Gaelan
Member
Incidentally, does anyone have apps/websites they like for viewing running data from Darwin? On iOS, I'm quite fond of the Railboard app, but I haven't found anything I like on desktop or to recommend to Android-using friends.
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Apps for viewing Darwin data
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Gaelan
Member
I'm aware this is a matter of taste, but I don't find this particularly easy to read.
Doesn't include all stations, unfortunately.
Trainguy34
Member
Realtime Trains | Search
Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
trainmania100
Established Member
I would suggest having a look at NexTrain. But I'm not familiar with Darwin for apps,
Includes some allox aswell as passing and freightRealtime Trains | Search
Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network.
Was under the impression RTT doesn’t have a Darwin feed.
NRES of course does, but it’s still hideous to use. Own TOC apps will too.
RailChecker (which I run) uses the Darwin feed. Android version is already available, iOS version has been approved about half an hour ago and the store page should be up soon.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtopolowski.railchecker
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6448295769 - Should be available within the next 24 hours.
The app includes features like searching for services operated by a type of rolling stock (e.g. XC HSTs, WMT 319s), live crowding (SE only) and more.
Both versions are currently restricted to UK download only.
A web version should be up by the end of this week (hopefully).
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtopolowski.railchecker
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6448295769 - Should be available within the next 24 hours.
The app includes features like searching for services operated by a type of rolling stock (e.g. XC HSTs, WMT 319s), live crowding (SE only) and more.
Both versions are currently restricted to UK download only.
A web version should be up by the end of this week (hopefully).
Class15
On Moderation
What’s different between Darwin and RTT?
As I understand it, Darwin is what drives station signs and is supposed to be the first point of call to find out if/how trains are running from a passenger perspective. Cancellations and modifications will be input into Darwin and reflected in sites and apps that use that feed; RTT often will not "see" such changes until after the fact. The exception seemingly is planned cancellations that are in the TRUST feed; sudden cancellations aren't what RTT is for and it doesn't handle them in real time because of the lack of Darwin data.
I think the reason RTT doesn't use Darwin is that the licensing restricts them from using it alongside other data sources, and they need those other sources (like TRUST) for some of what RTT displays.
I thought I read this in their FAQs but can't find it now. I don't work in the industry so please if I got any of that wrong, do correct me!
I think the reason RTT doesn't use Darwin is that the licensing restricts them from using it alongside other data sources, and they need those other sources (like TRUST) for some of what RTT displays.
I thought I read this in their FAQs but can't find it now. I don't work in the industry so please if I got any of that wrong, do correct me!
Class15
On Moderation
Thanks very much.
Gaelan
Member
This looks very nice, thanks for working on it! I look forward to the web version in particular.
This is a pet peeve of mine! I live in the UK these days, but my Apple account is still set to the USA region, because Apple makes it incredibly difficult to change, and impossible if you want to stay in a “family” with people back home (allowing, for example, sharing of purchases and subscriptions). I have a separate Apple account I use to download apps for supermarkets, banks, etc that insist on making their apps UK-only, but switching back and forth is a huge pain.
Is there some advantage to making it UK-only that I’m missing?
There is no advantage, except for not having to comply with data protection rules for countries where there is no incentive to do so. It was set to UK only initially to avoid confusion and to avoid having the app be shown in countries where it isn't relevant - hopefully the algorithms can now see most downloads are from the UK and so they'll show the app primarily to UK based users.
On review, I have changed the settings for app distribution to worldwide as the app already complies with the data protection requirements. On the App Store this should be immediate (
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gimmea50anyday
Established Member
Get a virtual private network and you can trick your device to believing it is in a certain country. Great for finding content on netflix for example in different countries. Www.nordvpn.com/pilot and Petter Hornfeldt gets a comission and you get several months free
Gaelan
Member
I am physically in the UK, so a VPN wouldn't change anything - the issue is the "location" setting on my Apple account, which can't be trivially changed.
...and this also isn't what's happening. The VPN tunnels internet traffic through someone else's server and because the egress IP address is now of that server, the client appears to be in a certain country and a website may serve different content based on that. (It's a whole can of worms but IP geolocation is educated guessing)
Nothing to do with "tricking" the device, which in the case of an iPhone has GPS anyway.
cocoiadrop
Member
On Android it's fairly easy to bypass geographical restrictions by using apps like Aurora store which pull Play store data with anom or dummy accounts (commonly in use on privacy/security based ROMs). As Galean said though for Apple users there's no sideloading ability and as such it'll depend entirely on what country your Apple ID is based in.
This is the reason why I have to carry around an Android phone for some UK only apps because my Apple ID is an Australian one.
This is the reason why I have to carry around an Android phone for some UK only apps because my Apple ID is an Australian one.
