UK Train Times app (Agant) - at the end of the line?

[johntea]

I’ve used the UK Train Times app on my iPhone as long as I can remember, but it hasn’t been updated in quite a while (e.g. Low Moor is an ‘Unknown’ station)

Sadly it now seems even though you can still see live train information the journey planning no longer works

I know the developer occasionally used to pop up on here, so hopefully they may see this and be able to update the app

 

[PaulHarding150]

I've had the same problem.

Last night I deleted the app and reinstalled it and it now works. Seems to have had a bit of a refresh too. Not sure why it didn't download/update automatically.

 

[IrishDave]

I've had the same problem.

Last night I deleted the app and reinstalled it and it now works. Seems to have had a bit of a refresh too. Not sure why it didn't download/update automatically.

Are you sure you reinstalled exactly the same app (published by Agant Ltd)? There are a number called "Train Times" or similar. I've just tried reinstalling it (had to scroll down to the fifth or sixth option on the App Store) and it looks exactly the same (and still doesn't plan journeys for me, either).

As I understand it Agant Ltd used to have an active development team but at some point (a few years ago now) that team was laid off and no further development has been done since - I will try and get an update through contacts...

 

[Flying Snail]

That was a fantastic app, simple and uncluttered and it just worked unlike the awful bloated rubbish that replaced it as the "official" NR app.

There were 2 semi-official apps that were promoted by National Rail before they developed their own one, the Agant one and "Rail Planner Live" both were very similar in appearance and operation, RPL had a nasty habit of giving up junk data when it didn't get a response though. I have checked and the version of that app I have is completely non-functioning now. A current version might still work, I only have an iphone 4 so can't check or install updates

It's crazy that with the plethora of apps from developers and rail companies that have been created since none have matched this for simplicity of use.

 

[PaulHarding150]

Are you sure you reinstalled exactly the same app (published by Agant Ltd)? There are a number called "Train Times" or similar. I've just tried reinstalling it (had to scroll down to the fifth or sixth option on the App Store) and it looks exactly the same (and still doesn't plan journeys for me, either).

As I understand it Agant Ltd used to have an active development team but at some point (a few years ago now) that team was laid off and no further development has been done since - I will try and get an update through contacts...

You’re right, I’ve downloaded a different app. I thought it was a refreshed one. That’s annoying as I’m finding this one fiddley to use.

That was a fantastic app, simple and uncluttered and it just worked unlike the awful bloated rubbish that replaced it as the "official" NR app.

There were 2 semi-official apps that were promoted by National Rail before they developed their own one, the Agant one and "Rail Planner Live" both were very similar in appearance and operation, RPL had a nasty habit of giving up junk data when it didn't get a response though. I have checked and the version of that app I have is completely non-functioning now. A current version might still work, I only have an iphone 4 so can't check or install updates

It's crazy that with the plethora of apps from developers and rail companies that have been created since none have matched this for simplicity of use.

I agree it was fantastically simple with a clear layout. Only last night I was cursing the app not working as I wanted to plan a journey from A to C (with a friend joining at station B) and it was irritatingly time consuming.

 

[winks]

Gutted here too. Simple and easy to use. I hope they revive it as it was the best app and I’ve had it since 2009 I think!
Only thing that works now is live departures.

 

[benbristow]

That was a fantastic app, simple and uncluttered and it just worked unlike the awful bloated rubbish that replaced it as the "official" NR app.

There were 2 semi-official apps that were promoted by National Rail before they developed their own one, the Agant one and "Rail Planner Live" both were very similar in appearance and operation, RPL had a nasty habit of giving up junk data when it didn't get a response though. I have checked and the version of that app I have is completely non-functioning now. A current version might still work, I only have an iphone 4 so can't check or install updates

It's crazy that with the plethora of apps from developers and rail companies that have been created since none have matched this for simplicity of use.

National Rail's app is a joke. Looks awful, isn't great functionally and they have the cheek to try and charge to remove advertising. The NRE website doesn't fare much better either.

Surely they're due a revamp soonish?

 

[cf111]

That was a fantastic app, simple and uncluttered and it just worked unlike the awful bloated rubbish that replaced it as the "official" NR app.

There were 2 semi-official apps that were promoted by National Rail before they developed their own one, the Agant one and "Rail Planner Live" both were very similar in appearance and operation, RPL had a nasty habit of giving up junk data when it didn't get a response though. I have checked and the version of that app I have is completely non-functioning now. A current version might still work, I only have an iphone 4 so can't check or install updates

It's crazy that with the plethora of apps from developers and rail companies that have been created since none have matched this for simplicity of use.

The NRE app is awful - I find the ScotRail one quite easy to use so that is my journey planning app of choice now.

 

[Mogster]

Yes it’s a shame this app has been abandoned, it’s been my go to rail app for years.

I’m on the verge of deleting it but it seems there’s nothing as good to replace it with...

