Train Times Ireland

Sauce

Hey guys,

I have just created my first android which is called Train Times Ireland. I am a software developer by trade and I wanted to something constructive with my commute on the train to work every day except sleeping so I decided I would learn how to develop android apps.

I was really liked Stephen McBrides Next Train Ireland app and with a lack of ideas for a project I decided I would try make my own version.

The app itself provides real-time train information for trains and station throughout the country. It highlights if a train is running late or early and provides a detailed journey plan for each train, showing what stations the train has called to and is due to call to. I have also included an Irish Rail twitter feed in the app.

Please check it out and tell me what you think or what I could improve on. Go easy on me though, remember this is my first app

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.adrienkiernan.traintimesireland

Thanks,
Adrien

Atomic Pineapple

Link?

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Link?

Sorry I have updated my post to include the link now

Atomic Pineapple

It crashed on me when I first tried to check out Dun Loaghaire station, while it was fetching the data I changed orientation and I was left with a blank screen, when I switched it back the app crashed, report sent.

The logo is really nice and the overall app seems pretty good, the issues I would have with it are:

The ad that appears at the top after a few seconds that pushes everything down is very annoying.
The list items are a little bit too small when selecting a station
The latest information is nearly always blank for me, maybe if there is no latest information don't display this field?

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

It crashed on me when I first tried to check out Dun Loaghaire station, while it was fetching the data I changed orientation and I was left with a blank screen, when I switched it back the app crashed, report sent.

The logo is really nice and the overall app seems pretty good, the issues I would have with it are:

The ad that appears at the top after a few seconds that pushes everything down is very annoying.
The list items are a little bit too small when selecting a station
The latest information is nearly always blank for me, maybe if there is no latest information don't display this field?

Thanks. I will look into these issues. Its always helpful to have constructive feedback.

Atomic Pineapple

Sauce wrote: »

Thanks. I will look into these issues. Its always helpful to have constructive feedback.

No problem, the issue with the ad is that everything seems to be pushed down by it which doesn't look good in my opinion not the actual ad itself

debarra156

First impressions are good. I have used Next Train Ireland for some time and like it a lot. However, in recent weeks it has crashed repeatedly so will give this one a go. Looks good - I agree that the station list is in small font but using favourites will overcome this. Ads dont bother me - I dont read them.

smackyB

Sauce wrote: »

Hey guys,

I have just created my first android which is called Train Times Ireland. I am a software developer by trade and I wanted to something constructive with my commute on the train to work every day except sleeping so I decided I would learn how to develop android apps.

I was really liked Stephen McBrides Next Train Ireland app and with a lack of ideas for a project I decided I would try make my own version.

The app itself provides real-time train information for trains and station throughout the country. It highlights if a train is running late or early and provides a detailed journey plan for each train, showing what stations the train has called to and is due to call to. I have also included an Irish Rail twitter feed in the app.

Please check it out and tell me what you think or what I could improve on. Go easy on me though, remember this is my first app

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.adrienkiernan.traintimesireland

Thanks,
Adrien

Hi Adrien, congrats on the app - looks good and it's always healthy to have some competition

debarra156 wrote: »

First impressions are good. I have used Next Train Ireland for some time and like it a lot. However, in recent weeks it has crashed repeatedly so will give this one a go. Looks good - I agree that the station list is in small font but using favourites will overcome this. Ads dont bother me - I dont read them.

I'm working on a big refresh of the Next Train Ireland app at the moment which should fix the issues seen in recent weeks.

Sauce

smackyB wrote: »

Hi Adrien, congrats on the app - looks good and it's always healthy to have some competition



I'm working on a big refresh of the Next Train Ireland app at the moment which should fix the issues seen in recent weeks.

Thanks Stephen. You have set the bar very high for real time apps. Next Train Ireland and Next Bus Dublin are 2 great apps that I have used almost on a daily basis.

Been a .NET developer it was a bit of a step over to developing in Android but i have really enjoyed it so far.

