Why I Use Partiko

A few months ago, people were raving about Steempeak and the features they were implementing that people had been asking for. The creators are approachable and ready to try and implement suggestions. I was excited to try it, but alas, it wasn't for me. It's targeted at desktop computers and I interact on the blockchain via a tablet, which is an Android mobile device. Very little of the site worked for me. The team were hoping to work on the mobile side, but it was a future project.

I first became aware of Partiko as a mobile app from seeing the “Posted using Partiko” footers on comments. To be honest, I thought they were annoying, so I didn't look into it. Then I started to see posts raving about Partiko. I still didn't look into it until I read a post talking about how popular both Steempeak and Partiko were becoming for their usability. Then I saw in the comments that the footer could be removed and plans for the future were to have an option to post without it. That was good enough for me!

Partiko Points

I'm not good at starting over with new things, so it took a bit of perseverance to get used to using Partiko. I probably wouldn't have persevered, but I discovered that interactions via the app earn Partiko points.

When you first sign into Partiko you get 3000 points. Every blog post earns 30 points, comments earn 10 points and upvotes 5 points. Each day you can tap the “check in” button and earn 10 points. I mostly forgot this existed and I've only just started trying to get into the habit of checking in daily!

Currently, points can only be redeemed for upvotes when you post, but when SMTs arrive I think they will be Partiko’s SMTs. Can you tell I don't really know how SMTs work? Regardless, I've decided not to just redeem them all, but to allow some to accrue for that future.

The Good

Besides the points and the fact that I can interact easily from a mobile device, there are some other features I rather enjoy.

When you tap the upvote icon a pop-up shows lots of information on your potential vote. It gives an idea of how much it's currently worth at the percentage you're looking to vote at. It displays your current vote power percentage. A recent addition even gives an idea how much curating you might earn from it. Be aware that this won't be very accurate as so much can happen between your upvote and the payout. The vote slider moves in increments of 5%, which is rather good for my OCD, because I don't like struggling to get those rounded numbers on the Steemit slider. A 49% upvote doesn't sit well with me, so I end up sliding back and forth until I can get the 50%, then the moment I take my finger off it shifts!

You don't need to go to a separate app or site for your notifications, they all come through on Partiko. Sorry to say this, but I'm finding them more reliable than Ginabot, which misses or is delayed on some notifications. Some of the notifications I don't have much user for (every single upvote for example) so I like how you can filter it by mention comment and transfer only.

You can favourite articles you like for later reference, instead of having to resteem and scrolling for ages try to find them further down the line. Just tap on the heart which appears on the top right when reading the article.

A new feature is the ability to message privately via the chats on the bottom bar. It's not something I have felt the need to use just yet, but I like that it's there. Unfortunately, you can only message those you follow if they're actually on Partiko.

They look after and reward the community and the community gets behind them. I often see a little partiko upvote on posts without redeeming points (point redemption has a much stronger vote from a different account). Recently Partiko had a delegation drive and the community responded immediately. They hit their target way sooner than expected, showing just how much the users believe in this dapp.

My Gripes

Pictures are often slow to load up on articles, so sometimes you've read the article, but can't see the picture it's referring to and have to go to Steemit to look.

Tables don't seem to format on there, so again, I'll have to head back to Steemit to make sense of them. Any photos formatted to put them side by side or pull them to the right won't show up this way on Partiko, they will just appear underneath each other. You also can't centre things, they'll just fall to the left. Because the formatting is limited on Partiko, I'll usually prepare my post on Steemit, then copy and paste the whole thing to post on Partiko. Then I know it will look how I want it to on the blogging interfaces and it doesn't seem to be any issue for the Partiko interface.

As I mentioned previously, they have plans to alter this, but currently every comment or article posted has a footnote which says it's posted via partiko. I don't mind it on posts or even on the long comments too much, but find it very distracting and annoying on short comments because I read it as if the comment is continuing. You can edit and delete it after you've posted, but that is a bit tedious.

You can't hide resteems and I rather like this option on Steemit.

The app will freeze up on me at least once a day.

I'm not overly worried about these things at the moment, because Partiko is still quite new and improving rapidly. They also take issues and suggestions people raise into consideration.

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Posted using Partiko Android

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PS: As proof for how responsive Partiko is to feedback, see it's creator, cryto.talk's, conversations in the comments. I forgot to mention that your own posts will receive notifications for all comments on it, not just the ones replying to you directly. Great for nosy people!