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Before I start criticizing eSteem mobile app, let me confess that I’ve not found any mobile app better than eSteem to access Steem blockchain. This is the best practical alternative to access Steem blockchain from a mobile device and is loaded with tons of features.

What I Like About eSteem App:

I actually like the wide array of features on offer in this app. Some time back Notifications, saving of Multiple Drafts, Scheduling, Bookmarking etc. features were too enticing to ignore this app. Unfortunately, in those days I didn’t had a smart phone with me. But now a day, we have several options for availing these features through various apps.

So I think, at present, easily switching between the multi-account feature is the best eSteem app provides for users like me. I also like the Escrow Transfer feature but never got the opportunity to use it. They also have multi-chain compatibility. But I don’t know Russian so can’t use Golos anyway. The ability to stop fetching of images to save bandwidth too is great. This also makes it work smoothly in spite of slow internet connectivity. This is what makes this app awesome.

Then Why Do I Dislike eSteem App?

Well, it is difficult to disagree with the flawless functionality of this seamless mobile app. The popularity of this app can be gauged by the fact that their Discord server recently crossed the 1,000 member mark. With about 14% user share, it is second only to the official Steemit web frontend. To celebrate this achievement, this eSteem Awesome Contest is being organized.

There are tons of entries for this contest describing its awesomeness and how this app changed their Steeming experience. Obviously, with my limited skills, I have no chance to make any mark in this contest. Yet I wanted to participate. So why not use this opportunity to criticize it a little …at least someone is reading, you know 😜!

The other feature reach website I like to access Steem is Busy, of which I’m a big fan. But it doesn’t have any mobile app yet, so it may be like comparing apples with oranges. Still, busy is a close contender with about 12% of user share and is closely ranked third …just after eSteem. So eSteem should feel the heat.

In any case, here I'm putting my two cents:

Small Font Size:
By “small”, I mean regular fonts in the eSteem app are not comfortable to my eyes. I couldn’t find any way to increase or adjust the font size of text. I’ve a weak eyesight and always need bigger fonts to read on. In Discord app, we do have an option to increase the font size in settings. And when accessing websites like Steemit or Busy in my browser, I can easily zoom in to my comfort level. But with eSteem, my eyes get strained and I can’t use it for long.
Switching Between Multi-accounts Not Seamless:
As I told earlier, I do love the ease with which I can operate from multiple accounts. However, I face some functional difficulties to work with them. Whenever you switch to another account, it switches you from the page you were at. E.g. if I were reading a blog post and wanted it to upvote from my other account and I switch to that account, I’m lost. It becomes a challenge to find that post from that account again and upvote / reblog / comment on it. I dunno how this switching works then!
Too Sensitive Vote Slider:
It’s an amazing feeling when you get a voting slider even if you are below the Stemit’s threshold of 1 M Vests. But I like to upvote in round figures, generally in multiple of tens. The voting slider of eSteem is so sensitive that it can never be stopped at the desired percentage mark and will always slide to some decimal figures over or under your desired vote weight. A slider should be able to deliver exactly what I want and not an approximation to it. Compare this to Busy’s slider, you will find it much easier to use even if you don’t choose its pre-defined 25, 50, 75 or 100% marks. I guess eSteem has taken the meaning of “slider” too literally.
Instant Notifications & “Follows You” Indicator:
Busy has recently updated its platform to provide all notification services which are also provided by eSteem. In addition to it,it is also providing instant notification feature. Aside this, it also shows the “Follows You” indicator when you visit a person’s blog who follows you. With thousands of followers, it’s important to discover the posts which were written by your own followers while sorting your feed by any parameter.
DTube Video Player:
Busy has recently embedded a Dtube Video Player on its platform which makes it seamless to watch videos from DTube on its platform. However I’ve noticed watching them on eSteem, the screen size doesn’t fit well on my mobile device. It’s quite larger and I’ve to scroll up and down to watch the whole screen. Shouldn’t it annoy anyone?
Cover Picture:
It seems to me as I need to set a new cover picture for my blog in the eSteem app whereas in Busy, I find the same cover picture as I used at Steemit by default. But eSteem displays some other picture by default. Why do I need to make this extra effort?
Beneficiary Fee & Free Upvotes:
Months ago, eSteem drew my first attention when I noticed users posting through eSteem app getting some small but free upvotes. It made me feel jealous of it and I badly wanted to post from this app. Later I found that this app is using 5% as beneficiary share from author rewards. Now, I’d say it’s too low when compared to 15% - 40% being pocketed by several other apps.

But I’m a Baniya – a skinflint by nature. Even 0.001% matters to me. So how come Busy is providing all its services free and not only that, it has also got bots like busy.pay & busy.org to reward its users with free upvotes? eSteem app has existed much before Busy app, yet Busy team has got all comparable features and almost equal users as eSteem and all these with no fee to its users! The funds from Steemit or other donors are sufficient to meet its running expenses. Recently, it has moved to decentralized IPFS hosting for all its images making it more cheaper and reliable. Why not eSteem can do it similarly ...I mean a voluntary donation based model?
Regarding free upvotes, I don’t think eSteem has any transparent and fair policy to reward its users as Busy has. We can know beforehand how much upvote we are going to get from Busy bot by posting through Busy. Is there such transparency with eSteem upvotes? If so, I ain’t aware of.

Synching with other devices:
I don’t think eSteem can do anything with this. But I use multiple devices to access Steem like my desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile. So synching my work on one device with the other is very important. When I use Busy, I can access all my drafts on any device. But with eSteem, I always need to work from my mobile phone and that sucks. I only want to use a mobile device when I don’t have access to any other device. Thus eSteem becomes my last priority. Awesome eSteem app but that awesomeness becomes very short-lived for me.

Do you know anything which can glue me to this awesome app?