Saturday, August 31, 2013

Best iPhone and iPad apps for getting around the London Underground

Best iPhone and iPad apps for getting around the London Underground

Best iPhone and iPad apps for getting around the London Underground

If you live in, or visit London at any point, there's a higher than average chance you'll use the infamous 'Tube' to get around the city. It's busy, it's cramped, but it's still the quickest way generally of getting from A-to-B and avoiding the horrendously congested roads. But what if you don't know how to get where you're going, or just generally want to keep the latest Underground information at your fingertips? The good news is there's some great apps for your iPhone and iPad to help you get around on the Underground.

Tube Map

This has been one of my own go-to apps for a long time now, partly because the developers have the exact same app available on the other mobile platforms, and partly because it has literally everything on hand to help you get around the Tube. If you want to set up notifications for certain lines, you can, as well as viewing full status of all the different lines, live departures, and plan your route anywhere around the city. There's a couple of in-app purchase options, one to remove ads and one to add first and last train times, but otherwise this is free, and a fantastic choice for anyone using the Underground.

Tube Map Live

Tube Map Live serves a distinct purpose, but it serves it very well. Instead of focusing on routing, what this does is show you live, real-time information on where the trains are as they move around the network. It uses official Transport for London data, but if you tap on any of the trains shown on the map, it'll tell you where that train is headed as well as showing its position on the line. The colored circle around the outside of the train icon tells you which line that train is on, and the ticker across the bottom continually scrolls through with live line status information.

This one is perfect for anyone who knows where they need to go, and how to get there, but needs to know where the trains are, what lines they're on and how the service is running. Oh, and it looks pretty fantastic as well.

Citymapper

Citymapper goes far beyond just Tube travel, it's a complete one-stop shop for all your London travelling needs. But the Underground aspect is done particularly well, with a full offline map on board alongside the expected routing information, line statuses and live departure information. One particularly neat trick Citymapper has is that it'll tell you what it's going to cost for your proposed journeys. Just for that extra touch.

It looks amazing, too. It's a gorgeous app to look at and to use, and is perfect for anyone who needs their Tube information sprinkled with a little bit of all-round travel planning.

Tube Tracker

Tube Tracker is actually from the same developer as Tube Map Live, and that's not cheating because they're two very different apps. Tube Tracker is a more full featured Underground travel app, and mixes gorgeous design with live departure boards, a full map, offline route planner, notifications, and the same visual train tracking that Tube Map Live enjoys. If the simplicity of Tube Map Live isn't for you but you still want that feature, then Tube Tracker is the one to get.


    









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With the PS4 companion app for iOS, buy a new game and have it waiting for you at home

With the PS4 companion app for iOS, buy a new game and have it waiting for you at home

Back in February we first heard about Sony's plans for a companion app for iOS to their new PlayStation 4 console. Part of the functionality will be a mobile store – sort of like the one Steam already offers – where you will be able to purchase new PS4 titles on the go. Now it seems that it goes a little further than that. Sony’s President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida (via BGR):

"When you buy a PS4 game on smartphone, it will wake your PS4 up to start downloading the game. PS4 goes back to sleep after that"

The statement was made on Twitter in response to a question about how the new system will work. If this is how it's going to pan out though, that's a pretty fantastic feature to have. It's also a great sign of the times we live in, and just how much our smartphones are becoming more and more the go-to tool for almost anything.

I'm all for replacing disks with digital downloads, and I'm pretty sure I'll be putting this to work if/when I end up getting a PS4. How about you?

Source: BGR


    









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Coming up at 4 p.m. EDT: The return of the Greatest Android Podcast in the World!

Coming up at 4 p.m. EDT: The return of the Greatest Android Podcast in the World!

Android Central PodcastOK, folks. Here we go! The Greatest Android Podcast in the World returns this afternoon, live and in living color! We're sneaking in one last show before we hit the road for IFA in Germany, so we'll preview what to expect next week. Plus we've got the LG G2 in our hot little hands, we'll see if we're still in love with the Moto X — and we'll have more of your e-mails!

So join Phil and the gang — and, of course, the chat room — live at 9 p.m. BST / 4 p.m. EDT / 1 p.m. PDT for the live broadcast. You should be there. You will be there. You must be there. After all, you are what makes it the Greatest Android Podcast in the World.

Join us on our live page, or you can even watch the broadcast from the official Android Central App!


    









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Pocket Casts will be getting Chromecast support in the future

Pocket Casts will be getting Chromecast support in the future

Android Central

Just as soon as Google will allow, we can have it

Pocket Casts by Shifty Jelly is one of our absolute favorite podcast apps for Android, and it turns out that it'll be getting support for one of our new favorite devices. Just as soon as Google allows it. We're of course talking about the Chromecast, and the good folks at Ausdroid have popped along to the Shifty Jelly offices to get a brief look at it in action. 

The issue isn't that they don't want us to have it, but that Google is currently forbidding the release of any third-party apps supporting Chromecast while some final details are finished off. But Pocket Casts works just fine with it, as the short video after the break shows. What better way to listen to the best damn Android podcast in the world than on your big screen TV? 

Source: Ausdroid

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