AvantGo is AvantGone

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.avantgo.com/frontdoor/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.avantgo.com/frontdoor/index.html</a><br /><br /></div><p>Avantgo is a service that scraped websites and sync'd the content to your mobile device allowing you to read articles on the go. Effective June 30, 2009, they are dropping the service. I am actually surprised it is still around. It was neat to use when few mobile devices had online access or even lacked a real browser, but for several years not, just about everyone has full time all-you-can-eat data plans. The exact wording on their page is a bit strange:</p><p><em>"AvantGo is changing! From June 30, 2009, AvantGo will no longer be providing mobile content."</em></p><p>That makes it sound like the company itself will be sticking around, but doing what I don't know. They recommend you move to a product called Snac, but it requires Java and only works on some Windows Mobile devices. I used AvantGo as early as the late 90's with my first PDA, and in a way it is sad to see it go, but honestly I'd almost forgotten about it. I haven't used it for at least seven or eight years.</p>

[adambravo]

Although I roll with an iPhone now, I still use the Avantgo mobile site (m.avantgo.com) to access my info--as I used to do with other non-Windows phones, using (generally) Opera Mini. I guess I'll have to see if most of the content is available in RSS form for Google Reader Mobile...

[airconvent]

oh no!!! I have been using the built-in avantgo application in the ppc since my first Compaq Aero 1530, syncing everyday without fail! I know many have moved on buy I find the programme quite nice to use and I get my daily fixes of cnets news and palm jokes :-)
It would be a great pity for them to end the service. The programme is built into active sync (my older version anyway) as well as in the ROM, occupies very little footprint and syncs quickly.

Does anyone have a similar no-fuss programme to recommend? I know google mobile reader does not run on the older wm2003se series..:-(

[lmychajluk]

AvantGo was cool back in the days of non-connected IPAQs, when you could sync it before taking the device out of the cradle, but as soon as there were SmartPhones, I never really saw the need for it...especially once RSS Readers became available on mobile platforms.

[Jason Dunn]

AvantGo was a great solution for its time, but its time has passed...I'm shocked it lasted this long actually. :eek:

[Brad Adrian]

I'm surprised it's still around too. In the early days when phoneless Pocket PCs was the norm, it had a prominent place on my Today screen. Like Ed, though, I bet I haven't used it for at least six years.

Good luck, AvantGo, wherever you are.

[Jason Dunn]

...especially once RSS Readers became available on mobile platforms.

Here's the problem with RSS readers though: you see the headline, maybe the short summary, you click on the link, and BOOM you're falling asleep as you wait for a desktop-formatted page loads. Not enough sites have mobile versions... :(

[Ed Hansberry]

Here's the problem with RSS readers though: you see the headline, maybe the short summary, you click on the link, and BOOM you're falling asleep as you wait for a desktop-formatted page loads. Not enough sites have mobile versions... :(

Depends on the site. A lot of sites I use RSS feeds for have the full article in the feed. I tend to keep those and not use the others on my device.

[DrAT]

AvantGo was one of my 'must have' applications until, perhaps, about a year ago. it started throwing up error messages and synchronization was hit and miss. It always seemed to be a version or 2 behind Windows Mobile too.
I do miss it. There's definitely a place for the old AvantGo, but as it stands it was only a matter of time until the service closed in my opinion.
Having said that, good luck to AvantGo with whatever it does in the future.

[airconvent]

mmm...I've never had any problems syncing with Avantgo since i started using the service in 2002.

The only times I had problems was when their service was down which is probably less than 4 times in 7 years. I guess I am one of those who do not use a smartphone and still with my trusty Ipaq 2750 (I still charge up my beloved Jornada 568 weekly!).

It was a very convenient and no fuss way to download updated content into my pda every day.

Since the announcement, I tried Mobile favourites or mobipocket but since the latest IE8 no longer support saving content for offline viewing, I am unable to sync the data into the pda.
That means effectively for those who use the original pda, there is no real replacement for avantgo....sigh....

[gwg]

As some others, I have used AvantGo for a number of years and though there have been some glitches it generally meets my need. I sync it at home before leaving for work and have enjoyed being able to keep up with the news even when I don't have FREE wireless access. It was nice to have the information downloaded to the PDA without having a connection.

Any thoughts on an alternative??? Please!

[nutzareus]

AvantGo should've died years ago, when Pocket PC Phone Edition was released. I remember using AvantGo on my HP Jornada 420 back in 1999. Surprised they lasted this long...

[karen]

but for several years not, just about everyone has full time all-you-can-eat data plans.


Ed -

I used to cringe at this myth and now I just chuckle. People who live outside large cities where there is less competition between carriers, people who live in countries other than the US, etc. do not have any access to full time all you can use data plans.

It's time we nipped this myth in the bud.

Technically I have an unlimited data plan for my cell. It's unlimited up to 30 megs a month. Yes, megs. I pay a huge chunk of money for that plan, too.

So lets stop the spread of of this urban myth.

