ABSCBN's app was posted in the AppStore around March this year, while GMA's got a fresh release last April 16, 2011.
This a big break for the two networks, finally getting into the trend of the ever-fascinating world of iOS apps. The launch were timely, congruous, and subservient for all those Pinoys abroad. A great help indeed for those who couldn't stream TV-Patrol or 24-Oras on the internet or those who aren't TV buff at all when it comes to news despite living in the Philippines. Kabayans who runs iOSes could now read the latest news right through their palms free of charge.
The kicker here is, which app can deliver? At this preliminary stage where updates weren't made yet, were bugs and hang-ups are noticeably annoying, i'm going to ran through the pros and cons between these two apps. I'ts like head-on collision, which one's better. Of course, i'll drop the newsworthiness criterion.
An app is in good greatness shape when it's capable of sharing or linking social networks such as facebook or twitter. Fortunately, the GMAnews app runs fast over ABS' with that category, although it lacks Twitter linkage or Email sharing, it's not that bad. Compared with the ABS app, it doesn't offer any sharing at all. Nevertheless, it has an extension tab for its Twitter updates.
On the plus side for ABS, you could customize your newsfeed, there's a setting for that that you can tweak. The MyNews option serves as your news reader for all news you want to appear in an instant browse.
Probably the most disappointing part is that there's no option for Offline Reading on both apps, nor the alternative to save articles of your liking. (i hope they could include this feat in their next update)
Despite my wifi signage to be full bars, i experience lagging on both apps. This bug is so coherent when shifting from one news to another (it's like forwarding and backwarding the website on an IE 7 browser). Most predominantly, the GMA app totally crashes when offline, it doesn't load at all, neither does it give a no internet error nor it warns you, it just opens then hangs then closes. But for the ABS, at least you could still load where you left off, but when you'd view the article already, it's dozing off to its doom.
Aesthetic and Navigation-wise, i couldn't help thinking of the CNN App being copied by the ABS while The NYTIMES app imitated by GMA. The headline structures of the ABS app including the tabs seemed like lifted from CNN minus the color combinations. While the GMA app is shrieking with simplicity and tone like the NYTIMES application.
There's a lot of room for improvement on both. I'm looking forward to it, that these two creations of Pinoy SW Developers if i'm not mistaken would lift further the bar in competing or at least being in range with the quality of famous News Apps in the US.
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