Web Ranker for iPhone: A Must Have for the Web Enthusiast
By: Hillel Fuld
The iPhone platform has many advantages over other mobile devices. There is of course the ultra simple user experience, the unprecedented multimedia features, the seamless iTunes/iPhone synchronization, and much more. However, for me, a BlackBerry user, the primary reason I ever pick up my iPod Touch is functionality. One can claim that BlackBerry has better email support, or that Android has better Google integration, but there is no denying that we have never seen a mobile platform offer so much functionality in one device.
Now, let me clarify by saying that Apple cannot take credit for the fact that no other mobile device can do what the iPhone can do. It is the developer community who we have to thank for that. As Apple so often says, you want to do something on your phone? “There is an app for that”, no matter what “that” is. At the end of the day, there are many millions of people not using iPhones, but rather BlackBerrys, Nokias, or Windows Mobile devices, but between the iPhone’s UI and its 100,000+ apps, there are many things they would be able to do if they were using an iPhone, that they cannot do now.
One such app that offers me very important functionality that I have never had on a phone, is Web Tracker. There really is very little to say about this app, since it is ultra simplistic, but with a very basic UI, the app does offer users some very useful information. As a person who spends a lot of time on the Web, whether it is working, reading, tweeting, or just chatting, there have been many occasions, in which I wanted to do some background research on a website, and did not know where to start.
Just the basic Google Page Rank for example was somewhat of a process to determine. Depending on your browser, you can either use the Google Toolbar (unless of course you are on Google’s browser, in which case Google’s toolbar is not supported. Um, what?), use an add on, or simply check with an external website by inputting the URL. Then there are traffic stats, Alexa rank, ranking by country, speed information, and contact info. These are just some examples of information one needs when trying to analyze a website.
Web Ranker for iPhone gives you all that information and more within seconds. You simply put in the site’s URL, and are automatically presented with any and all useful information about that site. Besides what I mentioned about, Web Ranker also gives you related links and Whois information, both useful bits of information.
The interface of Web Ranker, like I said, is so simple, I am not sure it can even be called an interface. You have the home page that is one big field in which you enter the site’s URL. There is also a Tell A Friend option, which simply opens an email message explaining about the app. Some Facebook and Twitter integration would have been nice.
You can also save your searches, so if for example, you check a certain site regularly to see if its Page Rank changed, you can use this feature. Once you click Get Details, you are presented with the information screen. This screen has the name of the site on top and its Google Page Rank and Alexa rank directly beneath it.
Then it shows you traffic details including traffic rank, links, percentage of sites slower than this one and how long it took it to load. The next piece of info is its rank by country including a list of 8 countries, the site’s rank in each one, its page views, and percentage of users.
There is also a Related Links section, which seemed to be pretty accurate, although I am not sure how they determine this, I am assuming it is based on the site’s metadata.
Contact info did not produce any real results for any of the multiple sites I tested, but I am pretty sure that is not the app’s fault, but rather that site’s owner, who did not make that information available to the public.
The last two fields are site details and Whois information, both offering minimal information about the sites I checked. After viewing all the required details, you can search for another site, save this search, or simply share it via email.
I know it is hard to believe, but that is it, the entire app. So simple, yet so useful. Since I downloaded Web Ranker a few weeks back, I have used it numerous times and found it to be extremely helpful in getting to know websites I use regularly. Now, I did not check if such an app exists on any of the other platforms, but I can say with full certainty, that if it does, it is not as user friendly as Web Ranker. For that, we have to thank the developers as well as Apple for creating the device to support such a practical application.
Our Rating: 4/5
Developer: Archana Patchirajan
