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Craigsphone 2.0 brings maps, images, and more
Next Mobile Web sent us a heads up that they're set to release version 2.0 of Craigsphone, an app for the iPhone that allows you to browse popular online classifieds site Craigslist quickly and easily. We talked about the app when it first came out, but apparently version 2.0 brings a whole rewrite and a few new features as well. As you can see in the video above, you can now chart a map of your search results (only in the housing categories), see an image preview while browsing, and make more use of Craigslist's account features, including browsing their forums and the official blog. Craigsphone was already the best way to browse Craigslist on the iPhone, and these updates definitely cement that status. I am a little bummed to see that one of the coolest features of the app, called "Nearby Events," is still only available in San Francisco and Manhattan. That pulls up a map of things going on near you, obviously, and considering that you can map real estate from anywhere, it'd be nice to see that finally spread to more markets. But that's above and beyond Craigslist's own functionality, so if you just want a great way to check out the site on your iPhone, Craigsphone will do it for you for free. We're told the new app should be on the store today, and the iPad version is was released right after launch.
Craigslist tool defers to App Store decency standards
The developers of the iPhone Craigslist app craigsphone [App Store link] seem to have found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Sure, most of Craigslist's content is perfectly appropriate for all audiences -- nothing too risque about buying a used bike or looking for an apartment -- but there are some more adult areas of the service, including the ever-popular Missed Connections, that might just run afoul of the App Store's ever-shifting sands of appropriateness. What to do?Apparently, the answer is "throw up your hands and turn the URL over to Mobile Safari," as you can see in the screenshot here. I'm not sure this is a particularly well-thought out workaround; there are plenty of other apps that can pull down adult-themed content, starting with Apple's own YouTube tool and including ebook readers, RSS feed handlers, etc. Should a developer providing a custom portal to an external website really be responsible for all the content hosted there, or would it be simpler to put up the same 18-and-up warning that Craigslist uses? It may be up to Apple to implement, or allow a third-party to build, more granular parental controls for iPhone apps, but simply handing off the same mature content to Safari for display seems like a pretty big cop-out.Update: In response to some of the commenters, we don't know whether this restriction was put in out of an overabundance of caution, or because of a specific requirement of the App Store -- so blaming Apple for prior restraint may be premature. We'll try to get the straight story.Update 2: It has been confirmed that the change to the craigsphone behavior was, in fact, prompted by a concern from Apple's app store team that the app might be violating terms of service by displaying the mature content. If other apps have been given similar red flags, please let us know.Thanks xnifex & Nilay
Craigsphone brings Craigslist to the iPhone
Craigslist is one of my absolute favorite sites on the 'net -- it's been around for years, but kept the same simple look and feel, perfectly fulfilling the service of classifieds without ever once going off that course. Sure, there are issues with spam, but Craig and his minions have worked overtime to make the thing work, and it works well (in fact, if you see any weightlifing dumbells for sale in Chicago, let me know, I need some).There are quite a few iPhone apps featuring Craig and his list out there (including a few with prices on them), but one that caught our eye as a useful free app is Craigsphone, made by Next Mobile Web (they make the very useful Dial Zero app as well). As you can see from the video above, it's all the features of Craigslist made mobile, and then some -- you can see your history, post and call directly from the phone, and even use the iPhone's location to see craigslist entries nearby (though unfortunately, the Nearby features only work in San Fransisco and Manhattan -- no Chicago?). NMW claims they're still working on the app, too -- they want to "take the best local site in the world and make it truly local." Who knows what that means, but it sounds good, right?If you spend lot of time on Craiglist, or just want to while you're out and about, Craigsphone seems like a good way to do it. We're interested to see what else they've got planned, too.
