Much like my misanthropic hero Charlie Brooker, I too have an aversion to Apple and their many products. For reasons mostly unknown, I would sooner eat wasps than join the Brotherhood of the iPhone, which is why I’ve tended to stick with the data harvesting behemoth that is Google and their lovely Android-based phones instead.
The downside to all this is that, due to the insane amount of popularity the iPhone attracts, it’s had first dibs on the app market, leaving us poor Android users in the doldrums and having to make do with the leftovers.
Well no more my little green robot loving friends, for the tide has well and truly turned. Apple have begun to lose ground (in Europe at least) and all the app developers have begun to release the fruits of their labour upon the Android Market. Like Autosport in fact, who have just launched their very own Android app.
For a one-off fee of £2.99, the app is convenient way to access the content on Autosport.com without having to faff around with the mobile phone’s Internet browser. All the usual comprehensive coverage of F1, IndyCar, MotoGP, WRC etc. from the world’s leading motorsport website is on tap and fully optimised so you don’t have to be a myopic octogenarian to read it.
The home screen can be fully customised to suit your racing series preference. So, if NASCAR’s more your thing and you couldn’t care less about rallying, you can opt to grab the news headlines from that instead if you so wished to. Another handy feature is the ability to be able to read the content when you might be without a signal by being able to download articles to read offline.
The Autosport Android app also makes use of your PLUS subscription if you have one. You can read the exclusive subscriber-only columns and interviews in-app at the press of a button.
Elsewhere there’s the motorsport gallery to gawp at the latest images, but where the app really comes into its own, is with the live text commentary. I used this extensively through pre-season F1 testing recently, and being able to get minute-by-minute updates on the latest goings on is invaluable for any racing fan. Especially handy if you’re planning on attending a grand prix this year – but watch out for those pesky data roaming charges if you’re heading abroad.
The Autosport Android app is competitively priced for the convenience and unrivalled content it provides. The only gripe I have is that any results featured in an article fail to show up at the bottom of the report due to formatting issues – something that will no doubt be corrected in the near future.
Until that’s addressed, I award it four out of five in my lucrative star rating, er, thingy. Oh, just go buy it will you?
Download it from the Android Market here.
Rating:
Good review! Sounds very similar to the iPhone version then ;)
Such cynicism!
(It is exactly the same).