Comments on: Shovel http://www.appstoreapps.com/2008/08/13/shovel/ iPhone and iPod Touch Applications Reviewed Every Day Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:47:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David Fitzhugh http://www.appstoreapps.com/2008/08/13/shovel/#comment-3709 David Fitzhugh Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:13:51 +0000 http://www.appstoreapps.com/?p=1426#comment-3709 The shovel app is currently being rewritten and is very close to release. The original bugginess had a lot to do with memory management and has been reworked completely to correct these problems. In addition, the new Shovel app (3.0-ish) includes much more intelligent story loading and is much faster in browsing between multiple stories and accessing the stories themselves (through an in app browser window). The current build features access to Instapaper and Facebook and has features in place to allow digging up/down as well as leaving comments which will be made available as soon as Digg releases these features through their API. Overall the rewritten app feels much more streamlined and quick, and I expect current users of Shovel to experience a massive boost when they upgrade to Shovel 3.0 The shovel app is currently being rewritten and is very close to release. The original bugginess had a lot to do with memory management and has been reworked completely to correct these problems. In addition, the new Shovel app (3.0-ish) includes much more intelligent story loading and is much faster in browsing between multiple stories and accessing the stories themselves (through an in app browser window).

The current build features access to Instapaper and Facebook and has features in place to allow digging up/down as well as leaving comments which will be made available as soon as Digg releases these features through their API. Overall the rewritten app feels much more streamlined and quick, and I expect current users of Shovel to experience a massive boost when they upgrade to Shovel 3.0

]]> By: nutmac http://www.appstoreapps.com/2008/08/13/shovel/#comment-821 nutmac Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:22:46 +0000 http://www.appstoreapps.com/?p=1426#comment-821 Next to NetNewsWire, Shovel is my most frequently used iPhone app from third party developer. It is also one of the buggiest apps on my iPhone. It crashes constantly (even after resetting the phone via power cycling) -- about once every 2-4 articles or within 10 minutes, which ever comes first. And although the app looks sleek at first, it is ripe with usability issues, such as (1) no progress animation to indicate data is being retrieved, (2) "Load in Safari" button being on the left of "Load in Browser" screen instead of right where "Done" button is located (which should be renamed to "Back"), and (3) long comments getting truncated abruptly. Despite these issues, it has been weeks since the app was last updated. Next to NetNewsWire, Shovel is my most frequently used iPhone app from third party developer. It is also one of the buggiest apps on my iPhone. It crashes constantly (even after resetting the phone via power cycling) — about once every 2-4 articles or within 10 minutes, which ever comes first.

And although the app looks sleek at first, it is ripe with usability issues, such as (1) no progress animation to indicate data is being retrieved, (2) “Load in Safari” button being on the left of “Load in Browser” screen instead of right where “Done” button is located (which should be renamed to “Back”), and (3) long comments getting truncated abruptly.

Despite these issues, it has been weeks since the app was last updated.

]]>