Best of luck with the refresh. Im sure it will be excellent

Professey Chin

This oughta be fun :pac:


Best of luck to you both

Atomic Pineapple

Another thing I noticed is it just displays a blank screen when there's no train info available for a station, so for example on Attymon I just get a blank screen, is there actually no train info for it or is this a bug? If theres no info then you should put a string in saying theres no data or something

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Another thing I noticed is it just displays a blank screen when there's no train info available for a station, so for example on Attymon I just get a blank screen, is there actually no train info for it or is this a bug? If theres no info then you should put a string in saying theres no data or something

There is actually no train in this instance. I will release an update over the weekend with this fixed along with the other bugs and suggestions given

wotzgoingon

Just downloaded it there. Pretty good but it's late enough, so only one train is mentioned. I will try it out in the morning and see how many trains are listed. Or maybe it just tells you when the next train is. Didn't come across any ad's as a previous poster mentioned, and I didn't find the list small either. Fair play OP and keep up the good work.

Sauce

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Just downloaded it there. Pretty good but it's late enough, so only one train is mentioned. I will try it out in the morning and see how many trains are listed. Or maybe it just tells you when the next train is. Didn't come across any ad's as a previous poster mentioned, and I didn't find the list small either. Fair play OP and keep up the good work.

Hey wotzgoingon....Thanks for your support It should at a minimum list all trains that are due at a given station in the following 60 minutes. The data comes from Irish Rail so this list can include trains that are due in the more than 60 minutes time too

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Another thing I noticed is it just displays a blank screen when there's no train info available for a station, so for example on Attymon I just get a blank screen, is there actually no train info for it or is this a bug? If theres no info then you should put a string in saying theres no data or something

Hey draffodx. I have published an update to the market which:

- Fixes the crash that you were receiving.
- Increases the size of station list items.
- Outputs a message when no trains are due so you dont get a blank screen
- Moves the ads have been moved to the bottom of the screen and should not make the screen layout move anymore.


I did not implement your suggestion regarding hiding the latest information when there is none available as I feel this will lead to an inconsistent UI experience and it just didnt look right.

Thansk for the feedback draffodx. Its always helpful

Sauce

Train Times Ireland was updated last night as white spacing had been removed from some text after the last update. Apologise for having to update it so soon after the last update.

Atomic Pineapple

Sauce wrote: »

Train Times Ireland was updated last night as white spacing had been removed from some text after the last update. Apologise for having to update it so soon after the last update.

I wouldn't worry about it, people seem to love updates I updated my app, found a bug in it and updated again within 24 hours and no one complained

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about it, people seem to love updates I updated my app, found a bug in it and updated again within 24 hours and no one complained

My girlfriend was complaining she had to update again so I thought I better apologise to everyone else

Professey Chin

Updates make me happy. Shows a dev is actively working on improvements/issues.
Not getting updates for ages is annoying -_-

Atomic Pineapple

Just so you know I got a similar crash as before on the Twitter feed today.

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Just so you know I got a similar crash as before on the Twitter feed today.

Looks like there will be another update coming soon so

Atomic Pineapple

Is the twitter feed working for you? I keep getting 403 rate limit exceeded, same with the twitter feed on other apps too.

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Is the twitter feed working for you? I keep getting 403 rate limit exceeded, same with the twitter feed on other apps too.

Ive never come across this error. I have done a quick google and it seems to be a problem with twitter. Twitter limits the number of requests a client can do in an hour. If you exceed this then you get a 403 rate limit exceeded error.

Atomic Pineapple

Sauce wrote: »

Ive never come across this error. I have done a quick google and it seems to be a problem with twitter. Twitter limits the number of requests a client can do in an hour. If you exceed this then you get a 403 rate limit exceeded error.

This is on my first request though, thought it might be my device but tested it on a Sensation also and get the same error, really strange!

EDIT: Actually it works on Wi-Fi but not on my mobile data connection with Meteor!

ongarite

Next Train Ireland has got a huge update too.

Great to see these 2 apps pushing each other on with some great features.

Random

i have the pro version of next train ireland so i guess im comparing that to this.

when i open your app it seems incomplete. the ad is the first thing i see and this makes me think spammy. there also is no obvious feature to find nearest station like nti has.

i do like how you list the times for the station though - youve taken out the unneeded north/south selection step that nti has and youve just listed all trains. i like that.