 

[Floop1977]

I’ve used the UK Train Times app on my iPhone as long as I can remember, but it hasn’t been updated in quite a while (e.g. Low Moor is an ‘Unknown’ station)

Sadly it now seems even though you can still see live train information the journey planning no longer works

I know the developer occasionally used to pop up on here, so hopefully they may see this and be able to update the app

Same! Loved this app, been using it forever.

Some years ago they lost access to the APIs that provided the data - Network Rail were being unhelpful and restricted access. It was eventually restored.

Not sure what is going on at present but it’s frustrating as no other app does the job as well as this one.

 

[42626]

Same issues here. According to this page, the app has been removed from the app store.

I agree, the official app is awful to use.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Same issues here. According to this page, the app has been removed from the app store.

I agree, the official app is awful to use.

On a phone I don't mind it. I hate the iPad app as it's one of those really annoying apps that insists on the screen being rotated to landscape when I prefer to use it in portrait mode.

 

[TheGrew]

I just replaced my android phone and that was the one and only app I wasn't able to bring across. The official NRE one is much more cluttered unfortunately.

 

[BRX]

The NRE Android app is a disaster.

It currently has a habit of adding in an advert at the top of the page, a second or two after it loads. When using the planner, this means that you add your 'From' station, then when you go to select the 'To' box, it's perfectly timed so that just when you press it, it jumps down the page and you end up pressing the 'To' box again.

In addition, the version I've got at present has graphics along the bottom scaled wrongly.

Another user-unfreindly feature is that when you plan a journey, and a date/time from a previous enquiry is in there, and you forget to change it, an error message comes up saying that you cant plan journeys in the past. Ok, but instead of giving us this error message, why not just default to a 'now' time? In most instances that'll be what people are after (seeing as they haven't entered a specific date/time).

 

[Sankey Wire]

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the app has disappeared from the store. I have been using it since 2009, often several times a day and nothing else comes close.

I hope that the developer can be convinced to keep up the good work.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ is a decent website which works reasonably well once you get to know it

 

[BRX]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ is a decent website which works reasonably well once you get to know it

Not a journey planner though.

 

[noodlepoodle]

Railboard (iPhone only) is my app of choice, very simple and slick looking and much less cluttered than the official app, does live trains and planning.

 

[Class 466]

Bytrain is my app of choice - seems to be the only one showing formations for a number of TOCs (SE,GTR,NT,ARL ELL/NLL).

 

[Tetchytyke]

I use fastjp, which has a good mobile/tablet browser interface, rather than a specific app.

The XC app is pretty good too IMO.

 

[Skimble19]

Railboard (iPhone only) is my app of choice, very simple and slick looking and much less cluttered than the official app, does live trains and planning.

I have to second this - when I switched back to iPhone from Android I tried out various live times / planning apps and this was by far the best one.

 

[johntea]

Downloaded Railboard, seems good so far! Will put it to the real test next week during my commutes!

 

[eSean Farrow]

Hi,

As someone who has a visual impairment, this was an app I used all the time as it was the one that was the most accessible.

I am a programmer by profession and if I could find a designer or someone with an eye for front-end and graphics along with some patient testers, I would be minded to create a cross-platform replacement.

I use an IPhone myself, but understand the need for apps that run across both iOS and android.

Developing this from scratch would mean we could add some nice features like the capability to remember favourite stations or journeys and integrate with other parts of the Apple/Google ecosystems to do things like provide third parties notifications of train delays automatically.

Would anybody be interested in such a venture?

Kind regards
Sean.

 

[Marton]

DB Navigator is good for planing but no good for fares or real time info.

 

[philjo]

I also used UK rail times until it stoped working.
I used to use railplanner but that hasn’t been updated to support ios 11 so stopped working on my iPad.
I still use an iPhone 5 so railboard wont work on there unfortunately but it looks great on my iPad.

 

[EdinburghTrain]

Looks like the developer has worked for Apple since 2013, suspect we won't be seeing an update for this anytime soon.

 

[skypurplecloud]

I am a programmer by profession and if I could find a designer or someone with an eye for front-end and graphics along with some patient testers, I would be minded to create a cross-platform replacement.

Developing this from scratch would mean we could add some nice features like the capability to remember favourite stations or journeys and integrate with other parts of the Apple/Google ecosystems to do things like provide third parties notifications of train delays automatically.

Would anybody be interested in such a venture?

Kind regards
Sean.

Hey Sean,

I wouldn’t mind chatting to you about this suggestion.

Roy.

 

[Lladoog]

Railboard (iPhone only) is my app of choice, very simple and slick looking and much less cluttered than the official app, does live trains and planning.

Thanks for this steer. I downloaded it. It’s Just what I was looking for. No ads & I also used the greatcadd to calendar feature. Shame about the error on the old app! Hey ho!

 

[johntea]

A friend kindly donated me their Apple watch as they've gone full Samsung now, any apps for the watch so I can glance at live departures from my wrist?

 

[James H]

Bytrain is my app of choice - seems to be the only one showing formations for a number of TOCs (SE,GTR,NT,ARL ELL/NLL).

Thank you for recommending Bytrain - I've been using it since you posted about it here, and it continues to get better and better.

A worthy successor to the defunct Agant app.