[ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

TravelApp is now available in the extras-testing repository.
now repackaged for PR1.2 and promoted. http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...avelapp/0.1-7/
Please test/vote by clicking the link above to promote this to extras.

app website : http://travelapp.passiongarage.co.uk


The idea is to make a generic app that can display air/train/bus timings and routes between stations and a map viewer.

At the moment ive developed the app to display London Underground tube information/map and routing only since I live here :).

Im happy to develop it for other popular locations/services.
That being the case I will be needing assistance regaring the data interfaces( eg: sites that provide api's to get xml/html output of data) as I wont be well informed about other locations.

Ive tried to make it as user friendly as possible, but im open to suggestions to improve the interface as well.

I will update something on air travel in the UK as soon as I find someplace that provides api's to extract data from their websites. This is what Im working on at the moment for this app.

Ive used an API provided by www.tubeupdates.com to provide the data for London Tubes.

Main Highlights of the app
1. Provides status of the tube lines
2. Provides the route to be taken between any 2 tube stations
*EDIT* VIA option now avilable in version 0.1-2
3. Has a Map viewer with zoom.
4. Will add a button to open any custom map in the next update ( shortly ).

As always, feedback/comments/suggestions are most welcome.

cheers

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

I'll try to see if there is a way to access the data on the STM.info web site.
(for Montreal).

Is this working live as i understand and you just query search fields on web sites?

ie, the mobile site here: http://m.stm.info/stm/?lang=en

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

yeah for the london underground trains at the moment I query websites using station inputs as parameters and display the data here in the app slightly formatted for easy reading and quick loading.
If you succeed to find something for Montreal it would be trivial to add it. :) . Let me try the site you gave me.

*EDIT* can you also give me examples so I can enter them in the website to retrieve something ;)
The metro lines look simple to add , just html output looks like.

cheers

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

hehe, sure :-)

A bus number exemple:

55 is the St-Laurent street bus, you have to choose either north or south.
(which i think is stupid because if you don't know and put east, it's going to say invalid bus route ... you have to guess!)

On that bus line you have different stops, for example where St-Laurent street intersects Rachel, you have the stop # 52103.

Now that stop number can also be used on the site and will show schedule for 2 other bus (29 and 363) that also stop at this ... stop.
(that is if you don't specify 55 again to exclude the 2 others).

Also, the results seem to have been half translated from french to English (nuit for night, nord for north, etc) but it doesn't really matter for schedule time ;-)

I know there is at least 1 or 2 iPhone apps doing this but I think the XML part is not out yet, at least, it's mentioned in the comments as a request but that was more than a year ago... And looking at the HTML on the search result page, it looks to be a pain to parse!

As for the metro, basically we don't have schedule, just first / last train time, so that's pretty simple. They're working on something more real time, just can't figure out where it is (or if it's public yet :-/)


EDIT:

There is also http://www.stm.info/english/bus/a-index.htm
which is another way to access bus schedule just by bus number and only then picking direction / stop

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Here is a short description for an api for Vancouver, Canada:
http://www.mweisman.com/transit.html
With the Olympics coming in very soon, some might find it useful :).

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

the bus schedule in the link you mentioned here above and metro schedule looks easy to add to this app.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

nice one for vancouver, exactly the api's thats needed.
olympics here in 2012, even this app wont help the travel chaos thats gonna happen here ;)

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

I believe it would make much more sense to port metro to the N900 instead of developing something ourselves.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Not gonna happen. Quoting http://www.nanika.net/metro/MetroO-en.html, it's "not planned [for tablets]" and it's not open source.

krk969, please add screenshots. :)

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

screenshots added qwerty12

twaelti,
the app was is not only intended for london underground, ive made it generic as possible so even maemo-ians ( if I may use this term :p ) from other countries can use it.

*EDIT* my apologies , just noticed that Metro provides data for transport world over.

Also it would show details about other modes of transport as well depending on how openly the data is provided.
TFL does not provide routing data publicly.
The biggest pain ive had was to convince some companies in the UK to allow me to use their data . I finally got a go-ahead today :) that I may use the data for TFL routing that I found , so its released today in extras-devel.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

added VIA option in the ROUTING window.
TravelApp 0.1-2 in extras-devel now.
screenshot attached:

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Looks good. have you thought about integrating it into the live departure boards?

I have some python code I wrote to retrieve the live deapture boards info for both London tube and UK rail. It's probably not very well written as it's the first python thing I've ever done - but you're welcome to it if it helps the project.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

thanks wizbowes.
would be nice to have access to API's with live departure info.
Not sure if its so relevant for underground trains but certainly helps for national rail.
Do you know of any web api's that provide national rail routing in XML/HTML/JSON/whatever ouput ?

Im looking to integrate even bus/air travel into this, for UK or other popular places on request here, some members from canada have sent me links which seems easy to integrate but I need to know if the websites are open to queries from apps.

cheers

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

There's an API for national rail described here:



However I don't think it contains any route information - Not at all sure how you'd get that - the documentation doesn't really make it very clear..

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

travelapp-0.1-3 has a minor update.
the routing data display window has been changed to a webkit window to display it as a html file .
kinetic scrolling now works in the webkit window which didnt earlier which was why I hadnt used it and had resorted to a simple text window.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

I just posted about the need (!?) for a bus stop info app for Singapore (where the N900 is not yet available...).

