Tag: Subway »

As a native New Yorker - and by extension, a person who's quite familiar with subway systems - I found the concept of Mini Metro to be instantly appealing. Of course it's only available on Steam. Or at least, it was.

Dinosaur Polo Club has been hard at work bringing the stylish, minimal, and exceedingly clever Mini Metro to iOS. The basic idea is that you have to run a metro subway system by creating train lines that reach different stops, and ferrying riders around before they get too cranky after waiting an age and a half to get to their destination. Easier said than done, obviously.

The build I was able to get our hands on is still in the early stages but it already plays quite well on a touch screen. Dragging new lines around or editing existing ones is pretty fluid, and adding new trains and train cars is quite easy. Keeping everybody happy by balancing your subway lines, not so much.

Mini Metro will be coming to iOS (definitely on the iPad and potentially on the iPhone as well) sometime in Q4 later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for this one. Seriously, they pretty much had to wrestle the iPad away from me after the demo.

[caption id="attachment_39674" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Next Stop\'s Countdown Timer"]

[/caption]New York subway apps for the iPhone have always been popular, as tourists and residents alike need an easy pocketable resource to navigate the challenges of New York's massive labyrinthine public transportation system. Exit Strategy received a lot of press last year for helping New Yorkers find the opportune subway car for their destination. The app gained some sophistication earlier this year with full maps, but it gained popularity for its simplicity and underlying information. NextStop, a new app from the Brooklyn App Factory, attempts to make it easier to be on time with the subway.

The app adds a wrapper and some nifty features around the MTA's little known subway schedule. Users of the app enter their subway line and their departure point and are shown a countdown timer. Touching the train's time displays the subway's expected stop time at stations further down the line. The app includes other common features like a favorites system and tools to find nearby subway systems.

NextStop is, at its core, an easy and pretty way to access subway schedules. iTrans NYC, one of the more popular subway apps, includes subway schedules as well. Yet iTrans is built around a variety of other tools and costs $3.99. NextStop is free and is the perfect companion for any NYC traveler.