The social TV guide app Yap.TV rolled out a brand new version of its iPad and iPhone apps (iTunes) this morning with a snazzy look and new social features.
To get started, type in your zip code, select your TV provider and Yap.TV will build a visual TV guide mapped against time (which is also viewable in a standard grid layout for the purists out there). To see upcoming shows, slide the bar along the bottom to select new times (and days), then filter the results by drama, sports and other categories. You can also browse the “social 20,” the top TV shows buzzing in social media, as well as shows your Yap.tv friends are watching. You can also select shows as your favorites.
While browsing the guide, click a show and you can see real-time tweets, interactive polls, show photos and a live chat feature. The live chat defaults to public display across all app users — but you can also invite your Yap.tv friends to a private chat.
Or if you prefer Twitter to power your TV conversation, tap the tweets screen and a two-pane Twitter client pops up — you can browse, drill down on a specific Twitter user and send a tweet. An interesting feature: click a Twitter user and invite them as a friend to Yap.tv.
“There is a better way to discover what’s on TV than the age-old, outdated guide button,” said Trevor Stout, CEO of Yap.TV. “Our goal was to make surfing the guide fun and engaging, while becoming an interactive and social part of your TV watching experience.”
Compared to other social TV guide apps we’ve seen, Yap.tv is a strong showing. Visually, it leads the pack. I like how it offers two options to engage with a show — it’s own native chat and Twitter, helping avoid the “empty room” challenge. One downside for viewers who watch a lot of Hulu, Netflix and other on-demand content: Yap’s guide only applies to TV schedules. At least for now.