[John Cody]

Here's the problem with RSS readers though: you see the headline, maybe the short summary, you click on the link, and BOOM you're falling asleep as you wait for a desktop-formatted page loads. Not enough sites have mobile versions... :(

Hey Jason,

I created a solution for that exact problem :)

OMNISOFT Forums: New John Cody?s SkweezeIt! FREEWARE (http://www.omnisoft.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=669&PN=1)

-John

[PPCRules]

Give mDigger a try. I've been using it for about a year now as AvantGo problems kept driving me crazy. For a while I'd use both, for different content, but I get enough info through mDigger so that I rarely read my AvantGo cache anymore. They supposedly scrape and reformat real web pages, not just RSS feeds, so you get more info. And some feeds have a good complement of appropriately resized pictures. There has been very little activity on the web site so it might also go dark some day soon, but for now it is a good source of off-line info. Channel groups are handy - control which sites to download depending on connection speed/cost. The beta version is much spiffier but has some minor issues.

Also a nice Windows XP/Vista/7 client.

[airconvent]

Thanks PPCRules for the recommendation. mDigger is good! Let's hope they last longer than Avantgo!

[jmjstandin]

AvantGo was very useful for travelling, if you sync'ed just before leaving. First, it allowed you to read news and other content on the plane where you can't connect anyway. Second, although I have what Americans would call a "data plan"for 250 MB/month at my base in Switzerland, as soon as I leave that small country, I am exposed to exorbitantly high roaming charges for any data download. The same goes for most people in Europe who stray outside the country where they have their phone account. AvantGo was some use in countering this. I will miss it.

Indeed, the US-centric comments on Pocket PC Thoughts and so many other sites are irritating.

[airconvent]

AvantGo was very useful for travelling, if you sync'ed just before leaving. First, it allowed you to read news and other content on the plane where you can't connect anyway.

mDigger works just like avantgo but without the limits. You should try it!
I am on unlimited adsl plan but do not use a smartphone, so syncing offline everynight is a habit for me.

[Jason Dunn]

...and here's where the thread goes off-topic. :D

Indeed, the US-centric comments on Pocket PC Thoughts and so many other sites are irritating.

Over the years Pocket PC Thoughts has had editors from Canada, the USA, Sweden, Malaysia, The Netherlands, and a few other places. Right now most of our staff is from the USA and Canada, so there's an inherent bias that comes from that - we talk about what we know, just like if you go to a site like MoDaCo you'll see UK/European-centric comments.

If you're irritated by that, there's not a lot anyone can do about it - it's impossible to run a site that doesn't have some level of geographical bias. The onus is on you to chose how you're going to react to that. :)

[jmjstandin]

...and here's where the thread goes off-topic. :D

If you're irritated by that, there's not a lot anyone can do about it - it's impossible to run a site that doesn't have some level of geographical bias. The onus is on you to chose how you're going to react to that. :)

Sorry, I didn't mean to cause offence; to say that something is irritating is rather mild where I come from but I suppose that's not the case everywhere. But it was a day in which I encountered several sites (notably Microsoft's new Bing) which seem to assume that everyone lives in one large country. After that, the tone of some of the earlier posts saying that AvantGo's really quite useful service ought to have been long gone, was rather ... well.

Anyway I've uninstalled AvantGo, recovering quite a lot of device memory (it always had the defect of not installing the program or it's cache on the storage card). I'll look into mDigger.

[PPCRules]

Anyway I've uninstalled AvantGo, recovering quite a lot of device memory (it always had the defect of not installing the program or it's cache on the storage card).
Moot point now, but Tweaks2k2 (possibly others) could move AvantGo cache to a storage card. It seemed too slow, though, when I tried it once.

mDigger lets you put data files on a storage card. Also, checkout the 'Save' function; handy for preserving a downloaded page.

Desktop Windows version lets you put data files in any directory anyplace. You can also change the location and store another set of files, so you can preserve one day's data and download the next.

[airconvent]

well..I'll be syncing avantgo all the way to the last day.
Most of the channels are view daily in avantgo can be extracted from mDigger except for palmjokes and space.com. There does not seem to be any jokes site on mDigger presently. Also, the syncing process shows only the latest post for that day. That means if you miss a day, you miss those posts.

In anycase, my avantgo is in ROM so on that final day, either I leave all the data in there for old time's sake or clear the cache....heh heh

at least with mDigger the spirit of avantgo lives on for those who are still classic pda users like me...hope my trusty Ipaq 2750 will continue to work for years to come!

[TOCA]

well..I'll be syncing avantgo all the way to the last day.
Most of the channels are view daily in avantgo can be extracted from mDigger except for palmjokes and space.com. There does not seem to be any jokes site on mDigger presently. Also, the syncing process shows only the latest post for that day. That means if you miss a day, you miss those posts.

In anycase, my avantgo is in ROM so on that final day, either I leave all the data in there for old time's sake or clear the cache....heh heh

at least with mDigger the spirit of avantgo lives on for those who are still classic pda users like me...hope my trusty Ipaq 2750 will continue to work for years to come!

How nice, I'm not alone in this weird world :)

Have been using AvantGo since WM2003 was news, and it's still one of the most used programs on my iPAQ 210, as my daily commutes are done with public transportation, and having a couple of newspapers in the pocket is such a nice way to kill the traveling time.

I'd really hate to have to make a sync with the PC every morning, just to get my daily news fix.