Bleacher Report has updated its Team Stream HD app with full iPad support. The app is kind of like Flipboard for sports enthusiasts. It allows you to create a custom news feed full of the sports and teams you like (and even WWE news, for those of you that enjoy "sports entertainment"). I've spent a few hours with the app and love what it does. I just wish it did it better. Read on for more details.
Setting up your custom feed is a snap. The menus are easy to follow and well organized. Minutes after firing the app up, I quickly created a feed that included NY Yankees, boxing, WWE, Manchester City, Detroit Pistons, NY Knicks, LA Clippers, MMA, and tennis news. You have the option of letting the app use your iPad's GPS so that it can suggest local teams. The setup process is very smooth and elegant. You might say that the developers hit a home run in this department. *snicker*
As for the content, it's mostly repurposed from the Bleacher Report web site. However, I came across a few syndicated articles from local news sources. For example, one of the Pistons articles in my feed came from The Detroit News. For the most part, the content is good. The annoying part is when you encounter long lists...and Bleacher Report loves its lists. Top 10 articles are mildly annoying to sift through, but having to go through a Top 50 article is irritating. Considering all the lists Bleacher Report posts, the developers could have put more effort into reformatting them for a superior iPad experience.
The minor problem I encountered had to do with photos. About 1/3 of the photos I viewed were not formatted properly for this app. This is great if you like looking at athletes with their heads chopped off. For the rest of us, not so much. This is just a sloppy bug, but it's also one that should be easy to fix.
The bigger issue is the apps performance. Most of the articles I read took a long time to load. Compared to something like Flipboard, Team Stream HD feels sluggish. It's not just the load times either; scrolling was also a problem area. Hopefully this will improve with future updates. For now, the poor performance detracts from the reading experience.
As a sports fans with a wide range of interests, I love the idea of Team Stream HD. Being able to sift through articles on my favorite teams and sports is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, the few hours I spent with the app were marred by performance issues and formatting quirks. I'm really hoping these were unusual issues because I want this app to be great. A full review is coming soon, so stay tuned to see if Team Stream HD for iPad truly is a home run or if it's a ground-rule double.
