Thoughts on Flock 0.9
Recently the social web browser company Flock rolled out a milestone release, version 0.9. While it’s not a 1.0, the new release totes some awe-inspiring new features that put it on a different level than the last major release, Beta 1 (my review), almost a year ago. Over the last year there have been a few hurdles for Flock, including co-founders leaving the company and Firefox seemingly stepping on Flock’s toes with a social networking feature in the works called The Coop.
Although, just for the record, after having talked with Will Pate of Flock last month about The Coop issue, he doesn’t see it as a threat to Flock. If anything, it’s better as Flock will expand upon and improve capabilities offered by The Coop. (Flock is based on Firefox.)
What’s New
If you have used any earlier versions of Flock, it will become immediately apparent to you that some moderate changes were made to Flock’s default theme and interface. While I think that some of the theme’s design might be a little too ambitious, what with the heavy use of gradients and all, it definitely has some spark to it, if that’s your thing. In general, the theme appears to be “too busy” in my opinion.
Features present in older versions such as integration with Flickr have become more streamlined in the sense that it’s easier to get them working. I remember having to go through a wizard to setup my Flickr account in older versions. In 0.9 all I have to do is log into Flickr and Flock’s advanced media features are automatically activated. The media bar now supports Truveo and YouTube, although I found browsing YouTube videos in the media bar a bit hard since they don’t play inside the media bar and open up a new YouTube page or window pop-up.
One of the newest features is called My World. Essentially it ties all of Flock’s features - media integration, feeds, favorites - into a local, personal start page similar to a simplified version of Netvibes or Google Personalized Home.
The way favorites are managed has changed since the last version to the point where viewing bookmarks only consumes the sidebar area instead of the Safari-like whole page method. I find this to be a plus as I loathed the old way of managing favorites. I just want to be able to flip open a sidebar and see my last favorites.
Since Flock is Firefox-based, expanding it is as easy as installing Firefox add-ons. This used to be a huge problem with older versions of Flock and you had to “convert” Firefox add-ons/extensions to a Flock format. I tested this by installing Firebug for Firefox and it worked flawlessly, leading me to believe that the Flock team spent time on add-on compatibility.
Older Flock features such as Flickr photo uploading and blog posting are still present and feature a slight design tweak for the better.
Other Social Features
In addition to the media integration with the media bar and the favorites bar which ties in with the favorites button to bookmark sites online and locally, I noticed an icon in the address bar to share a link. If you’re on a page you’d like to send to a friend, click the icon of a letter and Flock will open your default email client (Gmail in my case) and put the URL in the subject and body of a new email.
Live search has always been a boon for Flock and the same goes for version 0.9. If you have ever messed with Inquisitor for Safari - it’s the same principle. Search results appear as you type. Favorites and recently visited websites are included in live results by default.
The last thing I’d like to mention about version 0.9 is a newfound new user friendliness. Let me give you an example. If you visit a site that has a syndication feed that you have not already subscribed to, Flock will flash the RSS icon and show you how to subscribe to the site if you’re interested. That’s the type of thing that not-yet-tech-savvy people would come to appreciate. This of course can be disabled after the first time you see it.
Overall
Flock is very much so a social media browser, tying in your accounts to various “Web 2.0″ and social services for use in one place. I can only imagine what Flock would be like if the media bar supported social networking sites like Facebook - you could be able to search for people in the bar. However, for the new Flock user the interface seems confusing - lots of icons, lots of menus, et cetera. On the upside though, Flock 0.9 seems speedier than what I can remember about the older versions.
Personally, I will remain with Firefox as I prefer the simple, bare bones layout with only my bookmarks and I have no problem with visiting Flickr to view photos instead of opening Flock’s media bar - especially considering I am not exactly restricted in screen real estate. To put it in other words, maybe I’m just not the right target user? In example, I only bookmark interesting things on del.icio.us maybe once every two weeks.
