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Post by twobellstogo on Aug 4, 2020 13:30:03 GMT
Apologies if this has already been talked about elsewhere, but has anyone tried the new TfL Go phone app yet?
It looks a good start, but I think there’s a lot more than could be done with it...
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Post by M1104 on Aug 4, 2020 13:32:32 GMT
Apologies if this has already been talked about elsewhere, but has anyone tried the new TfL Go phone app yet? It looks a good start, but I think there’s a lot more than could be done with it... I am a bit behind the times as I have not heard of it. What is it? |
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Post by twobellstogo on Aug 4, 2020 14:39:22 GMT
Apologies if this has already been talked about elsewhere, but has anyone tried the new TfL Go phone app yet? It looks a good start, but I think there’s a lot more than could be done with it... I am a bit behind the times as I have not heard of it. What is it? At the moment, little more than a journey planner, a Tube map and a service status indicator, but I’m sure it will expand further. Also not sure if available for Android, as I’m on Apple. |
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Post by george on Aug 4, 2020 14:40:38 GMT
I am a bit behind the times as I have not heard of it. What is it? At the moment, little more than a journey planner, a Tube map and a service status indicator, but I’m sure it will expand further. Also not sure if available for Android, as I’m on Apple. Not available on Android yet. Maybe I'll proven be wrong but I can't see this competing with third party apps such as Citymapper. |
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Post by twobellstogo on Aug 4, 2020 14:46:24 GMT
I’ve looked a bit more into it : you can also click on the stations and get a ‘next train’ indicator, plus an idea of when each station is likely to be busy.
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Post by Nathan on Aug 4, 2020 14:51:25 GMT
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Post by Nathan on Aug 4, 2020 15:06:31 GMT
Well well well, this was unexpected. TfL took down their developer portal a few weeks ago with no ETA on when it will be available again. I guess it must have been for this. I wouldn't get your hopes up for the perfect app. As a developer who uses their feed(s), their team don't seem to be the most proactive when addressing issues.
There are multiple issues in their Unified API (which is supposed to be a 'golden source' of all live information), some of which have been reported years ago with nothing done. Timetables disappearing or not loading at all randomly, routes also disappearing from the feed, the list goes on, and I expect these to appear in their app until they decide to address the ongoing issues in the open feed directly.
This seems a little bit unfair to be honest. Us developers struggle with repeated issues and outdated (or even lack of) documentation with little to no help from their end. What's the point of the open source feeds if there is no support?
Sorry for the rant 😅 I've been battling with their API feeds for a few months now.
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Post by danorak on Aug 4, 2020 15:42:24 GMT
I wasn't wildly impressed on the few goes I had with it. Being in deepest South East London, the tube map style interface leaves something to be desired. Apparently I am somewhere between North Greenwich and Canary Wharf (I am not between North Greenwich and Canary Wharf.)
The information I get back from it is questionable at best. It is very poor at locating the nearest bus stop and the most direct route to the place I want to go. The answers are heavily oriented towards encouraging bike use, but it seems wildly inconsistent about my physical abilities: when it comes to cycling I am apparently the love child of Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton but when walking to the bus stop, I am no better than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping.
It may score over Citymapper by being less bloated and might be better when I'm actually trying to use it to make a journey instead of aimlessly fiddling about, but so far, it's pretty hopeless.
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Post by twobellstogo on Aug 5, 2020 16:48:43 GMT
I wasn't wildly impressed on the few goes I had with it. Being in deepest South East London, the tube map style interface leaves something to be desired. Apparently I am somewhere between North Greenwich and Canary Wharf (I am not between North Greenwich and Canary Wharf.) The information I get back from it is questionable at best. It is very poor at locating the nearest bus stop and the most direct route to the place I want to go. The answers are heavily oriented towards encouraging bike use, but it seems wildly inconsistent about my physical abilities: when it comes to cycling I am apparently the love child of Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton but when walking to the bus stop, I am no better than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping. It may score over Citymapper by being less bloated and might be better when I'm actually trying to use it to make a journey instead of aimlessly fiddling about, but so far, it's pretty hopeless. Lucky you getting even a wrong positioning. I’m not on the map at all 😂 I think the app will get there. It looks a bit much like a ‘work in progress’ at the moment. Would very much benefit from an ‘all rail’ map option as well as TfL services only, and more on the bus side map wise, even if it’s just bus routes overlaid on a Google map or similar. |
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