Interested?

Yes, Interested!

Proprosed: MRH Mobile app

What's not to love?

But of course I want it.

Android Phone APP

YES!!! 

I have tried viewing MRH over my Android phone, not very readable in this format.

Tablet Viewing

I'd be interested if it works well on our Asus Tablet - just upgraded the android system to the Ice Cream Sandwich version - where ever do they come up with the names of these things.  

Absolutely!

iPad Friendly

Anything that would make the forums easier to navigate on the iPad would be a major step in the right direction IMHO.  To be honest it's puzzling to me that an eZine that is being read more and more on tablets didn't work well with the dominant tablet in the market.  A good business decision to me!

Oh yes

Yes please!. I have just recently obtained an iPhone.

Of Course

But I vote for having an app for the Nook Color as well.  It would be great to be able to post using my NC!

Mobile App

Are you building this, Joe or do you need someone to do it? "I have a friend" who is doing this type of work for a lot of different clients.  Thanks,

Peter

Sure, send a reference

Sure, if you know anyone who's building mobile apps, send them along.

We have some leads now, but I'm open to getting more - especially if they're through our reader network.

Absolutely!

All for that.

Definitely

Tony

AFBCPA

Yes, please!

YES!

Yes please!

Is it worth it?

Hi Joe,

You need to ask yourself, is it worth it? Your talking about several different operating systems or limiting to just one? What are users going to gain from it and what are you going to gain from it. I dont see an App as the cure for viewing MRH on a smartphone. Nothing you do is going to help the readability on a small device. Then you need to update the app every month which may become more of a pain then its worth. Its great to want to increase readership but I'm not sure that going to help if it turns into a bad experience for the user. You have a Class 1 publication right now and the old saying applies. If it aint broke- dont fix it!.

That said, Sure an app would be cool. I might like it and if it were out there I would install it.

Rob Teed

Sure

Sure, but I'd like a bit more than a fine-tuned web site (the majority of those I can do already on the iPhone's browser).

Very Interested

I would love to have an app for the Android!!!!!! It would make it easier to read especially when I'm out and about and don't have access to everything on my computer.

Rusty W.

I just got a new iPhone a few

I just got a new iPhone a few months back, and MRH is the only site I've had issues with. That said, I still prefer to read MRH via my PC's web browser, but on the road it would be nice to view on the iPhone. If it doesn't cause a burden to the staff or compromise the content of the mag, then I'm for it.

Cheers!
Marc

Current thinking ...

We have some leads on an affordable outside resource who could do this app for us. First version would likely have a subset of the functionality, with the main focus being to notify you when a new issue is out and to make getting the issue on your device as simple as tapping a button.

Then we would add more capabilities to the app so you could interact with our web presence on your device in a way that is easy to use on your device. Trying to navigate a web site on a smartphone can be tricky, so we'd make the web content use native features of the phone to make it easier to deal with.

As to mobile (smartphones and tablets), there were more internet connections made in 2011 with mobile devices than with PCs. People tend to spend a lot more time online with mobile devices (they carry them 24x7 most of the time), while time spent sitting in front of a PC to do the web tends to be maybe an hour or so a day for many people. The tendency is to go do the web on a PC for as short as necessary and then get back to something more comfortable for the rest of your time.

Mobile internet connections are expected to grow 10x in the next 2-3 years. Apple has now sold more mobile internet devices (iPhones and iPads) than they've sold Macs in their entire existence. Amazon's selling Android Kindle Fires like crazy, and of course there's a slew of Android phones hitting the market.

In short, people are going mobile internet, and if you're a web-centric company like we are, you had better be making your plans to get on mobile. Our business is about getting content to where the people are spending the most time online, and the trend is clearly to mobile over stationary computers.

We designed MRH for the stationary computer screen - so we're in need of an update to our approach that now will do for mobile (smartphones, especially) what we did for reading eZines on a PC (making it painless - as in no scrolling - the page fits the screen well).

Yes!

Sounds great, Joe.  

One feature that you could take advantage of (which might possibly be a selling point for advertisers and a revenue generator) is the GPS capabilities of mobile devices.  You mentioned "directions to hobby shops" and hobby events.  With the location feature of all mobile devices/tablets, your app could literally draw a map and "direct" customers to their doorsteps.  

I have no idea how involved it would be, but my wife has a Disney app that we used in Orlando with a similar feature: tell it what type of food you want (tacos).  It shows your current location and plots out how to get to the nearest taco stand (complete with menu and prices).  I think you can see the obvious applications for MRH: not only does an ad in the magazine link directly to the advertiser's website (let's say Digitrax) but this feature could plot out the nearest Digitrax dealer from the reader's current location.  Going to Trainfest in Milwaukee?  Here's where the Digitrax booth is, here's ABC Hobby Shop which has 10% off Digitrax products for MRH readers, etc.

Just one more service an eZine could provide advertisers that print can not.

YES

I would love to have a MRH app on my android.!!  

Mel

Yes...But

I love that you are thinking of a mobile app.  The only problem I have is I do not have a IDevice or Droid.  I use the Windows Phone.  I only hope you consider that device also.  

Ditto!

What Darickt said. Please look into supporting the Windows phone as well. And, in the near future, Windows 8 tablet support would be nice too. That will be my first tablet, when it is available.

Now that Santa brought me an iPad2 for my birthday . .

YES! I am!