This new version of the prod.ly iOS app marks the most significant UI upgrade this year. Besides that it is chock-full of small improvements that make it more fun ranting about or praising your favorite products.
Opines and new products are now displayed more beautifully and in multiple columns which adapt to your device model and orientation. Many improvements were made to improve usability on iPad and large-screen iOS devices.
New Features
- For products with multiple affiliate links, you can select which link to open
- Opine links are now underlined
- Call-to-action if there are no opines in product timeline
- “Open in Safari” activity added to product share sheet
- Replaced in-app browser with Safari View Controller where available
- Placeholder for images are now in predominant image color
- Show product category path in product details view
- Improved category picker in SDK to better show category hierarchy
Bug Fixes
- Removing an item from more than one list might cause extra checkmarks to appear while saving
- Timeline would pop to root after login required by product action
- Profile tab did not show if you click on it and log in
- Panel showing error might be behind navigation bar
The new look leans on the design we have on the prod.ly web app. It took us a while to implement this because we wanted to get the multiple columns behave as you would expect them to. Interesting fact: this kind of layout is referred to as Masonry- or Waterfall-Layout.
A big annoyance for many user came from product images always opening in the full screen viewer. This meant that you had a different interaction if you tapped on a new product’s header than you got tapping on the picture. It is more likely that you want to see what other people are saying about a product that catches your eye. So we changed that: the highest-voted product image now fills the bottom of the bubble and tapping anywhere goes to the product. You still can view all product images in full-screen via the image button at the top left.
The interactions you can have with a bubble moved from a swipe-to-edit action menu (in the previous table view) to be activated via long-pressing. This is a far simpler and more logical way to respond to other people’s opinions.
The update is available on the Apple App Store. We’d love for you to give it a try.