For Indonesia’s online news site, detik.com [iTunes Link] is one of the go-to site to get the latest news update or to know what’s currently happening around Indonesia. The app provides news in various categories, accepts news submission from users, search capability as well as bookmarking system to mark your favorites. Although it is a great local news app, it does have some features missing to make it as the best in the market.
The app displays informations just like when you view it from your desktop computer, only adjusted to fit the iPhone screen. Navigation within the app is quick and simple, every category is easily accessible by tapping the respective icon on the top/bottom. The news list display the headline together with an excerpt and tapping on it will bring you into the details. You can also retrieve the latest news by tapping the reload button on the top right (if you stayed in the app long enough).
Here are some screenshots from 3 of the news categories, DetikNews, DetikInet, DetikHot.
In the detail view, you are able to move between topics by tapping the left/right button at the bottom. It also provides an option to view other related news at the end of each article, just like in any blogs. You need to tap on it (“View Related News” text) and will have a maximum of 5 related news (as shown below).
In addition to related news, you have the options to share the news, bookmark it as your favorite or for later viewing and share your thoughts on it by writing a comment. This is where the missing features are, the current version only able to share the news via email (by tapping the email icon at the bottom), not to mention it does not make use of the in-app email feature (which is available in iPhone OS 3.0) so we don’t exit the app while sharing the news. It should add share via facebook and twitter, since these two social media sites are currently the hottest. To make it even better, integrate with Instapaper or Read It Later for offline viewing.
Next, to go into the comments, tap on the text bubble icon at the bottom right while viewing the article. You will then need to tap “View Related Comment” to load the comments. If you decide to write your own comment, tap the “Write Comment” button and tap “Done” to submit it.
The “Info Anda” tab displays informations submitted by users. You can report an incident with an image attached (if available) by pressing the “New” button on the top left, then write the headline and informations together with the image by tapping the camera icon on the bottom left and press “Done” to submit it.
You can insert your DetikID and configure which news categories to be shown or hidden from the “Setting” tab within the app. It is just as easy as tapping the On/Off switch.
As you can see from the above, the app already delivers great functionality. It also given the user the choice to load the extras to save your monthly mobile data quota. The informations submitted on the iPhone app like the comments and an incident report will not only available on the iPhone, but it is also shown when you view the site from your desktop computer or other mobile devices. Other than the missing features that I have mentioned above, it would be great to add some news in videos as well and hope for it to be implemented in future updates.
Do you have other features that you think it is missing from the app? Let us know in the comments.
