Partiko Vs eSteem

I'm using Partiko since last December (I wrote about my experiences here). Now, more than half a year later, I want to share my experiences with it again and compare it to eSteem v2, the other big app for using Steem on the go.

First of all, I have to say, that I'm not particularly happy with either of the two apps and that it might be an unfair comparison, since eSteem v2 is still in beta. Using Partiko for writing this might biases my judgement as well.

When I first started to use Partiko, I was very happy, the there is a new app on the market, since eSteem v1 wasn't updated in quite a while. I really liked the speed of the app the UI (and still do), although it still has some shortcomings. After a couple of months using it, there were some things that I didn't like, like problems loading pictures when the connection is bad or not being able to show tables.

So six weeks ago, I decided to give eSteem another try, but this time the new version v2. Compared to Partiko it is still a bit slower and in my opinion the UI isn't as good (although it is a big step forward from v1), but just look and judge for yourself, which one you like more.

Partiko ...

or eSteem

When it comes to basic functionality both are pretty much the same (but as I mentioned, Partiko isn't able to show tables, which is a bummer). Also both reward their users with points, that can be traded for upvotes (like I'm using for this post), eSteem rewards more actions, but you can't use them for anything right now. I assume that this is going to change in the near future. It is a rather simple thing, but it does increase your motivation to use the app (it surely did for me). One thing I have to mention is, that one of the ways to earn this points in Partiko is by watching ads, this could turn off some people, but luckily it is optional. Another kind of annoying thing that Partiko does is putting a smal link t the end of every post or comment you make. I understand that it helps to spread the word, but it is still annoying and the only way to get rid of it, is by editing it later.

In the beginning of this year Partiko got updated fairly frequently, but now it slowed down a bit, also the update frequency for eSteem is fairly low, witch isn't a good sign, but even though the crypto market most likely reached the bottom already, the interested in Steem still seems to remain rather low, which is kind of reflected in the update frequency.

One thing were eSteem is undeniably better than Partiko is the fact, that it is open source and we are not relying on one company (just think back of the Dlive debacle here on Steem to know why this is important).

Where both could do better is in terms of discovering new articles. No Steem front end does a particular good job at doing so, but in my opinion this would solve some of the issues in terms of curation, which are now addressed in HF21 in a much simpler way. I'm thinking of being able to "subscribe" to certain tags and maybe add some filters to get interesting content (e.g. subscribe to gaming, but only see posts when they are also tagged with RTS). I don't know why nobody is doing something like that (if you have an idea why or know a front end where this is already implemented, please let me know in the comments).

Conclusion

Each app has its pros and its cons and it's a matter of personal preference which one you should use, especially since the basics work for both of them. After trying eSteem v2 for a couple of weeks, I'll stick with Partiko, but I will give it another try, once it is out of beta.

Posted using Partiko Android