NFL '12 app update gets it all wrong

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A screenshot of the NFL '12 app on the iPad.

By Zuri Berry
Boston.com Staff

Reviewing: NFL '12
By: NFL Enterprises LLC
Price: Free (with in-app subscription)
Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android
Should you get it?: Only if you don't know how to operate your mobile Internet browser.

I think everybody is done complaining about the NFL's impasse with the referees now that there has been a labor resolution. The zebras returned for Thursday night's football game, and harmony was restored on the playing field.

But not in cyberspace. The complaints are still streaming in from the NFL's mobile app (iOS, Android), which went from an incredibly useful secondary screen with video highlights from each game last season, to a slowly updated and now costly expense.

Basically, if you want to check scores from games with NFL '12, anticipate a 5-minute delay or more. In tests on Sunday on the iPad, the app was clearly behind its competitors (the ESPN ScoreCenter for one).

A screenshot of NFL '12 app reviews at 3:21 p.m. Sept. 28, 2012.

But what's more, and what has really angered reviewers in Apple's app store, is the charges to watch video content after it was free in the app's previous incarnation. Now the NFL charges mobile users $1.99 a week or $9.99 a season to see highlights, its "Fantasy Live" show, or NFL.com's live look-in show for Thursday night football (not to be confused with any game action). This is completely separate from the "NFL Game Rewind" packages, which allow customers to watch full games a day after they air. There's a separate app for that.

The humorous part here is that all of the video content the NFL is now charging for is available for free and is optimized for mobile devices on NFL.com, so anyone with the broadband to watch video in an app can view the same video online without ever downloading NFL '12.

It's just not very smart. And now, it's not very useful.

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