Smule blog: New Feature Alert: News Center

[[Member _Sin…]]

Quote

We’re happy to introduce the News Center – a dedicated place in the app that helps you stay informed on all things Smule. We know you like to discover everything Smule can offer and we’ve decided to enhance your experience even further.

View the full article on the Smule blog

[[Member Wish…]]

This sounds horrible.

-The latest Smule news & important updates
-Special offers & promotions curated just for you
-Exciting competitions with lucrative prizes

So basically one more place Smule will shove promoted content in our faces? If this means promoted singers don't clutter up my Invites (and instead get knocked into News), then I am all for this. But if not, then this sounds like something NO ONE has been asking for.

Also, the News tab knocks the Gifts tab out and buries it elsewhere in the app.

[[Member The…]]

Here is the news: there is no news.

Moving on, does anyone know what the little red dot that sometimes appears next to the profile icon in the bottom right corner means? 

[[Member The…]]

2 hours ago, Wishchip said:

This sounds horrible.

-The latest Smule news & important updates
-Special offers & promotions curated just for you
-Exciting competitions with lucrative prizes

So basically one more place Smule will shove promoted content in our faces? If this means promoted singers don't clutter up my Invites (and instead get knocked into News), then I am all for this. But if not, then this sounds like something NO ONE has been asking for.

Also, the News tab knocks the Gifts tab out and buries it elsewhere in the app.

Out of interest, has anything that people DO ask for ever been adopted? This is a rhetorical question, by the way. 
 

Tech obviously not advanced enough to allow 4 tabs.

[[Member musi…]]

4 hours ago, The Minty Clinch said:

Here is the news: there is no news.

Moving on, does anyone know what the little red dot that sometimes appears next to the profile icon in the bottom right corner means? 

My guess is since the Gifts tab is taken up by the News tab, the profile icon gets activated to red whenever you receive a gift. Basically, it's a notification for new gifts.

[[Member Wish…]]

3 hours ago, music8 said:

My guess is since the Gifts tab is taken up by the News tab, the profile icon gets activated to red whenever you receive a gift. Basically, it's a notification for new gifts.

Yep, exactly that.

I wonder if Smule thinks not enough people are checking out the blog, and so by forcing a News tab on us, it’ll generate more traffic to the blog and website. Because I’m sure the bulk of the News tab will simply be “New update!” with a link to whatever article they’re promoting that week.

[[Member open…]]

11 hours ago, Wishchip said:

Also, the News tab knocks the Gifts tab out and buries it elsewhere in the app.

I don’t mind demoting the stickers. We have likes, favs and comments, where people can already add emoji like 👍, ❤️, 💯 and so on. But in addition, there is yet another way to send “stars”, “hearts”, a “thumbs up” and so on, which the receiver had to check out on a different tab. I just don’t see the benefit. It’s just more stuff I need to click on to get rid of the notification of new activity. 

[[Member Wish…]]

You guys will have to tell me what sort of fantastic news is reported on in the News tab. I haven't updated my app in awhile but it sure sounds like I'm not missing much.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Wishchip

[[Member Wish…]]

As hilarious as it was to see the News tab declare "No news from Smule yet - Stay tuned for more" for the longest time (though I guess there was that one news item about Hispanic Heritage Month), unfortunately it looks like - just as I feared - the News tab is simply one more place where Smule can promote the hell out of their featured singers.

So not only was this singer featured as an advertisement on app startup (the one that automatically pops when you open Smule), but she is also featured on the banner ads that run along the top of the Songbook tab, and also pops up from time to time in the Invites tab. Does this singer really need FOUR different spots for promotion? Wow. 

[[Member The…]]

And yet I bet everyone, like me,  still thinks it's noughties Brummie songstress Jamelia . Oh and smule, when the fuckadoodledo am I gonna be a featured artist?!?! I promise not to open Metal Machine Music again if I am.

[[Member Duet…]]

On 9/20/2023 at 2:14 AM, opentype said:

I don’t mind demoting the stickers. We have likes, favs and comments, where people can already add emoji like 👍, ❤️, 💯 and so on. But in addition, there is yet another way to send “stars”, “hearts”, a “thumbs up” and so on, which the receiver had to check out on a different tab. I just don’t see the benefit. It’s just more stuff I need to click on to get rid of the notification of new activity. 

So true! Now that the gift tab has been replaced by News, there is zero reason to send paid gifts. I still send the free ones just because … why not? But if the recipient would have to jump through hoops to see them, I’m not sending paid gifts anymore. I’ve already complained to Smule about this, and as usual, they don’t care about lil ole me 😂 that’s fine, they can have less of my money.

Edited November 26, 2023 by DuetWithAlli
Left out a word

[[Member Duet…]]

On 11/7/2023 at 4:11 PM, The Minty Clinch said:

And yet I bet everyone, like me,  still thinks it's noughties Brummie songstress Jamelia . Oh and smule, when the fuckadoodledo am I gonna be a featured artist?!?! I promise not to open Metal Machine Music again if I am.

If you think that’s bad, I keep reading it as “Kamala” as in, the Vice President of the US. If they can get Kamala Harris, I’ll totally sing with her! But otherwise, I’m not interested.