Version 5.6 of the WordPress for Android app was released today with expanded features for WordPress.com sites. The previous release added user management capabilities under a new ‘People’ menu and 5.6 introduces the ability to invite new users.
This release also adds a related posts section to posts found in the Reader. It appears directly underneath likes on posts and pulls in three related articles from the WordPress.com community of sites.
Version 5.6 adds the ability to customize the notification sound for new activity from the WordPress app. A handful of other small changes are also included in 5.6, as detailed in the release post:
- Post list: Posts in the middle of being uploaded will be disabled and shown a progress indicator. A publish button is added on drafts.
- “View Site” and “View Admin” will now open the device browser.
- A comment is automatically approved when you reply to it.
If you use the app to manage both WordPress.com and self-hosted sites, you will notice a growing discrepancy between the site management screens and options available for each. Self-hosted site owners still cannot use the app to manage themes or users, and the gap is widening for each release. Version 5.6 expands features for WordPress.com users, while the capabilities for self-hosted sites fall further behind. We have requested a comment from Automattic’s mobile engineers regarding the roadmap for managing self-hosted sites and will update when we receive a response.
The recent releases, as you rightly pointed out, have been focussed on WordPress.com. I can understand why given that it’s Automattic developing this.
But, it’s a shame that the self-hosted sites are being left behind. I’m sure many users would install a plugin that would allow them to be more compatible with the app so that self-hosted sites can have the same features as WordPress.com