Chris Harvey from Telegraph interviewed me for – “Apple iPhone is a pocket gold mine”.
Telegraph Article Click Here
I am speaking on the 16th & 17th June in Belfast & Londonderry at an event organised by Invest Northern Ireland - Intellectual Property in the Digital, Film, TV and Music Business.
Event Details & Registration 16th June (Belfast)
Event Details & Registration 17th June (Londonderry)
BBC technology journalist Rory Cellan-Jones interviews me from the kitchen table regarding iPhone development…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8009134.stm
A small but notable update for TubeStatus (version 2.1) has been submited to Apple for approval. Since version 2.0.1 caches last known updates many have noted it’s a diffculcult to tell 1. when the application is updating and 2. when the it last updated. A bar has been added to the top of the status table so you can clearly see what’s going on. You can also shake your phone or iPod touch to get another update.
In response to a couple of reviews, TubeStatus 2.0 & Deluxe 1.0 most definitely work over Edge & 3G.
I can understand why one may think this, the ‘No Connection’ problem relates to a bug when you loose network then gain it back again, under the hood this is cached by the phone and unfortunately the existing versions are using this.
It doesn’t happen all the time and there is a simple work around, launch a web site (any), then open Status or Deluxe. If you still have problems I’d be really keen to hear from you.
This issue has been fixed and is in the forthcoming release or TubeStatus 2.0.1 & TubeDeluxe 1.1, submitted to Apple.
A number of people have reported a bug when loading TubeStatus & TubeDeluxe. This has now been fixed and updates are in the approval process with Apple; should be out in the next week or so. It doesn’t happen every time you load the application but of course is very annoying! There is a quick work around when affected by this, load a website (any), then go back to Deluxe or Status.
It’s not correct that Status or Deluxe does not work for 3G; it works on Edge, 3G and WiFi and has been tested throughly on these networks.
Many thanks for all the emails be they suggestions, praise or problems keep em coming!
Since Apple product leaks (or are they?) are all the rage right now here’s a screen shot of the next version of TubeStatus. Key features:
- Line re-ordering
- Overground & rail messages
For the technically minded, there will also be a number of back end changes, I am moving it all to a dedicated server! Adopting memcache for improved speed and cache management. The php script has been condensed into a single page and will be using cURL. The iPhone application itself has also had a few under the hood tweaks (yeah I found some bugs) and at this stage I plan to use SQLite to hold users line ordering changes and possibly remember prior updates.
You lot are my best critics! Every form of feedback gives me insight into what users value no matter how crazy it may be.
By far, the single biggest request has been to include the underground map. Yes, it’s copyrighted. It needs to be licensed and due to its iconic nature and Transport for London (TFL) are very protective of it. As stated before, my main interest was to create an application to accurately show the ever changing service levels of the underground network in a timely manner. Continue reading ‘Maps, journey planning, icon and the kitchen sink’
The very first request has been to include the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the application. There was no particular reason for it not to be there from day one other than my main interest was to build a native iPhone application to display the constantly changing service levels of the underground network.
Even though the DLR itself is a malleable rail network with no over all ’status’ or acknowledged ‘lines’, it can be treated as a single entity and presented in the same user interface as the tube lines. You can then select it to view the detail message information. I did consider introducing a bottom menu bar to separate the underground and DLR but it unnecessarily clutters the interface. Also, the next obvious feature is the ability for users to sort the lines based on their travel routes (another popular request); so it makes sense to keep the tube lines and DLR in a single table view. Unfortunately sorting is not in version 1.1; but is the number one feature to implement for 1.2.
Version 1.1 is in review with Apple and can be released any day now, but given the amount of time it took to get version 1.0 released, it could be another 2 weeks away.
After Apple sprung the launch of TubeStatus on me, it has been a whirlwind week. For those interested here are some of the statistics:
- Downloads: 25,600
- Highest Free Application Ranking Reached: No.3 (UK)
- Status Updates Served: 76,500
Some of you may have noticed a few problems last Wednesday morning; this has been resolved now thanks to my hosting company and on average the server deals out updates in less than 1 sec. Unfortunately TubeStatus updates can only be as quick as the slowest link, so for those on Edge it can take a number of seconds to receive the information, many people have reported good performance, some others not so good. I have found moving with your iPhone (i.e on a bus) can affect it’s ability to download data efficiently. It will vary. As expected, the best performance is achieved when on a wireless connection (1-2 sec).
I have added monitoring to the server so I can easily keep track of any downtime or any problems when they arise.
Next up attending to the enormous amount of feedback I have received…
Since Apple product leaks (or are they?) are all the rage right now here’s a screen shot of the next version of TubeStatus. Key features:
The very first request has been to include the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the application. There was no particular reason for it not to be there from day one other than my main interest was to build a native iPhone application to display the constantly changing service levels of the underground network.