WordPress for Android has been Released

Awhile back, I did a little review on a WordPress application for Android called wpToGo. It worked quite well, and I had no real problems with it.

So, as I browse the latest social apps added to the Android Market, one application by Automattic, Inc. caught my eye. WordPress for Android has been released, boys and gals. Just like with the other app review, I am starting this one via the app itself. It gives me a good amount of room to view what I am typing, so I haven’t found the need to switch over to the desktop yet. Speaking of posting, it comes with expected features like bolding, italicizing, linking, block-quoting, and adding pictures to posts. It also allows you to read comments made to your blog from your device, and also approve/disapprove/spam comments at the whim of your fingertip.

One really useful feature I am glad it has is comment notifications. Of course, I get those notifications via email, but having them come directly from the app is nice because I do not have to wait for the admin page to load before I can moderate the new comments.

Finally, you also have the option of viewing and editing pages, but I do not use those much, so it is just another tab for me.

After heading over to the WordPress for Android site and reading their recently posted “WordPress for Android 1.0 Released” article, I discovered why the UI and features felt so familiar. It turns out that the source code for wpToGo was used as the basis for WordPress for Android. This is just another beautiful thing about open-source code, it can be found and be opened up to a much broader audience than before. Just as a side note, wpToGo has been discontinued. Have no fear though, he has been working alongside the folks at Automattic on WordPress for Android for the past few months now.

This is version 1.0.0, so I really didn’t expect much from the get-go, but it’s off to a great start (no doubt due to the awesome features wpToGo provides). If your interested in beta testing cutting edge versions of WordPress for Android (I know I was), you can head on over to their forums at http://android.forums.wordpress.org/ and post a reply in the beta testing topic.

And for those that enjoy videos, here’s the official video of WordPress for Android created by the folks at Automattic: