Though it is late to the scene relative to its competitor, TypePad, WordPress has now unveiled its own application for iPhone and iPod touch users for mobile management of blogs built upon its platform. And while it is somewhat generic-looking in presentation — TypePad’s own welcome mat is a bit less drab and more original in design — the WordPress download is off to a reasonably good start. First-comers are already speaking quite warmly of it.
Within the realm of desktop Web browsers, WordPress has largely reigned supreme as far as utility is concerned. Its support for plugins is pretty much unmatched by any other. But in the mobile realm, particularly when sized up against its rival TypePad on Apple’s mobile platform, Wordpress has been playing catch-up.
Today’s WordPress release touts a number of similar features found in TypePad’s application. A highlight is WordPress’s ability to recover posts in the case of unexpected telephone calls. Still, where TypePad appears to one-up its competitor is in its multi-lingual support. WordPress arrives only for English-speaking users. TypePad, meanwhile, is compatible both with English and French. A nice option, given the iPhone’s now international reach.
Of course, which application you use depends almost entirely on which platform you’re most familiar with. Some iPhone and iPod touch users have surely adopted the TypePad application and started a blog fresh. But for the most part, I imagine most operate their mobile devices as extensions of their desktop or laptop machines, and thus will tend toward what they are used to. If you’ve managed a WordPress blog for a considerable period of time, today’s launch is clearly the optimal option to take. The same for TypePad use.
However, discounting any habits or loyalties or whathaveyou, if both applications are to be taken on technical merit alone, I’ll venture to give TypePad the edge. With blogging being the global activity that it is, the more languages supported is simply a better card to play.
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