing the league table and fixtures
For iOS:
The news tab occasionally fails to load content, even when the news site works when accessed via browser. Also would be nice to have access to all/more of the news stories (via pagination?) because now it only displays the 10 latest articles with no way to access older articles. This is a bit of a bummer, especially now that there is more content daily (thanks for that though, that is very nice indeed).
Very happy with the app. If i could be picky
When scrolling it sometimes moves to the next article.
For when the phone is docked it’d be nice to have an option to pinch and zoom in on reformatted text.
A bookmarked point in the blogs would be handy.
Game kick-off times, channel and on live blogs working video feeds would be awesome.
For player ratings, hide and reveal individual ratings as an option.
Patron articles linked into the app via some login details if possible.
For me in the iOS app: The Arses and Arseblog News comments integrated/readable Offline reading for articles A fixture list for the season with kickoff dates, times and results A total average player rating system for the season – to see who is the most consistent performer (apart from Monreal) A overall season player stats page. I have no idea what Bellerin’s crossing percentage is, but I know I’d like to.. or just a basic one for goals and assists. Maybe some sort of team predictor feature (bbc sport have something similar). Where you can pick your own formation/line up… Read more »
First, thanks for all you do with the content and behind the scenes…including the apps.
I’ve used both iOS and Android apps. I really like the iOS version since it has pretty much everything in it: pod stream, live blog, etc. It’s was a little buggy at times (the live blog), but overall it was excellent. The android version has much less functionality, although still great for reading the content put together.
I’d really like for the adroid app to be as functional as the iOS app. Keep up the excellent work.
In android sometimes the article doesn’t fit the page and swiping right move it over to the next article…how about less complications and not have swipe to next article as compulsory ?
I’ve seen this happen particularly when images which have captions are included.
A lot has already been mentioned but I’ll summarise my requests!! Before that though I’d like to say thanks for even providing an app and thanks for an amazing blog from a reader since the beginning. – A new fixtures section (with dates, times and channel it’s on if any) and league table(s)/cup hierarchy – Separate the app sections so the blog is separate rom columnists etc.. Maybe something like Blog, News, Match Reports (inc. Player Ratings), Fixtures, Columnists, Video – Re-embed the liveblog if possible – Swiping to move to next/previous article seems overly sensitive, not sure what would… Read more »
The android app is pretty good for me. The only thing that doesn’t work properly is the video playback when the phone is turned to landscape, the video doesnt play for more than 1 second at a time. I have a galaxy s9 if that helps resolving the issue.
Same as others – comment integrated in app. Brilliant work though Andrew, keep it up.
Hey, I use the Android app mostly. I’m pretty happy with the app. My 2 main suggestions would be 1. Sometimes the images don’t load properly so they go offscreen 2. The ads in the app are the bane of my existence. The in text ads are huge and that one that hovers at the bottom is so distracting. It would be awesome if we could just pay a little something to get an ad free app. Or get it ad free if you sign up on Patreon.
The Patreon integration is something we’re looking to do. If you’re a Patreon member you can log into our app with your Patreon details and get it ad free.
Is the as free option already available? I don’t see a login option anywhere in the Android app…
Not yet. It’s one of the planned improvements
The comments sometimes doesn’t load when I click on it or it takes ages
On android I have to view stories on web in order to see comments. Also, I haven’t been able to see any of the new player pics in the ratings. That is an issue on my laptop & pc too actually. Other than that, keep up the good work, you’re doing great.
I’d love to be able to see fixtures and results and league tables we are in
It’s about the desktop version. Considering FHD/UHD monitors are becoming common, it would be great if the site used the available display area better. On a 34 inch ultra-wide, website content occupies only about 1/3 of available display area.
That’s something we’ll look into – curious to get a request for desktop though seeing as much is mobile these days!
Tilt your monitor 90°!
Also if it was possible to turn off being able to swipe left or right to go to the next article. Probably just my clumsy fingers but I very often swipe onto the next article whilst just trying to scroll down the page.
A dark mode would be great!
You can already select day/night mode (in Android at least), via the menu button in the top right corner.
I find the red links are not great in the night/dark mode on Android. You may want to improve the contrast.
On that note, please please pretty *please* with a couple of beers on top don’t remove the night/dark mode in the name of a redesign. It could be improved, but I love it even. He’ll, when I see the notification for a new article on my work iPhone, I use my Android phone to read it just for the dark mode.
What about a picture of John Terry that if you ‘tap’ it leaves a bruise and tap again another bruise etc and you could spend you entire day beating the shiye out of him? I’d pay CSKA Moscow money to do that to the cunt.
Just want to say a special thanks to Tom. Doing that “number 6” role. And slotting in here and there when Blogs takes a siesta. Back in school over a decade ago, I wasn’t so good at computer classes. So I had way more free time during the computer exams than I’d have liked. During that time I always heard this little arsebloger voice in my head say “Tom would solve this in no time” It’s at those moments I realised I did too much arsenal than my actual computer work in the labs. Particularly arseblog arses. Cheers Tom. Thanks… Read more »
Hi Andrew. Great app, thanks for your work. I’m sorry if this comment is a bit off message but can you do a live game commentary with Gunnerblog? I like radio but 5 live are muppets.
Technically that’s a bit difficult, but maybe down the line we can consider it
I feel like the iOS app is basically just a bad web wrapper for the website, which makes it more comfortable and efficient to simple use the website in Safari. It just doesn’t function like a true iOS app, and often fails badly in its presentation of the website’s content: – the formatting of the news stories is inconsistent and unattractive. Black text with royal blue underlined links is a bit dated at this point. Images don’t seem to resize in a way that fits with the presentation of the text in a way that appeals the the eye. -the… Read more »
Sorry, had to jump in here. The iOS app is built natively and IS NOT web wrapped at all. Pulling in HTML content from the blog via RSS and converting into a format which can displayed correctly has proven to be difficult in the past.
This is why we are asking for feedback (via Andrew’s post) so we address these issues.
Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions, really appreciate it.
Hey Blogs. Love the site, normally read your content by clicking from Facebook through the mobile site. As I’m in the Antipodes I rarely have the timing correct to enjoy a live match so haven’t bothered with the apps – just the website. At the end of the day I love the content and I’m delighted with how it’s presented. Only issue I’ve had is the one you’ve acknowledged regarding content being slow to load/unavailable after a match.
It would be great to have a simple stats section on the app. League table, fixtures and top scorers of the season.
Would it be possible to see the average player score for the season based on all of their combined weekly player ratings. With a monthly summary from you for how each has done in the period.
It would help separate an Arshavin from a Cazorla…
Android user: – Offline mode for blogs and news, also for the new player ratings (it seems to want to be connected to view). – The swipe function for switching articles is a little sensitive especially when scrolling up and down and even more for the player ratings. – I honestly preferred the older player ratings, the readability was better and it was part of the original article instead of separate linked page. However I do enjoy the new ratings (players faces) the numbers are big and written review fairly small. – The refresh sometimes doesn’t work, says I’m not… Read more »
Correction: I think its a negative that numbers are big and written reviews small.
Have the third goal against Fulham on repeat play at the top of the app ?