Three out of five stars.
Cost: $2.99.
I rarely download an app that isn't free, but when I heard of the app, BlogPress, I had to make an exception. As a once-avid blogger, I've tried apps for WordPress and Blogger, which both left me feeling annoyed. Anyone who's tried the apps can understand my frustration, I'm sure.
With these apps, it's nearly impossible to write and publish a full post without having to reupload a photo multiple times, delete unwanted line breaks or reopen the app from unexpected crashes.
After trying both, I'd resorted to publishing an "I'm leaving," post before going on vacation.
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BlogPress may solve this problem with simplified on-the-go blogging. The multi-platform blogging app supports Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr and several other widely recognized platforms.
The app is far from perfect, but for quick on-the-go blogging, it does the trick.
Its navigation is super simple, with three main tabs: "write," "manage" and "settings." To publish a new post, click "write." The screen has just four entry fields, which allow you to write a post without the clutter. Select which blog you'd like to publish to, write the post and click "save." Here, you will have the option to publish, preview, save or delete.
Under the "manage" tab, you can easily edit or delete any of your posts. Under "settings," you can add more blogs; photo albums, using Picasa or Flickr; and even a YouTube account, which allows for easy video embedding.
The one thing I strongly dislike about BlogPress is the tags and categories feature. First, it's difficult to find -- click the small information icon to the right of the title field in a new post. Second, it only allows you to select previously used tags and categories -- you can't add new tags. If you typically tag your posts, this can be very time-consuming as you have to scroll through a list to select which ones you'd like to add.
Your best bet is to wait and add tags when you have access to a computer. The same goes for type styling. Although it's possible, it's rather tedious to add bold, italic and underlined text.
If you're just looking to publish simple posts, I'd say the $3 might be worth the ability to blog on-the-go. But if you're nitpicky about styling, I'd stick to taking a blogging hiatus during a vacation.
Maki covers Arts & Entertainment and Life & Style for the Herald and can be reached at (701) 780-1122, (800)477-6572, ext. 1122; or jmaki@gfherald.com .
