Monday, November 23, 2009

How to fix the Trip Planner, if you are having problems

Thanks to Tom, a PDX Bus user, we have worked out why the trip planner doesn't work sometimes, and how to fix it until I get a new version out to Apple.


If you are getting odd results, it is probably because the "Maximum Walking Distance" has been clobbered with an invalid value.  The biggest this should be is 2.0 miles, so if yours says 5.0 miles, then PDX Bus will have a problem. 

The fix is easy...














From the iPhone home screen choose Settings, then scroll down to where it says "PDXBus". 

Scroll down to where it says "Max walking distance", and tap that to choose something (such as 0.5 miles).

That's it!

The trip planner will work much better with the proper value. Thanks for your patience and thanks to Tom for his help!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Anyone having problems with the trip planner?

I just noticed a review of PDX Bus that says "I just wish the trip planner worked". Not sure what that means - it always works when I try it. If anyone finds a issue with the trip planner then please leave me a comment about what went wrong. I can't fix it unless I can reproduce it!

Thanks!

Version 3.5 went live yesterday...

... just in case you were wondering. I am already working on version 3.6, several people asked for some changes.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Next version is waiting for Apple approval - new features!


After weeks of testing I've uploaded yet another new version (3.5) of PDX Bus for Apple to approve.

This time, with permission from TriMet, I have added an interactive rail map that can be used to choose stations instead of browsing the list.

The only issue with this is that I'll need to update it whenever TriMet adds a new station or a new line, so it will get out of date sometimes, but I hope not very often.

Here is a complete list of changes:

- Added interactive Rail Map with Wikipedia links and arrivals (Map Courtesy of TriMet and subject to change without notice).
- Added a "Group by Trip" option to the arrivals screen. This new feature allows the user to follow a particular bus or train to see when it arrives at each of the displayed stops.
- Google Maps are now launched without going through Safari.
- New map and Twitter icon.
- New splash screen.
- Improved stability.


p.s. I made extra sure this time that it will load on iPhone 3.0 OS, and does not require 3.1.