Hey there! Today, I’m super excited to share some behind-the-scenes work on our iOS and Android apps. As you know, Patreon’s website got a big design update a few months ago, and I’ve been working on refreshing our mobile apps as well.
Updated design
I know not every issue with the app can be fixed with new look. This is just the first step in making our app feel more modern and current, and will allow us to build great experiences on top of a strong foundation. The goal is to not only reflect the new website design, but begin improving the usability and experience overall. Headlines are bolder, text is larger, and there’s more breathing room all around to create better legibility and hierarchy at a quick glance.
Creation first
Based on some conversations with creators, it sounds like posting (and Lens, for those that use it) is the most frequently used mobile feature. Because of that, we put content creation front and center as a floating button that is always available, no matter which tab you’re on.
Creator/patron mode switching
Additionally, an idea we’ve been exploring is building more focused experiences for managing your membership as a creator vs. consuming content as a patron. We’re considering having two sides of the app that you can switch between:
Would these changes impact the way you use the app?
What do you think about switching modes to separate the creator and patron experiences?
As a creator, how often do you currently use the mobile app as a patron (ie. checking in on other creators you pledge to or follow)?
As always, these are still a work in progress and not a guarantee of new features, but I’m more than happy to answer any questions or comments you might have in the thread. Thanks for reading!
I love the new feature ideas! I use the app daily but I use the mobil web Brower just as much because I like to see all the posts of the creators I follow or be a Patron of! So the switch mode would be awesome!
Also what doesn’t work in the app but I wish it would. Is adding images when writing messages. Sometimes I want to send a screen shot to a Patron.
And for some reason, “Gifs” don’t play in the app but in the mobile browser. <3
When I remember to use the app at all it’s mostly just to check up on things about once a week. Very rarely do I post from the app just because my work is on my desktop and not on my phone.
I like the switch mode - that looks shiny!
Also agree with MandyCrossbow - the GIFs I post for Patrons don’t work in the app. Highly disappointed there.
I use the app almost daily. I mostly use it to check on new pledges or deleted pledges (it’s much easier to see this quickly and easily on the app than on the website), or to see or reply to patron comments (this functionality is sometimes not as easy to use). I only very rarely use it to view activity in the accounts that I pledge to, so I use it primarily as a creator rather than a patron, so the switching modes thing would not be a big plus to me.
As long as you’re happy with your Patreon experience, that’s great! If there’s anything you wish the app had that would make you want to use it, don’t hesitate to let us know.
Thanks! That’s great to hear.
Great feedback! This is something we’re hoping to add in the future.
Thank you so much for flagging! This is a bug and I will note it for the team to fix. Are you using the Android app?
Do you mind elaborating on what would make seeing and replying to patron comments easier for you? I would love to help make the experience better if I can.
I agree that it’s easier to find new and deleted pledges as well as commenting on the app easier than the browser.
The first page it shows you on the app now shows new pledges and deleted pledges. Which if we haven’t complained enough we never get accurate notifications on the browser version or via email notifications. (Heck we don’t get deleted patron notifications
via email at all and they only sometimes show up on browser notifs. ) the app seems the be the only place that accurately updates this info reliably. (Going through the most recent pledge and the current active month to see who left doesn’t count as easy or
reliable since if people come and leave within the cycle, they don’t show up at all in the manager. And apparently I’ve been told that the old manager isn’t available to new creators which is absurd to me. It’s the only place to find accurate month by month
breakdowns quickly in browser. )
As for commenting, push notifications are huge. I get then immediately. One click and I’m there and commenting back. (Though the way the app interacts with the comment threading is really odd and confusing for first time use.)
I would love it if more features from the browser would work on the app. For example: I post polls a lot and can only post them from my desktop computer or if I log in to patreon on a mobile browser, which doesnt always show up well. Which sucks.
I also really wish that there was a page to view new content like the browser does and not limited to going into each individual creator page to find their new content. (And if you don’t check it often enough, the numbers next to a creators name don’t update
and always shows you have unread posts because it will only load so far back, which really isn’t that far.)
Those are my biggest pain points really.
I dig the features you guys are looking into here and the new design looks pretty nice!
