I just received an email from Tapatalk letting me know that they will be ending support for our branded app (as well as iOS which we no longer use). The Android app will remain in the store but only in its current form, as it will no long be receiving feature updates.
I would suggest ALL app users switch over to the main tapatalk app in the near future or ditch greedy tapa all together and use the mobile browser version of the app. TCG will still support tapatalk usage, that will not change.
Just wanted to give you a guys a heads up.
The Build Your Own (BYO) app has long been a popular and key product for Tapatalk. The BYO, or branded app, allowed Forum Owners to have an app with your name and branding, and use the Tapatalk technology behind the scenes.
A few years ago we expanded the BYO service, including a lower monthly subscription, and lowering costs, and reducing the complex process of submitting apps by housing the apps supporting in Tapatalk’s developer accounts.
Since we made those changes, both Apple and Google have made processing increasingly difficult and more expensive for us, and many similar companies. For example, both Apple and Google required that apps be housed in Forum Owners developer accounts (at a cost of $99/year for Apple) and Apple now requires 2-FA to access accounts making it extremely difficult for us to support the apps. Additionally, it also became impossible to continue to support push notifications in the branded apps.
Understandably, the higher costs have reduced the attractiveness of the BYO product, reducing the number of participants. And for us, because of the lower number of participants, the cost of supporting further development of BYO no longer makes economic sense.
Next Steps
First, for all existing BYO apps, they will continue to be available in their respective App Stores, and continue to work for your members. However, we will not be adding new features to the iOS and Android BYO apps.
I would suggest ALL app users switch over to the main tapatalk app in the near future or ditch greedy tapa all together and use the mobile browser version of the app. TCG will still support tapatalk usage, that will not change.
Just wanted to give you a guys a heads up.
