Moovit 3.0 Real-Time Transit Info

Last week I received an invitation to beta test the next update for moovit. Since then I have been trying out all the features and using their app to get to and from work everyday.  I have to start by saying that this app has received a much needed make over. While not all the graphics are amazing they are a HUGE improvement over the current version on the app store.

First I have to welcome moovit to the world of flat design, the logo and basically everything inside the app has been revamped to match the trends in UI design that we've been seeing in IOS7 and what we will be seeing in Android's Kitkat. The first thing that I noticed upon launching the app was that they finally cleaned up the screen to make everything easier to see and more aesthetically pleasing to use. The map has been cleaned up, I always felt that the orange flags for the bus stops were always too big, I'm not really sure that blue was the right color to go for but the size of them makes it much easier to tell which stop is on which side of the street.

old version

I have to say that the new icon and "characters" are very cute and have a very modern feel. The old logo with the thick lines felt dated especially after the release of IOS7 and the movement of the rest of the design world to flat design.  Even just the simple change of the layout of the boxes in the trip planning screens is a huge improvement.


The number one thing that made me hate the old moovit were the menus. They were bulky, ugly and some times hard to read. Now that the menus are built in the Google standard, sliding in from the side and solid they are easy to see, read and use.  There is one icon that I felt was weird the moment I started up the app, it is the plan trip icon on the main screen. To me it looks like it was a mistake, I would suggest working on a better icon the other two are cute but that was one is very weird looking.

One complaint that I have had in the past was that moovit would send me alerts about bus lines that were changed or when the Tel Aviv marathon was warning me that bus lines would be changed for the day, but they were never relevant to me. I feel like an app that I use everyday to take the same buses to and from
work should know what routes I take and only alert me of changes in the routes that I take on a regular basis. I do like that in the new version you can choose the lines that you get alerts about, but I feel like it should be an intelligent system that learns my routine.

I have not had the chance to try out the navigation, but when I do I will update this post. Also does anyone know what the points are for? I have been using this app for two years and have yet to understand what they mean.

There is one feature that I feel is missing, under favorites I think that there should be the option to favorite a bus stop and not just a line. I find that I take buses from the same stop all the time, and have lines that are my favorites but they're not always the line that is going to be coming the soonest. The problem I then run into is that I can see when my favorite line is coming to the stop that I have marked, but there is no way to just from the stop on the favorite line to the list of buses that are coming that stop. This feature may be more complicated than I'm thinking it is, but for people like me who go to the same stops with multiple lines that do similar routes this would be very helpful.

I was invited to try out the new payment system that the creators of moovit are working on. I am very interested to see this project progress further, they could revolutionize how we use public transportation.

Have you been use Moovit or another public transportation app? We'd love to hear about them in the comments bellow!

Lift changes your habits for the better

Changing habits is damn near impossible when you go at it alone. I’ve tried apps to keep track of eating more healthy, for getting more sleep and even getting myself to get out there and go running. All of these habits tend to last a few days to a month at the at the most. A few weeks ago I came across a post on Kevin Rose’s blog about the 100 breath meditation on lift. Since seeing this post I downloaded the app to see what makes it special and if their thinking really works.

Lift is essentially a social network for creating good habits. These habits are anything from eating healthy vegetables to going days with out cigarettes. By having a community of people who are supportive of your accomplishments and an app that gives you motivation to keep going has helped me to develop a few good habits of my own. Other users are able to give you props for accomplishing something and are able to comment on your check ins to keep things social.

Check-ins

Every day when you sign in after setting up your account you have a check list of all the habits that you are trying to keep up, for me they are things like “inbox zero” or “drink more water” and when you check in to these habits you get a cute little note next to the habit with the number of times that you have checked in and if you’ve been doing it everyday for a week it’ll say “for the 7th day in a row!”

I look forward to checking in to lift every night because in the morning my notifications is full of props from other users and it feels like you have a support system and that you can do it! They become familiar the same people tend to like your check ins over and over, and you might find that they are the people you should follow back.

Design

The design of the site is very close to that of Twitter, you have a profile with all of your activities, a board of the activities of your friends and a home page that has your list of habits that you want to check off with a motivational quote. This is an iPhone only app that I’m really hoping they will come out with an android version because using the iPhone app on my iPad hasn't been the best. The app has essentially the same design as the website which is a feature so many sites are missing, just having continuity between web and mobile make the experience so much more enjoyable! I have asked on lift’s twitter feed if they are planning to release an android app and have yet to receive an answer.