This looks great, good job! Seeing the unit allocations on the SE services is cool too.
Gaelan
Member
Getting a little off-topic, but what I do is use a second UK-based Apple ID to download those apps - you can sign out of your normal one, sign into your UK-based one, download the app, switch back, and everything keeps working. Bit of faff, but it works.
Thank you for your feedback! Formations are available for a lot of operators, as are the other features. I have attached a table below showing the data available per operator (if an operator is not listed, then it has none of these).
| Operator | Formations | Average crowding | Live crowding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avanti West Coast | Yes | ||
| Chiltern Railways | Yes - only on Birmingham services | Yes | |
| CrossCountry | Yes - only HST services identifiable | ||
| Gatwick Express | Yes | ||
| Grand Central | Occasionally | ||
| Great Northern | Yes - only 6 coach GN metro services identifiable | Yes | |
| Great Western Railway | Yes - only some Class 80x services in the Great Malvern area | ||
| Greater Anglia | Yes | ||
| London Northwestern Railway/West Midlands Railway | Yes | ||
| Southeastern | Yes | Yes | Yes - not available on services worked by Class 395/465/466 |
| Southern | Yes | ||
| Thameslink | Yes - only those services that work through the core are identifiable | Yes | |
| Transport for Wales | Yes - only on Birmingham services |
(Sorry to be a pedant, but before someone writes a complaint to me - the app does not show unit numbers/allocations. Train types are derived from the formation information supplied via Darwin. Liveries may also be inaccurate for this reason)
cocoiadrop
Member
fantastic thank you! That worked a treat
MrJeeves
Established Member
I have a website that emulates a departure board: https://raildotmatrix.davwheat.dev/board
If you want direct links, you can add ?station=RGP to the end of the link, and &type=tfwm-lcd if you prefer an LCD look.
Not quite what you want, but if someone else is interested in building their own thing, my Darwin proxy is effectively public provided noone abuses it: https://national-rail-api.davwheat.dev/
Gaelan
Member
Yes, I may well make use of that! (Especially given that RDG are making it a pain to sign up for LDBWS(SV) at the moment.)
The only thing that puts me off a bit is the EUPL - I assume that imposes constraints on licensing of anything I build on top?
MrJeeves
Established Member
The license only applies to the source code of the API, rather than the data provided through it.
Gaelan
Member
Ah lovely! I’ll quite likely be making use of that then, thanks very much.
F142
Member
Just downloaded - looks like a decent app.
However only one complaint from me is that there are too many adverts - any chance of a pay for removal of adverts?
Thanks
Thank you for your feedback. Unfortunately, the current frequency of the adverts is necessary to pay for the server cost and so there is no scope for their reduction.
I am looking into creating a "pro" subscription, which would include push notifications and per-carriage crowding information where available (currently some SE and Greater Anglia services) as well as no adverts.
This would be of interest to me as well
I'd happily pay for no ads on a decent app. I had downloaded this previously, so thank you for taking the time to make it and answer questions.
A few things I'd noticed - I hope feedback is okay?
- It would be nice to make the search bar dropdown a little easier to use. It may be because my font size is quite small, but selecting stations does seem a little fiddly. I'm also not sure what the double arrow icon is designed to indicate, since it's on every station in the list?
- Having a "nearby" stations or a quick access "recently searched" would also be really useful. I appreciate the pinned services and stations below, although I personally don't tend to use those.
Overall it's a really good app though. I think I might be right in saying it's designed with the old RTT app in mind? They're fairly similar.
Any and all feedback is welcomed, it's good to know what works well and what needs working on.I hope feedback is okay?
Noted - font size will be increased in the next update. I was concerned about whether it was too small but didn't pay too much attention to it. As for the double arrow, it was introduced recently following the update which let users search for train classes - those will have a train icon in place of the double arrow (which is meant to represent a station), so in short the double arrow is there to differentiate the different search options. It's also there for futureproofing should I add metro/tube stations to the app in the future.
I'll look into integrating recently searched stations/classes into the dropdown list when the search bar is empty. A "nearby" list is slightly tricker as it involves having to handle GPS permissions and so that may make it in at a later date.
Thank you for the feedback! I designed it with the mindset of what I wanted a train times app to look like, as the range of options on Android is quite poor. I hadn't noticed the similarity of the departures page on my app and the RTT app until now!
Overall it seems a great app, with lots of potential. I currently mainly use the Railboard app (iOS only) and one of the best ‘hidden’ features on there is headcodes, this is not on by default - you have to toggle it on. Is there any potential for that to be added as an option?
Having the historical loading data visible that some TOCs now supply gives you a big advantage over many other apps.
Definitely possible, coming soon.
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