Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Rapattoni tests new tablet interface.

I’m just catching up from traveling this week and caught this news from Monday. Looks like Rapattoni is testing a “touch-based” tablet interface in a few markets right now. I’m not clear whether this is a native app or not. Perhaps someone from Rapatoni can clarify in the comments.

One of the challenges I think with these new touch based devices and MLS systems is searching. Typically MLS systems are all about searching and filling out forms. Typing on a tablet can be cumbersome. Rapattoni’s use of the draw feature really does tackle of lot of this issues. The video is worth a watch (click the above image). Nice job!

  1. It is web based (I was hoping for a native app). That said, I am impressed with it and I would say that even in its infancy stage, its pretty slick. So far so good!

  2. Yes – it is browser based. Unless they use some kind of wrapper for future versions, add/edit with photos will be a challenge on the iPad.

    My understanding is that their next goal is to pull in the client servicing portal. After that they will look at add/edit. It is a first step, but far from hitting the goal of a Mobile MLS.

  3. Two things.

    One.

    I think being browser based is smart. Only one code base to worry about and it works on multiple devices.

    Two.

    I’m not sure you need an add/edit for the mobile devices. Some things are best left for a full sized laptop/desktop computer. It’s a cliche but “form should follow function”.

    While there are a lot of apps made for creating things on an iPad its strongest use is for consumption.

  4. Native vs. not-native is a moot point. Usable and useful vs. not usable is the real question. See LinkedIn’s ipad app for what is possible with HTML5 and 4 driven engineers. That said, native maps are definitely faster and easier at this time.

    This looks mediocre: mixing grouped listings (the plus signs) with listings makes for a horrible user experience.

    I like the kindergarden-level narration.

  5. Thank you for the valuable feedback. The goal with our new touch-based Tablet interface was to develop code in an environment that reached the majority of, if not all, tablet operating systems with our initial beta release. We decided on a “Web” app with a clear focus on limiting the need for free-form typing. We created a “Touch” experience, populating the MLS database on the Map as a user pans or draws multiple polygons. Either way, users do not have to type to get what they want, and our field controls utilize scroll wheels and drop-down boxes to support this touch-based design.

    The Tablet interface has been released to all Rapattoni MLSs in beta and we are getting valuable feedback from all of our customers. We will continue to evolve the Tablet interface based on user feedback, adding in all of the core features of the MLS with a touch-based design. We are excited about what we’ve learned from our ongoing development.

    Thanks again for your kind words.

  6. Rosemary Scardina

    @Galen the voice over done by a very talented & experienced individual who works in the MLS industry. We can’t all have your golden tones @Galen.

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