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Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

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Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#31

Post by tekla »

nailer wrote: post #19

The worst thing in mapping software is Google Maps public transport. Ten minute walk to the subway/tube then a fourteen minute ride? Every other app, like citymapper or apple maps, tell you this takes 24 minutes. Google Maps simply omits the walk time and incorrectly tells you the journey takes 14 minutes - making you late.

> Google Maps simply omits the walk time and incorrectly tells you the journey takes 14 minutes - making you late.

No it doesn't, it calculates the walk time. How about we take 10 seconds to Google this?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JcSMN3qrNuFpNSL8

Has walking times

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#32

Post by dotcoma »

timr wrote: post #26

I've been trying really hard to reserve judgment on this upgrade, but since you're asking here, this is a huge step backwards in usability. The good: you've added offline maps. Unbelievable oversight from the original app. The bad: the new app completely fails for essentially all of my practical uses as a local. My most common use case for the MTA app is to look up the train schedules from whatever station I happen t…

Have you tried Transit App ?

https://transitapp.com/

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#33

Post by makeitra1n »

tchalla wrote: post #13
figmert wrote: post #12

I live and swear by Citymapper[0] for all cities that it supports. No other app I've used has been as good for public transport as Citymapper has been. I really hope one day one of these city transport organisations either buy it out, push for it, or license their tech. [0] https://citymapper.com/

Citymapper was recently acquired by Via https://citymapper.com/news/2582/citymapper-joins-via

And Via is like if Uber wanted to dismantle public transport.

Knowing how they are using the data from citymapper, I've since uninstalled it.

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#34

Post by jonmoore »

noahmasur wrote: post #24
jrockway wrote: post #7

Back before there was a mobile app, I just made a tiny web page that polled the API: https://jrock.us/mta.html It served me very well for many years (just added it to my phone's home screen as a bookmark). It doesn't work anymore (CORS), so I guess I might as well install the app.

You might like Here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/here-nyc-subway-arrivals/id644... I use it because it opens instantly and just shows me nearby train arrival times. The other apps have always taken too long to bother checking.

Thanks. This focuses on the most common daily need, with really clean design and display of information, and live updates as a flourish. Definitely sparks joy.

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#35

Post by areichert »

Shameless plug, but I just recently built my own little simple MTA app because I wanted to play around with Live Activities in Swift [0] to be able to display the next upcoming train on the lock screen of my phone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mta-tracker/id6477849271?platf...

(There are some annoying technical kinks with this that I'm still trying to iron out, but maybe someone will find it useful in the meantime!)

[0] https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#36

Post by areichert »

jrockway wrote: post #7

Back before there was a mobile app, I just made a tiny web page that polled the API: https://jrock.us/mta.html It served me very well for many years (just added it to my phone's home screen as a bookmark). It doesn't work anymore (CORS), so I guess I might as well install the app.

I built something similar last year if you're interested! https://www.bktransit.com/

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#37

Post by mambodog »

the ‘search box’ is not good at finding stations so i can check when the next train is coming. i typed in ‘34th st’ and it returned a bunch of addresses, none of which are in manhattan. this is probably because you require me to type ‘34 st’ exactly (no ‘th’) instead. if you can’t fuzzy match this, this search box is just unusable.

i also tried looking at ‘nearby stations’ and while standing on the 34th st A platform it didn’t list the 34th st subway station at all, just a bunch of bus stops.

please let me just look at a station list instead.

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#39

Post by tootie »

timr wrote: post #26

I've been trying really hard to reserve judgment on this upgrade, but since you're asking here, this is a huge step backwards in usability. The good: you've added offline maps. Unbelievable oversight from the original app. The bad: the new app completely fails for essentially all of my practical uses as a local. My most common use case for the MTA app is to look up the train schedules from whatever station I happen t…

I use an app called Closing Doors which is just train schedule with some geolocation and it's about perfect. I installed it a few months ago and yet it seems to have vanished from the Play Store?

Re: Show HN: We relaunched the Official MTA App for NYC public transit

#40

Post by ploxiln »

exegete wrote: post #28

Check out the “Data Linked to You”. Why does a subway app need my health and fitness data or any of my data at all?

How can you improve software, without tracking the ever-living s*** out of your users? (How did programmers do it for the first 30-ish years? As we all know, it's impossible ...)
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