Get the Patch App for Your New Smartphone
Follow your favorite hyper-local news site from the palm of your hand.
New electronic devices are one of the biggest gifts of the holidays, and now with smartphones, tablets and the like available, Patch has a free present for you.
You follow Patch on websites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, but have you downloaded our Patch app?
Well, now that you've got that new smartphone/tablet/fun electronic device, you should download the Patch app, which gives you up to the minute information from your local Patch site.
You can search through the App Store on your device, or you can click here to get the Patch app for free on iTunes. Not only can you read news on it, but post photos and videos as well.
Your storm-battered neighbors will attest, the Patch app was a big help when the power went out for days at a time in recent months.
Happy browsing!
Erin
7:12 am on Tuesday, December 25, 2012
What about Android?
Nicole Bitette
8:38 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Hi Erin,
The App, Patch Places, can be found for Android. Which is a smart phone optimized version of our directory. This App lets you browse and helps you connect to businesses, government offices, parks, etc. near you. I'm assuming Jason didn't include Android because he was talking about the regular Patch app. Sorry!
Foster Cooper
9:12 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
How about Windows Phone 8?????
Me
10:41 am on Friday, December 28, 2012
Get a real phone.
Steve
9:28 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
I guess Jason Koestenblatt thinks all smartphones are iPhones
Andy Schmidt
9:42 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Okay, so it's an app exclusively for Apple users.
Wish the article would have just said so outright.
XJS
9:42 am on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
They're not all iPhones?
Rusty Cut
8:02 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
No, people have androids and windows phones. They just don't download nearly as many apps or use the smart phone functions as iphone users do. Hence, less app support. If you want a smart phone you actually use, you get an iphone. If you are cheap and just trying to be "different" you look elsewhere.
RB
10:05 am on Friday, December 28, 2012
Actually, significantly more smartphone users have Android phones (49%) than iPhones (32%) right now. iPhone users do install slightly more apps, but Android users are more likely to actually use the apps they download multiple times per week. Both platforms are significantly ahead of any others (Windows, Blackberry) in regards to app downloads and usage. Any developer who ignores Android when creating an app in 2012 is simply being foolish.
gendisarray
11:47 am on Friday, December 28, 2012
@RB - that's not true in this country. Apple right now has a 53.3% share of the US smartphone market.
Rusty Cut
9:47 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Sorry RB - but you are flat out wrong. All data shows that yes, android phones sell more, but the smart phone functions (apps, internet usage, shopping) are not used nearly as much as ios.
http://www.tenfingercrunch.com/article/196/2012/11/26/mobile_market_share_not_equivalent_to_usage_share/
Pete
11:28 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
Rusty, iOS includes the iPad and doesn't distinguish between Wireless and WiFi access. The link you used doesn't take that into account and its numbers are skewed by that convenient omission.
Regardless, there should be no need for an App for Patch for any OS. What Patch could really do much better is fix the terrible organization of its web pages.
Rusty Cut
9:50 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2013
Pete - just saw this months later. How does wifi or cellular change anything in this conversation? Android includes tablets and phones. Just like ios includes tablets and phones. We're talking about apps for those platforms. Doesn't matter what connection they use.
Madison Station
10:12 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The Patch app for iPhone is BUGGY! Comments never load, refreshes of articles often cause the app to hang and pictures show up a full minute after loading an article. I use the mobile version of the website rather than this app. Of the over 200 apps I have on my phone, Patch gets the #1 award for the app that crashes the most. I think Patch should invest in a new app with expanded features and a rethink of the user interface. My "Front 5" is almost always the first 5 articles. Useless.
Nicole Bitette
11:53 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Hi Madison, Thanks for your comment. I believe a new version of the app is coming out in the new year. They are aware of all the current issues and working to fix them.
Madison Station
7:47 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Great to hear a fix is coming. Apps are supposed to be better than the mobile website version. Here are some suggestions to that end -
- Breaking News push alerts
- Tile user interface rather than dashboard (flip between sections). If you decide to keep the dashboard, then perhaps a picture of the town would make the app feel more local.
- Speaking of dashboard, I don't go to Patch to find the weather on my iPhone. I have another app for that. I go to Patch for local news, which I want to see and get to quickly.
- iPhone 5 compatible
- horizontal and vertical layout
- fix the comments
- load a thumbnail image with the story for quick display, then link over to a media section for all photos (reduces load time of pics)
- use native iOS sharing functions rather than app sharing functions (missing Twitter and iMessage functionality)
- Front 5 is the first four articles of the news section and a random event. Strike it. Useless.
- Directory: clicking on browse category crashes the app. This function needs to be fixed, otherwise the directory section is useless. Perhaps it should default to categories and then drill down to businesses...
- Events: Show a 7 day week view on the horizontal layout. Create an event reminder push alert functionality. Allow login to determine what categories of events you see.
- Create a comments tile or section, which displays recent comments to stories. This builds the Patch community.
Thanks.
B Freeman
11:13 am on Friday, December 28, 2012
I agree with Madison. Can't read comments. I go through the Google App to read the Patch and see the comments.
Been Here To Long
3:57 pm on Friday, December 28, 2012
Get a life and get off Patch. Your phones are for calling not websites
stewart resmer
6:42 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012
Web users in China must register names December 29, 2012
will patch do the same for offesnsive anon posters?
BellairBerdan
8:47 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012
If it was up to the local Republican parties they would. It's interesting that their view aligns squarely with the view of the totalitarian Communist Chinese.
Ojo Rojo
10:07 am on Sunday, January 6, 2013
BB, I don't know what town you live in but in my town it is the Democrats who constantly demand to know who is posting online. Of course that might be because we keep pointing out their indiscretions w/ respect to the use of street money on election day, the various FBI investigations, the 2 mayors they backed who went off to club Fed & so forth.