Inspired by Zach Waugh and his simple sketching app, Whirl, I’ve released an iOS app today that does one thing, and hopefully does it well.
It is called Milngavie Train and it shows live departure information for the next train to leave Milngavie Station in Scotland.
Why bother, you may ask! The answer is simple: when I am taking a train into town soon, the time when the next train will leave is all I need to know. I don’t need access to the entire timetabling information for the whole Scotrail network. I don’t need to use Google Maps or Apple Maps to summon the culmination of all of humanity’s geographical knowledge. But most of all, I am usually slightly late and am walking briskly down the street towards the station and I just want confirmation of two things: the train is on time AND which platform I need to aim for. (I may or may not have ended up jumping on the wrong train in the past when under time pressure. I couldn't possibly comment!)
Having to open Apple Maps, enter my starting point, my target destination and choose my mode of transport is, for me, not possible to do with my fat thumbs while walking along the street as fast as I can, and trying to cross safely through traffic. I just need one button to mash to see my answer.
So this works for me and it solves my problem. Since putting it together and testing it myself, I’ve used it loads of times.
The original target market is 1 person (me!) but when I had a look at the published passenger numbers for Milngavie Station, there are 736,148 entries and exits each year. Let’s assume that half of those people are entering the station to catch a train, so there are potentially 368,074 other people who might find it helpful. That seems like enough people for me to stick in on the iOS app store and see if anyone else thinks so.