Announcing Towleroad for Mobile Devices: iPad, iPhone, Kindle

If you're reaching the site on your iPhone or iPad you already know we're started automatically redirecting visits from these devices to new editions of Towleroad optimized for iOS devices and Kindle Fire.  (That's the front page of the iPad version below.) 

If you haven't yet, it's time RIGHT NOW!

Open Safari on your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and type "towleroad.com" or our universal shortened version, "tlrd.com" in the URL bar and you'll be redirected. Be sure to save it to your home app page and share with friends.

Andy and i couldn't be more pleased to announce these new editions, along with an 'alpha' version for Android users, all of which are in response to significantly increasing demand from users. Last month more than 1 in every 5 visits to Towleroad was via a mobile device. And those 22% of visits accounted for 20% of all pageviews. The chart below shows the steady increase over the past 3 years.

The second chart showing that 81% of our mobile visits are on iOS devices should explain pretty clearly why we prioritized those editions. 

But as mentioned, we're not leaving the increasing number of Android device users empty-handed. We have a slightly less polished edition, what I'd qualify as a alpha-level release, Towleroad's Google Currents edition -- which can be installed on either Android or iOS devices. So if you are part of the 17% or you're just not happy with the edition we're redirecting you to, you can get all the information and links needed to install for either Android or iOS devices, over at the Google Currents platform.

What this all mean is that as of today,  we have some form of optimized edition for approximately 98% of your mobile visits ...or at least a running start at them...and that's 98% more visits than we were optimized for yesterday. Enjoy.

We will be including comments and access to comments shortly. You'll notice. Right now the comments icon is already in place at the bottom but is not clickable.

HERE ARE SOME INSTRUCTIVE LINKS if you need them:

> Getting Access on your Mobile Device.

> Basic Features and Navigation.

> How to Add an App Icon to Your Home Screen.

> Sharing Towleroad with Others (IMPORTANT).

> Towleroad on Google Currents.

Please do give it a try and let us know what you think what your ideas might be for making Towleroad better overall and what--if anything--we should tackle next. 

Please leave us any constructive comments below. Substantial feedback, requests for direct support, and private messages are better sent through our comment form . Thanks again for your support and for your help with the beta.

News: Racist Shirt, Elon University, Bangor, Endeavor

Concise and clear headline of the day: "Black, gay and Christian, Marylanders struggle with conflicts".

An Ohio man showed his racist pride by wearing a shirt that read "Put the white back in the White House" at a Mitt Romney campaign rally.

Check out a new Django Unchained trailer.

BusinessWeek highlights 15 advertisements illustrating how far we as a culture have come in terms of gay and lesbian inclusion. There's till further to go, though.

Elon University's Student Government Association voted 35-11 to ask the campus' Chick-fil-A outpost to relocate elsewhere. The resolution has now been sent to the group's executive president for either approval or a veto.

Paul Harris profiles Timothy Kurek, the straight Liberty University graduate who pretended to be gay for a year, over at The Guardian.

Paul Ryan uttered an estimated 24 un-truths during his debate against Joe Biden.

Rihanna Vogues.

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly building an anti-trust case against Google. "Commission staff [is] preparing a recommendation that the government sue the search giant...The agency’s central focus is whether Google manipulates search results to favor its own products, and makes it harder for competitors and their products to appear prominently on a results page."

A round-up of some celebrities with great mug shots.

The space shuttle Endeavor is inching closer to its permanent home at the California Space Center.

A refresher for anyone unsure of which gay votes are going down where next month: "Washington is one of four states where voters are being asked about gay marriage. Maryland legalized gay marriage this year as well, but that state will also have a public vote next month. In Maine, voters will decide on an initiative to approve same-sex marriage three years after a referendum overturned a gay marriage law passed by the Maine Legislature. And in Minnesota, voters will decide whether to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage there."

Fred Karger on NOM: "We need to fight back against equality’s single most formidable opponent as it continues its attempt to take away the rights from millions of Americans at every level of government."

A 1991 book called Daddy's Roommate tried to explain homosexuality to children.

The 12-person city council in Bangor, Maine, unanimously voted to endorse a measure that would legalize gay marriage in the state. The city "consistently opposed discrimination and acknowledged the importance of the diversity of its citizens," they said in their non-binding resolution.

