It is your contributions that make this growing community fun to be a part of and I know a few of you who attend games would love to have a way to more easily participate on the go.
So as of this morning, the SB Nation iPhone app is now available in the App Store! Best of all, it's Free!
Now you can stay on top of all the latest news and commentary for Swish Appeal and all 300+ SB Nation blogs from your iPhone. More on the features after the jump.
With the SB Nation iPhone app you can:
- Get the latest, breaking sports news as it happens.
- Customize your news with your favorite teams, sports and blogs (including Swish Appeal).
- Get notified of updates to the stories you choose to follow on SBNation.com, regional sites, Baseball Nation and MMA Nation.
- Read and reply to comments.
Here's how to get it:
Go to the App Store on your iPhone and search for "SB Nation"
-- OR --
A few places to find WNBA coverage around SB Nation:
- SwishAppeal.com: It's a cool site that you should check out sometime.
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Team sites: With the Minnesota Lynx playing so well, SBN's Minnesota Timberwolves site Canis Hoopus also has post-game content about the state's best team from time to time.
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SBN regionals: three SBN regional sites keep track of the WNBA consistently: SBN Arizona (Seth Pollack, et al.), SBN Atlanta (Kris Willis), and SBN Seattle (me). SBN Seattle is also keeping tabs on the Western Conference playoff race here.
Those links are to WNBA sections at those regionals and the "storystreams" we have there for game days - particularly the playoffs - are apparently available via the iPhone app. My understanding is all the streams for the Phoenix Mercury, Atlanta Dream, and Seattle Storm should show up well on this app. But again - let me know.
FAQ
1. An Android version of the app is coming soon. Hopefully by the end of the year.
2. The app is free.
3. Comments are basic read and reply, but SB Nation has plans to enhance them in future updates.
4. You can use your existing SB Nation user name and password to login on the app.
5. It will be available on the iPhone and iPod Touch (compatible with the iPad, but not a native app yet).
More FAQs from SBN Seattle: SB Nation iPhone App Frequently Asked Questions.
More links:
Your Feedback
If you have other questions not answered by the video, FAQs and links, please put your feedback in the comments. Most of all, we want to make sure that your experience of Swish Appeal on the iPhone is as good as it is on the computer, so we only make two requests in return for your FREE app:
- Please rate the app by go to the iTunes app store, searching for "SB Nation", find the app, and then on that page at the bottom you can give it
fivethe appropriate number of stars in accordance to the quality of your experience. Also, if you just want to stand in solidarity with SBN, you don't need to even have an iPhone to rate it which is pretty cool! - If you use it, feel free to share any feedback - compliments, concerns, or constructive critique - in the comments below. In addition to getting support from the SBN tech team, that's a great place to tell us about how we can optimize the site to make things easier to read (e.g. placement of jumps, pictures, etc.). And again, this is a good time to share those comments about the site's usability even if you don't have the app.
- With the combination of a new app with which to access Swish Appeal and the WNBA's Center Court app, the experience of the WNBA seems to be enhanced for SBN users.What else might be useful for people using both of those things?
A re-introduction to Swish Appeal's features:
So with one more way to access the site, I will also to take this time to reintroduce you to some key features of SBN:
- How to log in to this site: You can use a Facebook, Yahoo, or OpenID loginOnce you set up a login at any SB Nation site, you can access all 300+ of them, including this one.
- Auto-refreshing comments: Part of what makes this platform great - especially for game threads - is the auto-refreshing comments that allow you to chat in real-time with others on the site in a threaded form....and continue the conversation days after the game is over within those threaded conversations.
- "Rec" comments and stories you particularly enjoy: This is something we haven't formally asked for previously, but it's a really useful feature with which to show other people in the community that you like their contributions. I shouldn't have to tell you why that's a good thing to do, but suffice it to say that we all like it when there's tangible data to tell us that, yes, people like you and there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing your comment turn green because so many people liked what you had to say. Nothing.
- What in the world is the difference between a fan post and fan shot? I know this jargon is not immediately intuitive, but here's one way to think about it: if you just have a link, photo, quote, or video to share, make it a fan shot. If you have an original idea that you want to write, make it a fan post.
- Your insights about all things women's basketball: We try to provide college and pro women's basketball coverage from across the nation, but obviously cannot be everywhere. So we encourage you to use all of these features to help us fill in the blanks and better learn the landscape of college and pro women's basketball.
Now with all of that, I close with a call to the lurkers - we know there are a lot of barriers to participation, but we're trying to lessen them. So chime in and let us know you're here and who you root for (college or pro).
For more, Jessica Lantz previously prepared a brief primer for the site, that includes a visual tutorial from a fellow SBN site. Please let us know if you have any other questions in the comments.