Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by daviemck2006 »

My phone is downstairs just now and I'm up.i haven't tried that yet. What actually is your issues with tapatalk.i have just Googled tapatalk security issues and didn't really see anything more worrying that is said about anything else on the Internet. I'm sure that most governments/crooks (maybe the same lol) track a lot of what of what you do online whether via a browser or an app. I've had my credit card hacked and £45 taken out every month for 3 months before I noticed. I got it back, but that's far more worried than someone getting my email address. The amount of crap emails I get I think the whole world has my email address already [emoji23]

You may think that I am utterly rubbish with electronics and technology and you would be correct. That's why I started on tapatalk, all forums I frequent on the same place and simple to use. That's what I need. Simple

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by bobins »

When I looked at some of the security issues with Tapatalk, I saw far too many forum admins complaining that they'd had random members who'd signed up via Tapatalk who'd been added immediately at Admin level on the forum i.e. they signed up and they instantly became Admins. Apparently that's a known issue - and all admins everywhere can't really ignore such a problem. For every forum user that says 'It doesn't bother me' there's going to be dozens / hundreds that say 'well it bothers me !' :shock:
I don't know if that's the specific issue that's concerning our admins, but even if it isn't, it doesn't make Tapatalk look all that desirable :(
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

The problem with Tapatalk is fundamental to the way it is designed. For Tapatalk to operate on a forum, the admins install a software module supplied by Tapatalk which then gives the Tapatalk servers unrestricted access to our database and allows them to access or change data at their discretion, regardless of any restrictions that our admins might have put in place.

There are several categories of risk stemming from this:
  1. Tapatalk might introduce a bug that causes problems on our server, and as Tapatalk is a closed-source application, we may have difficulty fixing it. This has happened in the past.
  2. Tapatalk deliberately takes data including posted topics, email addresses and other information and uses it for their own commercial purposes, without consulting us. This has happened in the past.
  3. In the event that the Tapatalk service, or its interface into our service becomes compromised by hackers, we would be totally vulnerable to having our site hacked. In the modern internet world this is a real risk for the future
If Tapatalk were designed differently, so that it could only access and modify the data according to the permissions of the individual users that sign up for the service, it would be technically much safer, but that is not how it has been implemented.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

Just give up Davie ... move across to FB. These so-called 'admins' cant risk manage in a month of sundays. What exactly do people have in the way of secure information on the servers that poses a security risk. An email address maybe? Hardly the highest level of risk unless of course you're then incapable if recognising a spoof email or two from the real thing. Again, how many people these days use a dedicated single email across multiple sites? I definitely don't. I have my FCF email et seq. And, server hacking is a big ol' red herring. Manage the risk guys. If its not TT which is harmless it will be something else that comes along to bite you. I'll be leaving as i said. All of my forum activity, including others, is managed via TT. That's is usp, the ability to manage multiple forums from one app. It works EVERYWHERE else and those admins elsewhere dont kick up a fuss. Indeed quite the opposite. They recognise the need to attract new members using the current tools available.After all, there's hardly any mine of information waiting to be lifted on FCF now is there? Nope, it's purely down to needing some other area of the forum to tinker with by those who now feel they own the forum outright in my opinion. Just wait and lets see how quickly they roll up their sleeves and mess things up even further. It's not broken, it works fine as is. LEAVE IT ALONE!!

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Stickyfinger »

xantiamanic wrote: stuff

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk


Just bollocks....you take your own risks....I will take mine.

To leave a forum that exists to provide YOU with information (and not entertainment) that is almost impossible to find in other places on the internet is just daft, it strikes me as a flounce

I accept I may be wrong, if so please give me the web address of a forum that provides the depth and history/information the FCF does on the cars we all are focused on ..... I may join you there if it is better.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

You misunderstand me Sticky. I'll leave purely because of the direction the current management is taking the forum which i no longer enjoy. Just means i'll not be a participating member any longer. As a long serving member i am aware and obviously appreciate the wealth and depth of information here on the forum. I'll not give that up, just dip in occasionally on an as and when read-only basis. For me, TT enables me to quickly and securely manage all of my forums daily, hourly even, from the one app on my mobile. That benefit is being withdrawn, under protest i may add so i wont be able to do this going forward. Like Davie, i never go on a pc, FCF on my phone as a separate browser is a non starter for me as it then becomes a burdensome daily chore which i can do without. No, decision made, no TT no participation. I very rarely post these days as the forum has gradually declined in numbers and conversations over past months. It's become more of a one to one chat shop, a bit like facebook. Admin SAYS they need to grow the membership but seem intent on implementing change which does the exact opposite with their dictatorial attitude. Shame on them i say. They're killing it [emoji20] and people are just letting them play in their own sandpit without realusing whats going on.

