How do you access Steem's front end?

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Are you a Busy person?

Do you prefer to Steem it instead?

If it is neither of those two, then your self Esteem is really high.

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Whoa! I really feel good about my wordplay there. Hope you got it?
If you didn't, that's weird.

I apologize for juggling you around. Let's get back to the reason why this article is created.

I started with a question, How do you access Steem's front-end?
With my little wordplay of questions, I suggested three (3) means or apps by which you could do that. That is;

• Busy.org
• Steemit
• Esteemapp

There are over 200 dApps by which you can access Steem's front end. Most of those dApps are designed to serve different purposes.
But, in terms of blogging on Steem blockchain, those three I mentioned are the "Oga pata pata" of them all.

Oga pata pata is Nigerian pidgin. It means; the best or the boss among a set of things

I think I should start speaking and teaching Nigerian pidgin in my articles.

Those apps I listed are amazing. That's why they are the most used dApp on the blockchain: according to the last analysis I read.

Among those three apps, one of them has been catching the eye, and buying all the attention lately.
That is the Esteemapp.

Apparently, @good-karma is not joking this year with the development of this app.
He literally set the blockchain on fire with the v2 releases of Esteem surfer and Esteem mobile.

Many would think he would rest after that. But, he didn't. He's been consistent with rolling out updates of these apps. With each update comes exciting new features, improvements and bug fixes.

It's been a pleasure reviewing each update that is released.
That is what this series has turned out to be.
A series dedicated to reviewing all Esteemapp updates and releases.
The series didn't start out that way though. It started with an unfriendly comparison of the old esteem mobile and other steem android clients.
I decided to quit the comparisons after I got some negative reactions from users of the other apps.

You will get to know all about that when you read the previous articles I've published.

Links to those articles are available in the "Links" section below.

I started my review of Esteem surfer from v2.0.4. Although there are previous versions before it, that one(v 2.0.4) caught my attention.

The project owner released v2.0.5 last month, but I purposely didn't review it. Although, I checked out the app for the new features announced.

In this article, I will be reviewing the last two updates/releases of Esteem surfer. That is; Esteem surfer v2.0.5 and v2.0.6.

The reason for the combined review is to include more talking points in one article. Moreso, it is a perfect way to measure the level of development between the previous version and the new one.
However, I won't be reviewing all the updates in each release. Instead, I will review the noteworthy feature in each release. That would likely be the new features.

The project owner, @good-karma, published an announcement of the latest release of Esteem surfer. That is v2.0.6.

To aid my review, my focus would be on the announcement posts of the two versions I'm reviewing.

I will start by reviewing v2.0.5 then v2.0.6.

Without further ado, let's delve into the discussion of the day.

Review of Esteem surfer v2.0.5. and v2.0.6

Last month, the developer announced the release of Esteem surfer v2.0.5.
That release was packing a lot of updates on the app. It had new features implemented, old ones improved, and bugs fixed.
The project owner includes a changelog in his announcement posts. This makes it easier to know what's been done in new releases.
I must commend him for that effort.

Here is the list of updates in v2.0.5;

• New Delegation
• New In-page search
• New Spanish (@kingaustral, @aronexxon), Portuguese (@charlie7), Polish (@froq), Hungarian (@erikah), Dutch (@altrosa) languages
• New Power down amount display
• New Voting power & Resource credits display improvements
• New Footer design update
• New Recent username list in transfers
• Improved Comment field opens by default now
• Improved Vote value estimation
• Improved PIN code control
• Improved Auto https prefix support for links
• Improved External link handling
• Improved json_metadata
• Improved Market data
• Improved Code
• Fixed Emoji picker supports editor title now
• Fixed Bug fixes

From the list above, you will see that a lot was done in that release(v2.0.5).
The app had 7 new features added to it. There were improvements in 8 already existing features. Then there were a lot of bug fixes.
The developer didn't mention the bugs that were fixed, and I understand why.

From the list of updates, you can tell that most of the new features affected the wallet page on the app.

The developer announced the release of the lastest version(v 2.0.6), 2 days ago.

As usual, the release is packing new features, improvements and bug fixes.

Here's the list of updates in v2.0.6

• New Dutch, Korean, German languages (shout out to @altrosa, @dakeshi, @infinitelearning, @rivalzzz, @joeypark)
• New Following, followers list
• New Internet connection indicator
• New Effective power down amount (shout out to @blockchainstudio for PR)
• Improved Votes popover visual improvements
• Improved Voters loading indicator
• Improved Address bar toggle improvement (shout out to @blockchainstudio for PR, you rock!)
• Improved Editor emoji handling, title
• Improved Transfer form improvements
• Improved Dark mode style improvements on similar posts
• Fixed Similar posts bug fix
• Fixed User top posts bug fix
• Fixed Quick profile bug fix
• Fixed Active votes patch
• Fixed Markdown fixes

This version is sporting 4 new features, Improvements in 6 places and 5 fixes.

Not as much as that of v2.0.5, but, still very vital updates.

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Like I already stated above, I will be reviewing noteworthy features from the two releases, that is; v 2.0.5 and 2.0.6.
To make the reviews less confusing, I will indicate which release has the feature I'm reviewing.

Without further ado, let's review the features in these releases.

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Delegation. (v2.0.5)

Steem power(SP) delegation is one of the transactions that occur on the steem blockchain. It's not commonly performed though, but, it does happen.

