Yahoo-owned Tumblr today released a major update to its free iPhone and iPad client in the App Store. Tumblr 4.0 for iOS sports a number of new features, enhancements and nice-to-haves that make blogging from the palm of your hand a frictionless and more enjoyable experience than before.
For starters, you can now create new blogs (previously available through the web interface only), as well as delete entire blogs from inside the app. Video embedding has been made as easy as pasting a URL from YouTube or Vimeo or another such site.
New blogs you add through Tumblr for iOS can be made more informative by adding images, avatars and descriptions. And now, it’s possible to compose new posts in Tumblr for third-party blogs that accept submissions.
With Tumblr’s all-new Today widget, bloggers can keep track of trending tags right from the Notification Center on their Lock screen. Though I personally don’t blog on Tumblr, I’ve been checking out the app on a regular basis for work purposes.
Tumblr’s interface has been spruced up on the iPad. Among the visual changes in the new version, I’m liking sticky avatars and the search bar. And speaking of search, it’s now possible to filter searches by content type.
Tumblr 4.0 changelog:
- Create new blogs from inside the app — Ever get an idea for a blog while you’re out on the town, or up in an aeroplane? Make it, name it, give it an avatar, give it a header image, title it, describe it, post your first post to it—all before you even return to the Earth.
- Make video posts using a video’s URL — Copy a URL from YouTube or Vimeo or another such site, slap it into the app, and you got yourself a video post. This is apparently your most-requested feature for the mobile app. Smart. We love it. Here you go.
- Submit to blogs that accept submissions — Situation: You’re deep-sea diving with your waterproof phone, snapping pics of fish and treasure chests and the sea god Neptune. Stuff that’s perfect for that submission-based SCUBA blog you follow. Now you can submit a post to it right from the briny deep.
- A widget for your widget collection — Witness today’s trending tags without even opening the app. Install it thusly: 1. From anywhere in your phone, swipe down from the top of your screen to open up your “Today” view. This is where all your widgets live. 2. Flick your way to the bottom, then tap the “Edit” button. 3. Find “Trending on Tumblr” in the list. There ya go.
- Filter searches by post type — Just looking for photos? We’ll just show you photos. Just looking for chats? Sure. You can do that, too.
- A heap of other niceties:
- New icon. Feels good under your finger.
- Sticky search bar. Convenient for those heavy search sessions.
- Sticky avatars. Always, always know who made the post you’re currently reading. Never forget.
- Clean, fresh look for the iPad.
- GIFs load in a much more pleasing fashion. You’ll see.
- You can delete blogs from the app, which sounds like something only a troublemaker would need to do, but okay.
The 36.8-megabyte app runs on any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with iOS 7.1 or later.