Introduction:
At the turn of the year I was writing about 2019 being the year of the Decentralised Apps (DApps) which I absolutely think it will be. In particular I wrote about the State of the DApps website which charts the progress of DApps across various categories (including Social, Games, Finance, and Wallets) and across various blockchains (Steem, EOS, Ethereum, GoChain, xDai and POA) – and it was at this moment when the crypto markets were probably at their lowest that I decided it’s time to try some more DApps and to be less focused on just Steemit.
The DApp which stuck me that I would get most use from was the mobile app Partiko. The idea being that I could engage with the social aspects of the Steem Blockchain anywhere and anytime. I’ve not looked back and have used the App to engage much more, with at least 1,500 interactions with other Steem users, over the last two months.
Partiko
I had a general awareness of Partiko already, but it really struck me how useful the App was when I watched the Steemfest 3 livestream and listened to Sida (@crypto.talk) demonstrate Partiko and outline his vision and roadmap for Partiko with instant messaging, a delegation plan and the plan to include photos in comments.
I’ve found Partiko to be very supportive to new users of both the App and also newbies to the Steem Blockchain. As a new user of Partiko and if you have less than 100 Steem Power you can receive a 15 Steem Power delegation from Partiko – which will make it a bit easier to leave comments and engage with the community. Find out more here.
There are also recent announcements to support referrals to Partiko : this article is a review and not a referral plead but you can read much more about the referral programme here.
Getting Started
Partiko is available on Android and iOS and can be downloaded using the links from the Partiko website. Once downloaded it is the use of the commonly used SteemConnect that authorizes Partiko to engage with the Steem blockchain with activity such as posting, commenting, upvoting and claiming rewards.
Partiko is very intuitive, it grew on me quickly and has been my go-to App for reviewing my feed, commenting, upvoting and checking notifications.
Visual Features
As you can see from the image below there are five sections to the Partiko App; Home ; Trending: Points; Notifications and Search.
On this image below you can see that on the homepage you can see a feed of the accounts you follow and also a favorited section showing all the articles saved for future reference or reading (Mary @meesterboom now worryingly in my favourites!). Partiko informs users on the notifications screen of any currency transfers, mentions, upvotes or comments.
On this image below you can see the Homepage for the user where you can Claim pending Steem balances, and you can see all your posts and resteems. You can see the Partiko points total and tally on the points screen, and you can see a screenshot of a blank post template on the right-hand side.
Gamification
An additional layer to the appeal of using Partiko is the gamification. Partiko have an in-app points system, and a leader board to show how you are doing versus other App users.
Users earns points through various different activities including referrals, comments, daily check-in, upvoting, and publishing posts. Users can collect the points, or they can be redeemed and converted into Partiko upvotes or saved for future perks and benefits that are unannounced.
Pros & Cons of Partiko
Pros
- User friendly with a very clean professional look
- Aimed at Steem Blockchain Users on the Go
- Constant Development and quick response to support queries logged in the discord channel.
- Fast Notifications
- Gamification – with Partiko Points System
- Users can put posts into a “Favourites” feed so that they can come back to them later with ease
- Easy to share Steem posts across to other Social Media (using the three dots at the of any article)
Cons
- Not possible yet to post pictures as comments on iOS
- Every comment has a hardcoded “Advertising Signature”
- Tables and Quotes in posts are not very well supported on Partiko and can be difficult to read
Alternatives
Other similar alternatives to Partiko as a social interface to the Steem Blockchain include: the first social platform on the blockchain Steemit, but also Busy, eSteem, SteemPeak and Steeve. The extent of the relative activity and transaction on all the Social Interfaces can be seen on www.StateoftheDapps.com. Here is a screenshot as at 5 March 2019:
Conclusions
Partiko has been very well product managed, with great navigation, fast loading, neat slide upvoting, and a great search function all designed for the users in mind. I would not be surprised to see Partiko go from strength to strength and take even more market share from other social interfaces. Partiko is currently the fourth most used App on the Steem Blockchain and by no coincidence I conclude this review by giving Partiko 4 out 5 Stars.
I've just started using @partiko after resisting it for a while. I still don't like that it includes an ad in every comment, but the app is pretty slick with good notifications. It's good that you can restrict those for votes and spam transfers so you just see what really matters. I can appreciate people use it to get the points, but I don't know what those are worth. The extra delegation for new users could be really valuable. I have also used eSteem and they both have their good points. It's great that we have the choice of multiple apps/dapps.
I'm with you @Steevc on the advert, it must have helped the App grow - so it will be hard for them to end it I guess!
I can imagine that you have high volume of engagement and comments and so the filter on notifications must be very useful to you. It is great that we have so much choice - what is your choice on your laptop/desktop - have you tried SteemPeak?
I haven't really used SteemPeak. I actually still use Steemit a lot, but also have eSteem on my PC.
I’m looking forward to new Steemit user interface developments which sound imminent from Thursday radio show.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I know a lot of people complain that they have not done anything much to the site in ages, but they have improved the back-end. As we have all these other dapps that offer extra features it should not be that much of an issue, but a lot of new users will not be aware of the options. They could be benefiting from extra votes some of these dapps give out.
To your point on previous articles - Steemit alexa rank has diminished over the last 12 months, maybe partly as a result of the rise of the Alternative interfaces taking traffic. Will be very interesting to see how it develops. Yes you are right there are some benefits in upvotes from several of the DApps.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I know other dapps are gaining a bigger share, but Steemit is still the biggest by far and so it should not be falling this fast. The ranking of Steem dapps on @stateofthedapps is a good sign. I maintain that no other blockchain has a community like Steem, but we need good growth.
I love partiko and there are so many updates that has made it better and better each time. And what gets me the most is the support of its user and like you say new people.
One of my favorite things are the amazing notifications and it has helped me tremendously to keep up.. Lol
I belive this to grow Big in the future and I belive in partiko so I'm in here to stay 😉👍
Just as in steem... I found my home.
Enjoyed reading this and thank you for sharing this, will make more people try Partiko I'm sure.
Have a great weekend. Cheers! 🌹
Thank you for the great comment: I am impressed by the pace of development too: I just refreshed/updated the App and found a couple of new features (I was running a December version). Have a great weekend too.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I hear you there 😅 I was reading a post about new things in partiko like points and such and I was like...😕 I don't se any of that.. Then I updated and.. Ahhhh.. So that's what it looks like... Lol
It's exciting to se where it takes us and for me who loves the engaging part and commenting and reading post is my passion, the notifications are my nr one favorite 😉1⃣👌
Posted using Partiko Android
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Posted using Partiko Messaging
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@partiko has been a great service for me... BUT @crypto.talk I am still waiting on a fluid and built in emoji interface. Maybe looks like this?
Posted using Partiko Android
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