QuickAdvice: Get A Fix of Tumblr On Your iPad With Tumblita
Tumblita ($2.99) by Kyle Zaragoza is a simple and easy-to-use Tumblr app for your iPad.
Tumblr is one of the most popular [micro] blogging platforms around, and what could be better than Tumbling right from your iPad? The iPad isn't necessarily just a media consumption device, it can be used to create content as well.
Once you log in to Tumblita with your Tumblr account, you get full access to your Dashboard. The app can be viewed in both portrait or landscape mode. In Portrait mode, the Dashboard will be available as a drop down menu, while in landscape it will appear in the left side pane.
The Dashboard will show you all of the posts from the people you follow, with options to load more or refresh the feed (this is great if you follow a lot of active Tumblrs). Selecting any post will show you the content in a new screen (portrait) or on the right hand pane (landscape).
If the post has a title, you can view the entire post with the built-in browser. This is particularly useful, because I found that some posts were cut off (possibly a setting from the author of a Tumblr) and I couldn't read the post otherwise. Unfortunately, I found that if a post doesn't have a title (like if it's just a photo), then there isn't a way to view it in the in-app browser.
For most posts, however, you'll be able to view the content of the post just fine. Images and text will appear in format that reminds me of scrapbooks (black pieces in the corners as if they're holding it in place). If there is a video or audio, you can play the content without having to go to a new window, which is pretty nice. There's a Reblog and Favorite button in the viewing window as well, which is represented by the arrow and heart icons.
As I said earlier, the iPad is not just for media consumption. At the top of the Dashboard, you'll find options for creating new text, sharing links, quotes, photos, video, and audio in your Tumblog. All of these options are pretty self explanatory, although for video and audio you can only insert them from a URL. You can also save these posts to publish Now, have them Queued, or save it as a Draft for later.
I found this to be a nice little Tumblr app, but it's missing some features. First, you can only have one Tumblr account on it at once. I'm not sure if it supports multiple blogs since I only have one, but it would be a nice feature to support. But if you have separate accounts, you'll have to log out of one to get to another.
Another thing I have noticed is that you can't add a photo to a text post, which is annoying. Just because one person wants to write out a new blog post doesn't mean that they should be limited to only text - many blog posts feature at least one image to go with a post. So this should be an option.
Photo posts can only get one photo inserted into them as well. If you wanted multiple photos in a single post, then that's too bad. The developer should change that.
The app has a very gorgeous design, but it's a bit lacking in features. I hope that the developer reads this and improves the app's problems. It's a good app for Tumblr users who want something basic, but for those that are looking for a little more, other apps can probably do the job better.
This one is worth keeping an eye on though, with improvements from the developer.