Notifications

Under settings the default for notifications is to receive everything over mobile notifications and to receive a daily digest of how you are doing. The graphics in the daily digest are cute letting you know that you are on a hot streak and how close you are to a new milestone for a habit, but I find getting daily emails from an app tend to take up more inbox space (I practice inbox zero remember?) than I would really like to allot. But they are easy to cancel and you can even turn all notifications off if you prefer the quiet life.

Groups

Like in all social networks lift has groups, they’re made up of people who want to participate in a certain habit or groups of habits. I am in the wake up early group which is a group of people that strive to start their day early. Granted some people are waking up at 5:30 am and some people early is 9:00 am you don’t have to feel bad about the time that you wake up. No body is judging you, and when you wake up earlier than you have been and point it out you will get a lot of props for it!

All in all this has been a great app and it has been successful in keeping me on task with habits I want to grow. Like I have been saying for years that I want to drink more water. On the first day of joining lift I drank half a water bottle, the second day I drank most of my water bottle and by the third day I was refilling my 1 liter bottle at work. I feel like I’m moving forward and that drinking a lot more water isn't as big of a task as I thought it was.

This app is great and I highly recommend it. The only flaws I have found are the limitation of usage for non-iPhone users but as long as you have a computer with Internet you can still use the site to check in and participate in the groups. I recommend not taking on too much at one time, like don’t join the 4-hour-body group if you don’t think that you can accomplish all the habits. There are lists for easy habits (brushing your teeth), trending, and supportive and many more. There is something for every one its not just about health and wellness, you can set out to read more, blog more, listen more than you speak- you name it there is probably a habit out there for you to join.


Update: In gearing up for the new year lift has added some new features that are bound to make your habit stick even more. The first that they had been working to implement since earlier on this year were plans. You could select a plan for something that you wanted to work on, say you want to get better at pull ups, you would join the plan that has a number of stages. Everyday you complete one of the stages until you completed the plan and by that point you should be well on your way to creating a habit that will stick. More and more plans have been added so you can find a plan for almost anything that you want to accomplish.

In the last week or so there was a change made to milestones. It used to be that you would check in and every few you would get a milestone, now every 21 check ins in a milestone. The number seems a little random to me but I'm sure that there is a method to the madness.  Also in recent news the Android app is said to be up and running fully functional. I was in touch with the lift team a few months ago about a huge bug they were having on the android app but it is now up and running. 

You can find me on lift  and twitter. Do you use lift? Have you found it to help you build new and constructive habits? Have a similar app you think I should try out? Comment bellow I’d love your feedback!

Wunderlist: To-Do Lists

I have been searching far and wide for a to-do list app that stands up to the challenge of my busy life. Most recently I have taken to trying out Wunderlist, a highly regarded app in the world of to-do lists. They have a beautiful and clean UI and the ability to customize the background of your to-do list (limited choice of backgrounds unless you upgrade to pro for 4.49€). While the app and the web site have an extremely nice UI there are a few very big features that I found to be lacking.

Collaboration in free version

Most of the other free to-do apps give you at least the ability to collaborate with a severely limited number of people you can collaborate with like between 2 and 5. Wunderlist does not allow any collaboration between users on a free account. This was a big turn off because sharing to-do lists even with a small group is a big deal and without a free version there is no way to test the group features without paying for the app which I believe both users have to be upgraded for collaboration to work.

8tracks: Pandora Alternative

As someone who doesn't live in the United States I see all the time friends posting on Facebook that they are looking for a Pandora and Spotify alternatives, there are even times when people post ways around the restrictions. I have learned to cope with my Pandora withdrawal through testing a series of alternative online radio sites and apps.

For the past few months I have been an avid listener at 8tracks. This site is a brilliant idea, every playlist on this site must have at least 8 tracks and as part of their legal policies a user cannot upload multiple songs by the same artist thus making sure that all playlists that you listen to will be a variety. Every song has a link on it to a iTunes song, Soundcloud track or YouTube video so if you like what you are listening to you can get it to listen to whenever you want or add to your own playlists and bookmark them as favorites for later reference.

I also like that when you are listening to a playlist on the side of the screen there are suggestions for similar playlists. For example I have recently gotten into listening to mashups so now on the side of the screen and when I login the site has suggestions for mashups that other users on the site have been listening to.

Non-Stop Playing

A really great feature that a lot of sites have been utilizing with the new technologies of the internet, when you play a playlist a bar appears at the bottom of the screen. This bar provides a lot of very useful information especially if you are like me and are constantly jumping around the site looking for new content.  Here you will find the name of the track, artist, a link to the track, playlist, volume and basic controls.