Sauce

Random wrote: »

i have the pro version of next train ireland so i guess im comparing that to this.

when i open your app it seems incomplete. the ad is the first thing i see and this makes me think spammy. there also is no obvious feature to find nearest station like nti has.

i do like how you list the times for the station though - youve taken out the unneeded north/south selection step that nti has and youve just listed all trains. i like that.

I think you must understand that you have paid to remove your ads from Next Train Ireland. The free version does contain ads. I can create a pro version which removes the ads if this is what is wanted. Also Train Times Ireland allows you to create shortcuts to your favourite station on your home screen which you must also pay for on other apps. Next Train Ireland is a lovely app though and one that I used for a long time.

I have thought about putting in a feature to find your nearest station but I find that these features are a bit of a waste of time. Do people actually use it? Most people know where there nearest station is IMHO. Saying that its only my opinion and if im wrong I will definately look at including it.

Thanks for your feedback. I will be continually working to improve on it.

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

Just so you know I got a similar crash as before on the Twitter feed today.

I have released an update which fixes this crash and also puts clickable links into the twitter feed

Random

Sauce wrote: »

I think you must understand that you have paid to remove your ads from Next Train Ireland. The free version does contain ads. I can create a pro version which removes the ads if this is what is wanted. Also Train Times Ireland allows you to create shortcuts to your favourite station on your home screen which you must also pay for on other apps. Next Train Ireland is a lovely app though and one that I used for a long time.

I have thought about putting in a feature to find your nearest station but I find that these features are a bit of a waste of time. Do people actually use it? Most people know where there nearest station is IMHO. Saying that its only my opinion and if im wrong I will definately look at including it.

Thanks for your feedback. I will be continually working to improve on it.

ive tried the nti free version there again and the interface just seems nicer.
i do like how you have a search box for stations though which nti does not seem to have.
i think its more the layout / gui on yours rather than the functionality.
i find the nearest station thing pretty handy sometimes so i think it would be a good feature to add if its not a big thing.

Atomic Pineapple

I agree with Random, nearest station is a must, especially for culchies like me living in Dublin, when I'm in the city somewhere I like being able to check which station I should head for.

I think your entry page needs some work in terms of UI but I'm really starting to like the neatness of the other pages.

Sauce

draffodx wrote: »

I agree with Random, nearest station is a must, especially for culchies like me living in Dublin, when I'm in the city somewhere I like being able to check which station I should head for.

I think your entry page needs some work in terms of UI but I'm really starting to like the neatness of the other pages.

I agree that the entry page needs some work in terms of UI. The current design was based on been able to search for you station straight away without any button clicks. I am currently looking into some ideas for entry screen redesign along with adding other functionality to the app. I will add the nearest station functionality to the list.

Random

@sauce
i like the idea of finding station right away, i just think the layout / ui just needs a bit of a clean up, thats all.

Sauce

Random wrote: »

@sauce
i like the idea of finding station right away, i just think the layout / ui just needs a bit of a clean up, thats all.

Thanks Random. Its great getting all this feedback. It leads to a better app been produced

Sauce

Hey guys

I have just released a new version of Train Times Ireland.

This version includes:
- Full timetable searches
- A new user interface design optimised for Ice Cream Sandwich.

I have also released a paid version of the app which removes the ads from the app.

smackyB

Sauce wrote: »

Hey guys

I have just released a new version of Train Times Ireland.

This version includes:
- Full timetable searches
- A new user interface design optimised for Ice Cream Sandwich.

I have also released a paid version of the app which removes the ads from the app.

Nice update! Liking the view pager on the homescreen, that's definitely something I'd like to do with my own apps. Is the timetable info scraped from the site or is there an API?

Sauce

smackyB wrote: »

Nice update! Liking the view pager on the homescreen, that's definitely something I'd like to do with my own apps. Is the timetable info scraped from the site or is there an API?

Unfortunately its scraped from the site. I have contacted a number of times about API's and they have never replied

Atomic Pineapple

Excellent UI update, really really nice!