When I got the hang of delegation when I joined steemit, it was a tiring process for me.
I had to use a kind of tool then. I can't recall the name again.
I couldn't understand why delegation couldn't be done directly on Steemit. It is still not available up till this time. Thanks to Steemplus extension that makes this possible on Steemit.

So, I said SP delegation is not a common transaction on the blockchain, but it is still done.

Developers of steem dApps are now including this tool on their apps. I guess they are now starting to realize it's importance.

This feature is now available on Esteem surfer, and that's great. Although, I'm surprised at how long it took the developer to make it available on the app.

But then, I can't blame the developer. I think he's developing everything in a timely, uniform, progression.

So I tried out the delegation tool. It's pretty straightforward to use. But, I had a minor issue with it though.
To enter the amount of SP I wanted to delegate, I had to use a slider. The slider is in amounts of vests, but it shows the SP equivalent.

The issue with the slider is; I was unable to enter the actual amount of SP I wished to delegate. I was unable to get a whole number using the slider. A text box would have been better in this situation. The slider could still be there too. It doesn't hurt to have two amount input means.
I will drop a suggestion for the developer and sees what he says about this.

Aside from that minor issue, everything else was pretty smooth.

New language translations (v2.0.5 & v2.0.6)

It's great to see more language translations added to the app.
This goes without saying thanks to the people who worked to see this app translated into their native languages.
The last two releases have seen a total of 7 languages being added to the app.
The languages are;

• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Polish
• Hungarian
• Dutch
• Korean
• German

The implication of having this app translated into so many languages is that; it will bolster its usability.
No more language barriers, which could have hindered the use of the app by a certain country.

I'm still expecting translations for Nigerian pidgin though, and Yoruba too. It would be great to have it on the app.
The app already has our currency conversion in it. Why not our languages too.

Following, followers list.(v2.0.6)

If someone told me this feature wasn't available on Esteem surfer v2.0.4 and v2.0.5, I wouldn't have believed.
This was a feature I expected would have been available from the first release. Surprisingly, it wasn't.
I don't think I would have noticed it if I didn't read the changelog of this version.

I checked out the feature and it's cool. The list of following and followers is displayed in a grid format. This allows you to see the display picture of each user. I like the display a lot.
What I didn't like about this list though, is the inability to search through the list.
This is not possible on Steemit though, but it wouldn't hurt to have it on Esteem surfer.

Power down display(v2.0.5 & v2.0.6)

This feature was included in both releases.
To be honest, I didn't check out this feature when it was released in v2.0.5.
Now I'm a bit confused with the feature on the latest version(v2.0.6).
But, I can say a few things about this feature.

When I decide to power down on Steemit, I don't get to know how much Steem would be released after the power down. Although, I could calculate it myself.

On Esteem surfer, you can see the amount of SP you are powering down. You can also see how many steem you will get after each power down session.

I don't know why the developer hasn't implemented the ability for users to "power down", and "cancel power down" from the app. This will boost user experience greatly.

Recent username listed in transfers. (V2.0.5)

This feature can be considered minor, but, it isn't for me.
This feature retains the username of the last person you performed a transaction with. It appears when next you want to make a transfer, so you don't have to input the username again. It is a very simple feature.
I like it because it saves me time.
Most of my transactions are conducted with one to three persons on the blockchain. Sadly, they've got long usernames. Sometimes, it's a chore to even conduct transactions with them. But with this feature, it is now easier: just like eating cheese pizza.

In-page search. (v2.0.5)

This is a new feature on the app. To be honest, I don't know how this one works. In fact, I haven't understood it.

I was thinking in-page search means I could find words on a particular page/post I'm viewing. But, that wasn't it.

I will communicate with the project owner to find out more details about this feature.

But, I noticed that on esteem surfer, when you search for a word, you get results of posts where that word was mentioned.
In some other dApps, this isn't really possible. You can only get results of usernames, that's if it exists. Then, you will get results for posts with that word in its title.

Could this be the feature? I don't know.

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These are the noteworthy new features I've decided to review.

In terms of optimizations, the most notable one for me was the "transfer form". I like the sequences while making a transfer.

Summary

In this article, I have been able to review the last 2 releases of Esteem surfer.
The developer and his team are really working hard to make this app exceptional for use.
With each release, I get more and more inclined to use this software as my daily driver for accessing Steem. I've my reasons for not completely using it yet, and those reasons are very valid.

I must commend the developer again for the amazing work he is doing.
I can't wait to see what he brings to the app next.

That being said, it will be great if these features are implemented in the next update;

• Power down/cancel power down
• Search in followers/following list
• Profile editor etc

The profile editor should be a priority though.

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Check out the app and tell me what you like about it.

Thanks for reading!

Links

Project repository: https://github.com/esteemapp/esteem-surfer/

App download link: https://github.com/esteemapp/esteem-surfer/releases/tag/2.0.6

Resources:

• Surfer update brings 3 more languages (Dutch, Korean, German), friends list, connection indicator and more

• Surfer 2.0.5 update brings delegation, in-page search, 5 additional languages & other improvements

The images used in this article are screenshots from my mobile phone or PC. Other images used, are properly sourced.

Series backlinks:

• Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it.
• Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it? (Part 2)
• Is esteemapp the best steem android client? or there are others better than it? (Part 3)
• Unveiling the newest steem android client, Esteem mobile v2 (First impressions and review.)
• Esteem surfer V2 First impressions and review.
• Esteem mobile v2: Review of app updates. v2.0.6 & v2.0.7.

Github profile:

https://github.com/HarryHeights