Openly gay Washington State Sen. Ed Murray discusses his tight relationship to the anti-gay Catholic Church. "My faith has helped me see people who strongly disagree with me as important and wonderful people, even when I can’t stand them and they can’t stand me," he said.

Actor Gary Collins has died at the age of 74.

Ann Coulter Tries To Convince Bill Maher Racism Ended In 1964: VIDEO

Bill Maher was more than happy to debate conservative author Ann Coulter on his HBO show last night, and she was more than happy to bring her best, brightest theories, like the idea, the basis for her latest book, that racism is over here in the United States.

Watch her attempt to convince her host of something so obviously not true AFTER THE JUMP.

Maher also spent some time last night picking apart the 34 various calamities anti-gay group Focus on the Family claimed would come to fruition should Obama win in 2008, including their fears that abortion would be free on demand, guns would be seized, the Boy Scouts of America would be abolished and the pledge of allegiance would become a thing of the past. None of those things happened.

Watch Maher and Coulter's exchange AFTER THE JUMP.

Citing Gay Marriage Ban, Ala. Court Denies Lesbian Adoption Rights

The Alabama Court of Appeals offered its thoughts on a lesbian couple's fight to extend adoption rights to both women, and it's thoughts are pretty traditional.

Even though Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand have been together for 14 years and were married during the brief time California allowed same-sex nuptials, Alabama does not recognize gay marriage; Searcy therefore is "not the spouse of the child's mother," the 5-judge court's unanimous decision said, and cannot adopt their 6-year old son.

Of course, I was disappointed, but I guess we were kind of expecting it,” Searcy said after the ruling yesterday. Openly gay state Rep. Patricia Todd offered more pointed, politicized thoughts, "If we truly care about the welfare of children, it’s most important that they be in a loving family. It restricts the ability to raise the child if only one parent can have custody."

Republican lawmaker Gerald Allen, a state senator, of course celebrated the news, saying the ruling "solidifies the fact the institution of marriage includes a man and a woman raising the children."

Gay or straight couples that cannot reproduce or choose not to have children, it appears, need not apply.

Towleroad Touch Editions for iPad/iPhone (Beta): Sharing the 'Road' and Spreading the News

SPREAD THE NEWS. SHARE THE ROAD.

1. Please share Towleroad Touch with friends and associates. Click the Action Button at the top of the browser -- that icon with the folder and arror point out of it -- and try all the different quick-sharing buttons for email, Twitter and Facebook posts.

This is REALLY important to Towleroad, and you're letting your friends in on a great service. (There's also a bookmark button which creates a regular bookmark in Safari that will be available on your other devices if iCloud is enabled. And of course the "Add to Home Screen Button" discussed in a previous post.

Towleroad Touch Editions for iPad/iPhone (Beta): How to Add an 'App' Icon to Home Screen for One-Touch Access

HOW TO ADD AN "APP" ICON FOR ONE-TOUCH ACCESS TO TOWLEROAD, AND SKIP OPENING BROWSERS AND TYPING URLS FOREVER

Follow these steps to add a Towleroad icon to your app collection. Just tap the icon and you'll be rushed to the latest from Towleroad. It's kind of a VIP icon in that way. 

1. Go to the Towleroad Touch edition on your device, as described in our earlier post. Just type type "towleroad.com" or "tlrd.com" in the url bar of the browser and touch "Go".

2. Once it's open, find and touch the Action Button. It's the folder icon with an arrow pointing left that is at the top of the browser on the iPad and at the bottom on the iPhone.  (On your first visit, you'll see a message pointing at the icon as shown.)

   

3. FIRST POP-UP MENU: Find and touch the Towleroad Touch icon in the center of the popup menu. 

 

4. SECOND POP-UP MENU: You can just touch the blue "Add" button, unless you want to change the text that will appear below your icon. If so, type the words you prefer and then click "Add".

5. CONGRATS! Your one-touch access icon should appear where there is room on your app screen. Touch it to launch Towleroad directly wherever you have data service for your device. You can move and organize this icon as you do any app icon, so you might want it on your home screen for easy access to the latest Towleroad posts.