New Amtrak Android app

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Anthony

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I'm kind of surprised I'm the first to mention this here! It's been out for a good portion of the day.
 
Anthony said:
I'm kind of surprised I'm the first to mention this here! It's been out for a good portion of the day.
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Aah! About time I say, since the iOS app was out since quite some time. Just downloaded from Google Play. Surprised there are only a few downloads so far (it shows 10+ downloads, which means it has not reached 100 yet). I usually download well trusted apps that have 1000+ or sometimes even 100,000+ downloads, but since this is Amtrak, I will take it right away :)
 
I've got a long-distance trip tomorrow originating in NYP and I'm going to try doing the whole thing with the app (Club Acela, baggage, boarding). We'll see how that goes.
 
I feel like a dork...how do I download this on my android (Samsung SCH-1510)
help.gif
 
Finally. I'm not going to start a cellular OS debate on a Amtrak enthusiast site, but I hope delays between IOS released apps and their Android counterparts become less and less and developers begin to release them simultaneously.

Apple has always seemed to enjoy prestige and, I admit, most of their devices are more aesthetically beautiful than a typical Android smartphone, but Android for better or worse has more market share and the potential to reach more users than IOS ever will.

The mobile site never allowed me to see sleeper availability for different days, only coach. I had to visit the full HTML site for that, which is doable but not always convenient on a phone.

The app lets me easily see everything available.
 
My only complaint about the app so far is that it doesn't (so far as I can tell) show me my room and car assignment for sleeping accommodations.
 
Much nicer than the mobile website which had about nothing. LOL - Saw the ARRIVE button - was excited and deleted my Arrive app, then clicked on it which took me to Google Play to download the App I just deleted. Ooops.
 
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I took a peek at the app. Didn't see the option to "check in" at various Amtrak stations like the iPhone app does. Not that it's particularly useful, but I thought the iPhone app had some kind of "passport" that kept track of where you've been and allows people to annoy their Facebook friends with "I just checked in at such-and-such station."
 
Amtrak Cajun said:
Speed up the process of getting to things? Its alot easier to tap into an app, then to have to bring up a browser, type in the amtrak site, etc etc.
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Sorry y'all. This was AC quoting a since edited post from me asking what was better than the mobile website.

Yes - the app is much nicer. When the iPhone app first came out, Amtrak's official stance was "The mobile website will do everything you need." But that wasn't true. It was easy enough to bookmark the site and navigate. Even order tickets and check train status. But it wouldn't let you upgrade your accomodations. Big killer for me. The App allows it, and it's great.
 
diesteldorf said:
Finally. I'm not going to start a cellular OS debate on a Amtrak enthusiast site, but I hope delays between IOS released apps and their Android counterparts become less and less and developers begin to release them simultaneously.

Apple has always seemed to enjoy prestige and, I admit, most of their devices are more aesthetically beautiful than a typical Android smartphone, but Android for better or worse has more market share and the potential to reach more users than IOS ever will.

The mobile site never allowed me to see sleeper availability for different days, only coach. I had to visit the full HTML site for that, which is doable but not always convenient on a phone.

The app lets me easily see everything available.
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And I am not going to start a debate, either.

It is much harder to develop apps for Android than iOS, say app developers, e.g. in this article and this article. This could explain the delay in releasing the Android version of the Amtrak app.

As I understand it, there are hundreds and hundreds of different combinations of Android hardware and software (including cell-provider-modified versions of the OS, and cell providers not allowing their customers to update to the latest version of OS), and that is what makes it so hard -- the developer has to make sure the app works on all those combinations. Whereas in the iOS world, there are just a handful of devices and one OS, and updates to that OS are available to all users at the same time.
 
Mackensen said:
I've got a long-distance trip tomorrow originating in NYP and I'm going to try doing the whole thing with the app (Club Acela, baggage, boarding). We'll see how that goes.
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So am I understanding you correctly? You are going to use the eTicket info from the app to do all those things without a paper ticket? If so, and it works, does that mean that those of us with Android OS, and the Amtrak app, can now forget about using any form of paper or card stock ticket? I was just getting used to using Quik-Trak machines in Cleveland.
 
AmtrakBlue said:
fairviewroad said:
500+ downloads when I downloaded it this morning.
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And nobody rides the rails these days. Anyone know how many iOS downloads there are?
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I checked my work iPhone and it doesn't seem to say how many iOS downloads; the Android is showing 1000+ downloads now and mostly 5 stars. I just downloaded the Android version and am looking forward to trying it out.
 
D T Nelson said:
It is much harder to develop apps for Android than iOS, say app developers, e.g. in this article and this article. This could explain the delay in releasing the Android version of the Amtrak app.
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Again, a large part of the reason was simply the fact that Amtrak had assembled a team to develop the various Apps for the conductors & crew to use on their Amtrak issued iPhones brought for eTicketing and inventory things. So working on the App for passengers was just kind of tossed into the ring at the same time.

I suspect after that they then decided to wait to see just how popular the App was, before even trying to find the money to develop a Droid version.
 
Trogdor said:
I took a peek at the app. Didn't see the option to "check in" at various Amtrak stations like the iPhone app does. Not that it's particularly useful, but I thought the iPhone app had some kind of "passport" that kept track of where you've been and allows people to annoy their Facebook friends with "I just checked in at such-and-such station."
Click to expand...
It will also tweet where one is should one wish to do so.

And my family actually loves the fact that it posts to Facebook, as my nieces & nephews can now easily track on a map where their Grandma and I are at any given time.
 
rile42 said:
Mackensen said:
I've got a long-distance trip tomorrow originating in NYP and I'm going to try doing the whole thing with the app (Club Acela, baggage, boarding). We'll see how that goes.
Click to expand...
So am I understanding you correctly? You are going to use the eTicket info from the app to do all those things without a paper ticket? If so, and it works, does that mean that those of us with Android OS, and the Amtrak app, can now forget about using any form of paper or card stock ticket? I was just getting used to using Quik-Trak machines in Cleveland.
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Yes. For the record, I was successful. I showed my phone the whole way from New York to Chicago and on to Kalamazoo. No one showed any surprise in handling a phone, and the conductors didn't have any problems beeping the QR code on the screen. The only hitch is that it doesn't show the car and room number for a sleeper reservation, so I still kept my printout for that.
 
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