Some months ago, I set out to do a series of comparison between esteemapp and other steem android clients that were released last year. Unfortunately, I received a lot of stick from some users of one of the steem android clients. On the positive side, I was happy I carried out the expedition. In the previous post, where I reviewed and compared esteemapp with 1ramp, I concluded that 1ramp was my favorite steem android client. However, in the summary of that post, I said my decision might change with the release of "Esteem v2". The public build of Esteem v2 is now available for download, and I am super excited about this news.
Ever since I got wind of the news that Esteem v2 was being developed, I have been anxious about its release. So you can guess how happy I feel right now.
In this article, I will be doing first impressions of the software. Furthermore, I will be reviewing its current available features. This article is a continuation in the series "Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it." In the other publications, I compared esteemapp with other steem android clients. But in this post, I will be doing a review of Esteem v2. I might also go ahead to do a side by side comparison with the old esteemapp. I will also go ahead to point out areas in the new app I am particularly excited about. Furthermore, if I am feeling adventurous, I might do a quick comparison with 1ramp which I declared in my previous publication as my favorite steem android client.
Things to note.
- This current version, Esteem v2, is an open beta. But in this publication, the project owner says it should be treated as an Alpha release.
- Going by the above statement, it means the app currently doesn't pack all the features that it should.
- In this article, I will be reffering the other eSteem mobile app before this one(eSteem v2) as, old esteem mobile. So please, don't get confused.
Without further ado, let's delve into the review of eSteem v2
My first impression of eSteem v2 is that it's amazing and fantastic. I am particularly fond of the user interface. So once again, the user interface(UI) of this app, is the first thing I will be reviewing.
User Interface (UI)
Esteem v2 is sporting a new look. I give two thumbs up for the work done on the UI. The new UI reeks of beauty, professionalism, and, excellence. This is my opinion and I'm not exaggerating. The User interface gives me goose pimples(just kidding). But honestly, the UI is just amazing, everything is perfectly fitted. The display is materialistic, laced with flat icons. Furthermore, there's is a night mode. In time past, I have confessed my undying love for dark interfaces, but after few months of flirting with 1ramp(no night mode), I care less about dark interfaces now.
There is a chasm between the old esteemapp, and, eSteem v2.
The image above shows the interfaces of the old esteemapp and eSteem v2.
From the image, you can see that there are improvements. I like how the user avatar is positioned. Clicking the avatar opens the left sliding menu. The left sliding menu is empty, and the obvious reason is, the app is still under development.
Aside from the main page, the user profile page received a massive UI overhaul. There is also a huge difference in this page compared to that of the old esteemapp.
There are some shortcomings of the UI on the user profile page. The cover image is very minimal. I am certain that the cover image is not meant to be displayed this way. This will be fixed in upcoming updates. On the positive side, I noticed something peculiar on the user profile page. While on the profile page, users can switch between seeing their blogs or contents in the feed. Furthermore, users can change the display to view blogs with preview images or texts only.
User security.
The developers are taking security seriously in this app. Setting up the app after the first launch, users are required to enter a four digit pin.
This pin is required whenever the app is exited and relaunched. Aside from pin security, steemconnect login protocol is now available.
The login protocol(regular login) from the old esteemapp is still available. This means that there are two (2) login protocols, and, users can use whichever one that suits them. The inclusion of steemconnect in this version is a good thing. There were lots of uncertainties and, insecurities, about the login protocol the old esteemapp provided. Some users felt their keys could be extracted remotely. With steemconnect, all their doubts are laid to rest.
The inclusion of steemconnect is great. That being said, there is a minor let down for me in the app's security. The security on the old esteemapp was more solid. The pin system worked faster, and security was tighter. The "app login" protocol only works when the app is exited and relaunched. On the old app, the login protocol is triggered, even if the app was only minimized. I had high hopes on improved app security. I was hoping touch ID(fingerprint) would be implemented in this version, as pin alone was not enough security for such a delicate app. Maybe, making this possible is a herculean task the project owner has decided to avoid. Moreso, I was also hoping that more variable characters could have been used as a password.
Still on the app's security, I noticed that users might be able to recover lost pins if they forgot it. The function currently doesn't work, clicking it doesn't perform any action.
Paid-out posts and comments edit.
This feature is a major tune-up on eSteem v2. Hardfork 2.0 brought along with it, the ability for authors to edit posts and comments older than seven(7) days. Steemit I think, was the first dApp to make this function a reality. This is now possible on Busy.org too. Esteem v2 is the first steem android client where this(editing of old posts) is possible. I am certain the project owners of other steem apps are working towards this, but I'm quite excited that eSteem is the first steem android client, to achieve this feat. This feature is likely to be used less by me, but I'm excited to know that it's possible. While creating this content, I visited old publications and tried out the feature. I didn't publish the edits though, as I really didn't make changes. Once again, the project owner deserves all the plaudits for making this function available on eSteem.
The three (3) points above, that I have just discussed, are the major talking points for me, about the new eSteemapp. Other features that are currently working, were all available on the old app. Talking about those features again will be considered content padding.
According to the annoucement post made by the project owner, these are the features in the app that are currently working;
- Steemconnect login and regular login
- Feed browsing (user/trending/hot etc)
- Advanced search engine utilizing our https://search.esteem.app
- Upvotes with percentage
- Posts & Comments creation and edits
- Multi-accounts
- Basic wallet transactions view without transfers yet
- Notifications
- Activity center
- Night mode
- Server connection change
- Language change (only English and Turkish languages for now)
From the list above, you know what's available on the app right now. Comparing side by side with the features of the old eSteemapp, these are the features that are not yet implemented;
- Drafts page. (The drafts page is different from saving an article that is being created on the post editor.)
- Bookmarks,
- Favorites,
- Scheduler,
- Exchange,
- Profile editor, etc.
While I would love these missing features to be added to this new eSteemapp, I doubt if all of them will make it into the app when the stable version is released. If this new app consists of the same features, it will be as though the "face of the app"(UI) was just changed but the content remained the same. I'm anticipating more advanced features in the stable release. The developer has dropped some hints about features that we(end-users) should be expecting. The features are leaderboard and messages. I have no idea what the leaderboard is, but I can guess it has something to do with contests. It won't take a rocket scientist to know that messages mean, users of the app can interact privately amongst themselves.
Summary.
In the introduction of this post, I stated that the aim of this content was to discuss my first impressions of eSteem v2, and also, review it. Furthermore, I said I might do a comparison with 1ramp. That part was avoided for now. My reason is that it'll be an unfair comparison since eSteem app is still lacking some vital and even basic features.
So here's my verdict;
After surfing through the app, I was greatly impressed with the app. The user interface is stunning. It was really appealing to my eyes. Even with the limited features currently available on the app, I still enjoyed surfing through it. That being said, there were some areas I felt would fare better with further developments. Once again, I am greatly impressed with the work done on the app so far, and, I am keeping my fingers crossed waiting for the next big update. I wish the project owner can publish an article of what is to come. The suspense is killing me.
Thanks for reading.
Links
Project repository: https://github.com/esteemapp/esteem-mobile
App download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.esteem.mobile
Resources:
The images used in this article are screenshots from my and mobile phone. Other images used, are properly sourced.
Series backlinks:
- Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it.
- Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it? (Part 2)
- Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it? (Part 3)