A bit over five months ago, I was very excited to see the release of the iPad app: Fox Soccer 2Go.
Hugely excited.
Then, five months ago this week, I was hugely disappointed.
So, it’s been five months. I thought I’d try the app again. I assumed after a few updates, all the little quirks and hangups would be fixed.
I assumed wrong.
Let’s back up a bit.
With the turn of the calendar, leagues and tournaments are starting to heat up. If you follow folks like John Godfrey on Twitter (@jhGodfrey), you start getting that itch to find a way to follow the beautiful game ALL THE TIME.
Voting with my fingers: Watching @clint_dempsey and @fulhamfc on @foxsoccer tv rather than @landondonovan and @youreverton #USMNT
— john godfrey (@jhGodfrey) January 14, 2012
Adding World Cup qualifying matches and the Euro Championship tournament to the calendar makes it a great time to be a soccer fan.
But, if you’re someone who travels a fair bit and doesn’t subscribe to cable (an increasing lot, me thinks), it’s difficult to watch these matches.
Enter the Fox Soccer 2Go iPad app. Or, the idea of an app that plays soccer games on your mobile device.
Brilliant, right?
I tried the app when it first came out and gave up after having a comical conversation with Fox’s support team.
The price is a bit steep, but it’s not a turnoff if it works the way it’s advertised.
I headed over to the iTunes store this week to see how the reviews are for the most recent update to the app:
Not a good start.
The customer ratings for this version are only a half star better than for all versions (circled). I’m wondering how the stars will move as the number of rating increases.
Also, with so many low ratings, you’d think the latest release (1.4) would include something a bit more than “Updates to app news section” (arrowed).
Ok, ok. So let’s go ahead and download it anyway and see what’s changed.
The home screen layout looks good. Seems the news and scores are updated. Good first step.
So, let’s check out the results of a match.
Odd. I’m connected to the network (I’m at home AND I downloaded the app). Hard to see, but that arrow is pointing to my wi-fi connected symbol.
And, to cause a bit more confusion, this popped up after letting the screen sit there for a minute or two…
Alrighty then.
Since I’ve been down this troubled road before, I don’t think I’m going to spend any more time trying to get this to work. Sadly, this screen seems to work perfectly fine:
Well, that stinks.
I’ll keep checking in on the app as it (hopefully) gets more mature.
At the same time, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Apple does this.