Regardless, I’m still curious about what version 1.0 holds. What do you think?
Great review! It seems this new version have too many images and “shiny” things, as you said, I’ll also keep with Firefox, simple yet powerful.
I think Flock is definitely moving in the right direction.
Flock’s RSS reader is definitely among the best (for a browser). Firefox Live Bookmarks is kinda weak in comparison.
I also wasn’t aware that Firefox extensions have better compatibility…Thanks for pointing that out.
I emphasize that I did limited testing (one extension) haha. =)
Haha…no problem…I just tested a few of my favorite extensions and they work just fine.
Pretty cool!
I tested the new version and I don’t know for you but it’s a memory hog on my Mac Mini G4… Still prefer simpler and lighter browser like Safari.
Have tried and discarded Flock in the past and doen’t see anything to make me want to go back. It seems OK, but doesn’t give me anything that I really need so why change!
Nice review there. I also think that Flock 0.9 has too many menus and icons and that, as it’s a social browser, it should try to support sites like Facebook or Twitter. In a comment he left on my blog post, Will Pate told me that they should be adding lots of improvements for version 1.0. I’m looking forward to seeing what new features it’ll have.
There is definitely some unique features about Flock. I will still occasionally use it to upload photos to Flickr but the new version is much too busy overall. I found myself switching back to Firefox after a few weeks of using Flock. Not really sure why but I do think there is great potential for social integration into a browser.
I also prefer just going to Flickr. My browser is for browsing the internet, and I’d prefer to leave all the other stuff out.
It’s a really beatiful theme. Let’s wait for a variation of this theme for Firefox. I also prefer FF.
The new browser is better, but I feel like the new Flock website is a massive downgrade, at least visually. While there is probably a better conversion rate (more downloads and less, huh? what is this Flock thing?) the layout needs some love.
Have you tested it on Windows? I would be curious about the memory utilization.
@Christoph,
I’ve been using it for a few days now, runs very smoothly on windows (but I have 2gb of ram, so I dunno on lower memory systems). Doesn’t use more than 15-20%
I do have 1.5gb, so that shouldn’t be a problem. But 15% of 2gb is still more than 200mb, seems like even more than FF2.
I’ve been using the 0.7 series for almost a year now and I love it. Its a bit slower on my PC, but thats hardware issues. I’m a little nervous to upgrade. I am very comfortable with 0.7
I think I am with you Paul. There are too may bells and whistles for my taste. I am sticking with Firefox
Using gradients is more ambitious? Sometimes you say the funniest things XD
Flock seems great, but I wonder where the blog post option is located. :S Does anyone know from where I should access it?
The recent Flock update is good, but it’s not enough to pull me back over there.
I’m deeply ensconced in Firefox these days, not even using Safari anymore. Plus, most of the Add-Ons I use in Firefox don’t work in Flock.
That said, I would still recommend Flock to people who’re looking for a one-stop-shop for that social media stuff…
Excellent review mate! I have switched from Firefox to flock and its great.. the only thing that is annoying me is the categories area when you go to post, this is major major latency when refreshing the categories.
Looks interesting, but their new site sucks.
Has anyone noticed that they’re using sIFR for the titles?
I’m using that for a client website right now. Pretty nice use of type…
I really don’t like Flock, it doesn’t seem to offer me anything other than altering the way I work… and I like the way I work. Ok, it isn’t the most productive way of working, more a shambling tea-stained direction at completion- but it certainly doesn’t need media integration with my browser.
I had Flock installed because one of the main reasons I had it was for blogging. I wasn’t able to figure out how to blog with flock on a non-wordpress.com blog. Can you do that now?
I thought this might be an interesting link…It is something Lorelle wrote.
http://www.blogherald.com/2007/05/21/web-browser-guide-for-bloggers/
Seems interesting, but I still prefer sticking w/ firefox. I still prefer using stand alone blog editors, and/ or just logging into WP itself.