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...950#post506950

Format of the data can be found here:
http://antrix.net/journal/techtalk/sbsnextbus3.html

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

seems like only 1 of the 2 api's are working
http://sbsnextbus.appspot.com/api/v1/<busstopnumber> works while
http://sbsnextbus.appspot.com/api/v1/<busstopnumber>/<service>/
didnt. I just tried the examples posted there.

Also , is there some place to get the list of stops and services, would be better to have a drop down instead of making the user type it.

cheers

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Hi,

Maybe you forgot the '/' at the end of the second one? I did the first time I tried, but when it is added it works.

I'll see if I can find a list of bus stops with their respective numbers, prefereably as an API.

/Magnus

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

List of road names and bus stops:

http://www.transitlink.com.sg/eguide2.html

Or something from this one:

http://www.smrtbuses.com.sg/ebusguide/busguide.asp


Or this:

http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/irisbus..._findstop.aspx

In case you're not familiar with Singapore roads, Orchard Road is a good one to test with.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Due to the requests there are and my lack of time ( since im on a full time job :) )
I would appreciate if you could attach in text format the list of stations and bus services that I need to have in a drop down fashion input. The http query I need to do with the station and service you have already provided me.
It would make things easier for me to update the app.

thanks for understanding.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Oops! Sorry. Didn't see your reply until now. I'll try to get it done in the next couple of days. I fully understand your priorities and will be happy to help.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

just keep in mind the routing app works between stations.
so in the drop down , if you look at the screenshots I have a from and to ( and also a via )

so what I need is a list of stations in singapore(?) and a web query that takes the from and to stations as a query input and return a html format data or xml.

Im trying to keep the user interface as geenric as possible else ill be implementing a different screen for each city and it would be like multiple apps in 1 :)

thanks

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Love your app, great work, only problem i have is that it seems some stations are missing, camden town for example? any reason for this?

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Thanks Jezz.
Seems like I got the station wrong, it seems like Camden Road got in instead of Camden Town.
I'll issue an update for this shortly, looks like PR1.2 is round the corner with QT4.6 by default on device, Ill probably have to wait for that since the autobuilder is now building with QT4.6 by default and the update wont work just yet on the phone. Watch this space, Ill post an update here when things are sorted.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Ok thanks, great work :) Roll on 1.2

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

now repackaged for PR1.2 and promoted. http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...avelapp/0.1-7/
Please test/vote by clicking the link above to promote this to extras.

app website : http://travelapp.passiongarage.co.uk

thanks.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

thanks to everybody who tested/voted , Travelapp is now available through the maemo.org appstore in extras.

Thanks Torpedo48 for adding this to your list of apps to be tested, I think many apps have got visibility due to your "apps to be tested" link in the signature.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Latest update won't offer route, says network error. Is this a common error?

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Hi Rich,

There was no update to this app in the last few months and I can confirm that routing functionality was working when released.
When I checked, the website that provided routing data have implemented a lot of changes lately so I will need to adapt the app to that now since I depend on routing data from them as they do not share routing data.

Chris had already reported the issue and has raised a bug
(bug link)

Will target to update the app by the weekend and provide a release.

thanks for reporting.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Travelapp-0.1-10 is now available for those who choose to update.
Please continue to vote in order to promote it to the maemo extras repository.

Since the provider for routing data has made changes to their website you will find the via option has now been taken off since its not provided.
A few more stations have been added to the list.
Some of the other feedback have also been implemented.
The routing data is more readable.
The map window has +/- buttons to zoom in/out so you dont need to access the menu.

Posting some screenshots of the change below.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Dear thanks for this wonderful application
Dear can u port an application already available on www.smartvoip.com for voip dialing as i need an application to call back to m country as all sip on n900 is blocked here
please help me with this application as i am being frustrated as i am not able call home
there is also lina phone which is open source in linux and also available for android

Thanks in advance
do reply
Thanks in advance

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...velapp/0.1-10/

this is the link to vote.
(click on thumbs up for voting up.)

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

Just had another thought, instead of tapping the menu to see 'map' and 'route me', would it be possible for opening the map to show the map immediately, and along the bottom have menu buttons for 'line status' (tapping would take to the current 'home' screen), 'route me', and a fullscreen icon which would just show the map without the aforementioend buttons and of course top menu line, showing only the zoom and minimise screen buttons?

Also, it'd be really nice to have a 'send to...' feature, to email or SMS the route to a friend. There's been a couple of times i've had to explain a route to someone unfamiliar with London and it'd be easier for both of us if they could open a text message or email on their phone for directions

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

seems like TFL data is available now via api's in xml format. Not sure of the licensing and whether I can use them in an app.
Im not able to access the api though, wonder if there is any info somewhere to get hold of the key if any needed. In case somebody has more info please do let me know, meanwhile I'll look around myself.

http://data.london.gov.uk/apibeta

P.S : Rich, Ive noted down your suggestions will try doing some more updates along with your suggestions if indeed there are api's I can use in the app to get more data, like timings, bus routes etc. Thanks.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] TRAVELAPP providing status/routing/map viewer
 

thanks to all who tested/voted.
The new version (0.1-10) is now available in the maemo.org download section.

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/travelapp/