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Gibbo2286 »

What's Tapatalk? :)
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by CitroJim »

Gibbo2286 wrote:What's Tapatalk? :)


Something that's akin to a jar of Marmite ;)

https://www.tapatalk.com/
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Contrary to what's been said, Tapatalk is not everywhere, there are many Forums that do not use it because of the direct access it has to the Databases. There was a cross-site scripting vulnerability a few years ago leaving Forums vulnerable until a fix was created and systems patched. I've seen plenty of hacked forums that have gone into meltdown.

The forum may not hold the UK's nuclear launch codes, but it does hold emails, DOB, location and other information that may be supplied by a member as part of a their user profile. Any security vulnerability that provides access to this info could be used to attempt to gain access to other sites such as on-line retailers or worse, that may have your name, address and a credit card stored for example. Let's face it, not everyone is tech savvy or use email aliases. There are people that use the same email and even the same password for multiple sites. Any third party plug-in that demands unfettered DB access is a liability.

As for copying FCF content - I choose to post on the FCF, yet here is one of my articles displayed on the Tapatalk website: https://www.tapatalk.com/topic/57430-31352
I accept that my content is in the public domain, but I object to having my posts / guides replicated on the Tapatalk site regardless of choice. I appreciate this is a very small link at the top of the article that will link back to the Forum, but you can still continue to read more posts at the bottom of the article - which pulls these from the forum. I did not choose to post articles so that Tapatalk can use them to publicise their own product / site.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by elma »

You know if you attack the admins enough maybe they will leave.
Then where's the forum?
It sickens me to see personal attacks on people who spend a considerable amount of their own time keeping this place running.
You all are entitled to your opinions but when is it ever acceptable to publicly attack someone?
A nice thing about this forum is our opinions get listened to, even if we don't get our way.
Admins don't get many thanks for the time they devote to keeping fcf running, perhaps worth considering before you speak.
They are also more than generous with their time and if corresponded with are likely to put significant effort into improving the mobile browser experience.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

May I just say that I think that a lot of people are over-reacting to this. If there's a genuine security consideration then this has to come very high up the list of priorities over usability. I don't use it myself so some of the fanaticism about using it washes straight over me and, perhaps, if I were a user I might be similarly agitated. But I come back to this security issue again and that's what has to be the prime consideration.

I'd not heard about the security issue before this. I've posted a query on another forum that I am involved with to see if anyone there is aware of the problem. That forum uses XenForo software so maybe they have a solution that phpBB doesn't. Anyway I'll let you know.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

GiveMeABreak wrote:As for copying FCF content - I choose to post on the FCF, yet here is one of my articles displayed on the Tapatalk website: https://www.tapatalk.com/topic/57430-31352
I accept that my content is in the public domain, but I object to having my posts / guides replicated on the Tapatalk site regardless of choice. I appreciate this is a very small link at the top of the article that will link back to the Forum, but you can still continue to read more posts at the bottom of the article - which pulls these from the forum. I did not choose to post articles so that Tapatalk can use them to publicise their own product / site.
I did not know about the duplicate posting on the Tapatalk site. I presume that FCF has private areas where Mods and Admins can talk. Do Tapatalk posts (and the thread they're in) get copied over from there as well?

If they do then that's the death knell for Tapatalk for me.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by CitroJim »

Although I'm not a big forum user by any means, all of the other forums I visit on a regular basis have no Tapatalk facilities...

I find the FCF perfectly OK to use effectively in a very small browser on my mobile phone... I fail to se the issue quite frankly... If it will work well enough and is usable on my poxy old Windows phone then I can only assume that on more sophisticated phones and tablets it should be even better... I know on my Android tablet it is as good as being on a laptop and that's only a small screened tablet.

I'm in full agreement that security has got to be top priority and Tapatalk does appear to pose considerable risks to the integrity of the forum and its database contents.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

Tapatalk obviously isn't 'everywhere'. But it IS supported on every forum that i choose to currently subscribe to. Strange eh. Maybe a bit of subliminal messaging going on here to justify the decision, already made without any consultation of the membership, to remove support. As for attacking the admin ... it is not a personal attack, more of a collective show of disapproval of the direction they are taking the forum without any member involvement. Chicken and egg really ... no admin, no forum as opposed to no members, no forum. I can see which direction the forum is going in. Access enabled to a few select 'contributors' only. So, i'll just dip in occassionally (very) from now on. My health's not that good at present so the rest might do me good. Thanks to all the admin staff (sic).

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Last edited by superloopy on 23 May 2017, 12:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Stickyfinger »

xantiamanic wrote:You misunderstand me Sticky...............plus stuff


I just do not get it..........I cannot see how or where admins are dictating either content or "other stuff" to users other than the forums design/method of entry.
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