Where the hell is your iPhone app: Or, The History/Behind the Scenes of FanDraft
We get a lot of feature requests at FanDraft. It’s great, because our users come up with a lot of really fun ideas that many times get implemented.
Frequently, we get questions related to “Why isn’t FanDraft optimized for a phone ”, or “Why don’t you have an iPhone App?”
The short answer is: “It’s coming.”
The long answer is: “It’s not coming this year, but here’s why it hasn’t been prioritized.”
Background:
FanDraft was launched in 2002, with the intention of providing a more modern approach to the traditional “sticker” draft boards often used at in-person draft parties. The digital nature of FanDraft allowed for a more engaging and realistic experience than the static cardboard/sticker draft boards could provide, and the in-person draft was changed forever.
When the pandemic hit last year, we quickly pivoted and transitioned our Desktop software into being an Online application. The move was actually years in the making, as we had been developing a better way to accommodate owners who couldn’t draft in person.
The goal of FanDraft has always been to make a fantasy football draft feel more like an actual NFL Draft. It serves the in-person draft, whereby having users export the display via a digital projector or output onto a large television for the entire league to enjoy.
In short, the goal of FanDraft is to help create a draft like this:
And not so focused on sterile drafts with everyone at home at a computer, like this:
Or in even more simple terms, the goal of FanDraft is…fun.
It’s not about excel using power-users obsessed with player rankings, tools to speed up and make efficient selections, and bitch about nuanced rules while drafting at home from their phone… No, FanDraft’s purpose is fun.
With that said, back to the short answer: “It’s coming”.
We realize that all leagues will have owners unable to attend the draft party. And while our focus is on delivering an engaging experience for those in attendance, accommodations must be made for those who must draft remotely.
These owners can currently use either a computer or tablet device to draft remotely, and receive the same experience as those in-person. However, FanDraft is not currently optimized for the phone. We realize that sometimes these owners may only be capable of using a phone, so improving this aspect is coming in the future.
So you ask, “Why the wait? I want it NOW!”
We are a small company. Like, VERY small.
Unlike many fantasy services you use, which may be a subsidiary of the Disney Corporation or venture-backed by Andreessen Horowitz, FanDraft is made up of two full-timers and the occasional seasonal helper. When you send a support question, 98% of the time the responses are answered by the CEO/Founder (me). Yeah, we’re that small.
Because of our size, we have to focus on the priorities: Delivering a stable and exciting draft experience for the in-person draft party. However, with the continued support of our loyal (and AWESOME) users, we’ll continue to add the features and capabilities needed, and one of those feature priorities in the future will be an optimized phone experience.
