WordPress for iOS 10.6 Adds A Detailed Site Activity Log

In the past few months, the WordPress mobile application for iOS has quietly received a steady round of improvements. Version 10.5 increased its compatibility with Gutenberg. Earlier this year, Gutenberg and the iOS app didn’t get along particularly well.

About a month ago in 10.4, an activity log was added that allows users to see a detailed list of activities on their sites. In 10.6, the most recent version, the activity log is now available for free WordPress.com sites and those connected with Jetpack.

WordPress for iOS Activity Log

As you can see in the screenshot above, comment activity, post and page activity, and generally all site activity shows up in the log.

Selecting an activity displays detailed information such as who performed the action, their role, IP address, and other information depending on the activity. The log displays the last 20 activities performed on the site.

It’s unclear exactly what data the activity log monitors, where or if it’s saved, how it’s generated, and how users can turn it off. Browsing around the mobile app, I was unable to find a way to disable the activity log.

The WordPress Mobile Team is Quiet But Busy

If it weren’t for the change logs on the iTunes Store, it would be difficult for users to know what’s going on with the app. The project’s GitHub page is buzzing with activity, but more public facing means of communication are not.

The WordPress for iOS app Twitter account has been dormant since May. The WordPress Mobile apps blog hasn’t published a new post since 2016 and some of the posts that highlight new features are on the official WordPress.com blog.

Sure, not every release requires a full-featured post, but the activity log is a feature that I think warrants one. An explanation of why it was created, how it works, and how users not interested in it can disable it.

The WordPress for iOS app is open source and available for free from the Apple iTunes App Store. You can also find links to the Android and Desktop apps on the WordPress.com Apps site.

*Update*

After this article was published, I was given a link to a support document on the Jetpack website that explains the activity log feature in more detail. The document links to a list of activities along with their retention periods which vary based on the plan attached to the user’s WordPress.com account.

Only the most recent 1,000 events are displayed in the log. As noted at the end of the article, once the retention period ends for activity data, it’s moved to long-term storage where it is retained indefinitely. Data held in long-term storage is removed from the activity log.

According to the document, there is no way to deactivate this feature.