Right now it doesn’t easily show you what post the patron is commenting on. When I click on the notification that someone left a comment, I just see the comment and I usually have no idea what the post was. It’s also not really intuitive how to reply to a comment from the app.
I would also use the app more for other functions if it had them, like checking out Exit Surveys when I see that a patron has deleted their pledge, or checking some info on a patron, like how long they’ve been a patron. Right now I don’t see a way to do those things. So when I see that a patron has left my campaign or I want to see some info on a patron, I need to switch from the app to my laptop.
What are the app features you use the most?
I use Lens, photo posts, and the feature to message new Patrons the most.
How often do you use the app currently?
Multiple times a day.
Would these changes impact the way you use the app?
I’m sure they would.
What do you think about switching modes to separate the creator and patron experiences?
I think it might take some getting used to, but if it adds to Creator functionality I’d be happy to adjust.
As a creator, how often do you currently use the mobile app as a patron (ie. checking in on other creators you pledge to or follow)?
At least daily.
Love these changes, especially the switching between Patron/Creator modes and the improvements to making new posts! I’d love to feel more comfortable using the app for updates and posts, so I’m eager to see how the changes improve usability. Thanks for your hard work on this!
I definitely only really use lens clips from the app since I can’t post them from a computer, and check what creators I follow are posting. I probably only use the app every few days, for a few minutes at a time, and these changes would be positive and make it easier to use the app.
The different modes make it much easier to understand whether you’re “working” or “just browsing” for sure!
As a creator, I really only ever use the app for commenting and liking people’s posts, since that seems to be the only thing to really do other than messaging.
If there are any features I’d like to see, I think being able to use the different post types from the computer would be a huge help, especially with so many artists using the platform.
I rarely use the patron app as a creator, because of what I do I tend to have to update a lot of external services every time I make a post and that isn’t really convenient while on a phone.
This might change with proper gallery support, but as it is, I have to update files on my one drive and grab encrypted links to paste into each patreon post and sync my cloud drives with the new content everytime i make a post. Patreon doesn’t support proper gallery or multi-image content yet, so it’s the only way I can do that. I’m looking forward to gallery support and hope it looks nice on the phone!
That said, I do use the app on a semi-regular basis as a Patron. I pledge to a lot of people, and the app is a pretty great way to do that. My biggest issue is that as a creator, I have no way to access a “feed” to just look at content I and subscribed to. For some reason the app doesn’t have any way to view the feed once you’re a creator and the only way to check out stuff is to go to each patreon campaign page individually.
It’s been my biggest issue with the app since I started using it and I’m looking forward to the new patron/creator split so that I can finally just scroll through all new posts that I have access to. The app looks much better!
The only issue I can see with the preview given is how the notification page is setup, but that’s been an issue for me since I’ve been on Patron. Honestly I’m hoping some notification page revisions are on the way at some point, I’ve never really liked how it shows us our notices.
Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences with the mobile app. Your feedback is super helpful and we’re working to get your issues addressed as we build app improvements, even if they’re not immediately fixed with this redesign.
Thanks for letting me know about your challenges with commenting right now. Engaging with your fans is hugely important, so we’d like to make that as easy as possible. I’m hoping this is one area that can be improved with the redesign, so I’m grateful for your input.
@Temrin I’m curious what you mean by the comment threading being confusing as a first time user. Can you talk more about what is odd to you?
I totally hear you! This is something we’ve heard a LOT and we are eager to add to the app.
I’ve heard this from other folks as well. We’ll try to add this in the future so finding tags is easier for your patrons. Thank you!
Hey there! Today, I’m super excited to share some behind-the-scenes work on our iOS and Android apps. As you know, Patreon’s website got a big design update a few months ago, and I’ve been working on refreshing our mobile apps as well.
Updated design
Creation first
Creator/patron mode switching
Creator mode: Patron activity // Posts // Messages (to your patrons)
Patron mode: Post feed // Search creators // Messages (to creators you pledge to)
Quickly switch between modes via the side menu:
Curious to hear your thoughts:
we never get accurate notifications on the browser version or via email notifications. (Heck we don’t get deleted patron notifications