After many weeks of anticipation, it looks like Automattic has finally submitted their latest update for WordPress for iPhone, which now officially supports video uploading.
The new WordPress for iPhone app also comes with a slightly new UI, which easily allows users to sign up for a WordPress.com account directly from the app without having to use a notebook or PC.
I have been testing out the app (via Ad hoc) for the past week across multiple servers (as well as WordPress.com) and thus far the updated app is (for the most part) an improvement over the last version.
For those of you wondering how WordPress for iPhone compares against its WP siblings (I’m looking at you Android and Blackberry!), here is an in depth review below.
Video Uploading On The Go
You can now upload video clips to your self hosted blog without having to rely on a third party service such as YouTube. You can also choose to either capture a video straight from your iPhone or upload one directly from your library.
You also have the option of uploading multiple videos to each post, although if you upload a large file you might have to wait a little bit before it finishes uploading.
Note: For those of you self hosting your own blogs, remember, videos uploaded are in their “native state” (i.e. the hard file itself). In other words make sure you only use it for personal sites lest your host goes after you for consuming too much bandwidth (yes, even on unlimited hosting sites).
Photo Blogging Done Right
Unlike a few notable rivals who either place all of your images above your content or beneath it, WordPress for iPhone allows you to place images below or beneath your content throughout your post.
Truth be told Automattic was not the first WordPress app to do this (the honors go to BlogPress for pioneering this for iLovers), although it’s good to see the company alter their previous method (which made photo blogging from the iPhone a slightly annoying experience.
You can also choose the general size of each image uploaded (basically small, medium or large) which should help keep photos taken on the iPhone from crowding out your various sidebars.
King Of All Blogging Apps?
While I am impressed with the work that Automattic has done with the WordPress for iPhone app, it currently pales in comparison when put against its Android and Blackberry siblings.
Despite its advances, WordPress for iPhone currently lacks formatting tools like bold, italics, hyperlinks, etc., as well as analytical tools (both which are already standard features for the official Android and Blackberry WP apps).
I also found the app to be buggy sometimes when uploading images and video to my personal blogs, although after much geek inspection that seemed to be an more of an issue with my current host than the app itself.
Note: For those of you having issues uploading video to your sites, you will need to adjust the .htcaccess file on your server by adding these two lines at the end of the file.
php_value memory_limit 64M php_value upload_max_filesize 50M
If this does not work, you can try editing the php.ini file and search for the “memory_limit” value and “upload_max_filesize” value and increasing their limits.
memory_limit = 64M upload_max_filesize = 50M
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then please contact your preferred host to see if they can adjust these values for you manually (or your nearest WP Geek!).
(note: Many thanks to Chris Boyd from Automattic for these tips)
Conclusion
WordPress for iPhone is a decent app overall, and the new video uploading update will help Automattic compete against Tumblr (who along with Posterous have been the only official blogging apps to support video uploading).
While the latest release is only the first shot in WordPress’s quest for mobile domination, Automattic is promising future updates which will hopefully separate them from rivals (as well as convince a few more users to cross over to the WP side).
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You are professional.
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Fantastic Post. I have read quite a few posts on this subject and you done the best job. Keep it up!
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Thanks! I’m now using this to upload mobile video to my blog at http://solarsouthwestflorida.com!