Michal Ždanský Anyone who travels by public transport, or who often travels between cities, will surely agree with me how useful it is to have the departure times of all those buses, trains and trams with you in some form. For some people, the mobile version of IDOS on the phone may be sufficient, others will be fine with printed timetables. In any case, the most convenient way to search for a connection is undoubtedly the application on our phone. One of them is Connections.
Connections contain access to all the connections that you can find on the IDOS website, which means trains, buses and public transport. Slovak users will certainly be pleased to find here trains and buses also in Slovak territory, so our application can also be used brothers. In any case, its full use is available only to Czech users. The application itself does not contain any connection database, so it is purely dependent on the Internet. There are several advantages in this - the application takes up a minimum of space, you do not have to deal with downloading new database files, and the searched connections are always up-to-date. In addition, the amount of data downloaded during the search is really minimal. iPhone 3GS/4 owners will also appreciate the multitasking that Connections supports.
Immediately after starting the application, you will see a list of the most recently searched connections. You can get to it even after closing the application without having to search for it again, which is especially appreciated by owners of devices that do not support multitasking. First, you need to choose the type of timetable. You can do this via the airplane icon in the bottom left. In the first positions is intercity transport, below that are alphabetically arranged cities for public transport. But it doesn't end there, as this list is dynamic and will determine which city you are in based on your GPS location. This way, you will see the given city in the first position, thereby eliminating the need to scroll through the alphabetical list.
Searching for connections
The magnifying glass icon in the upper right part is used for searching. After pressing above, the From/To form will pop up. As soon as you start writing, the application will whisper the station to you (can be turned off) and when you click on it, it will complete it and automatically move to the next entry or directly to search for a connection. There is a button to swap fields and to change the time if you want a different one than the current one.
If you don't want to enter stops manually, you can use other methods by clicking on the blue icon in the field. The most impressive is probably according to your location. The application will determine the nearest stop for you based on GPS, and then you just need to enter the destination (or default). Unfortunately, this location service only works for intercity trains and buses and in several large cities (Prague, Brno, Ostrava) for public transport. This is due to the GPS data of the stations, which are unfortunately missing from the IDOS database for smaller cities.
Another option is to insert a connection from the search history or from favorites. Every stop you enter during use is automatically saved in your history. From there you can select a stop and if there is one that you use often, you can add it to your favorites by marking it with a star. This can save you a lot of typing over time. There is also the option to remove stops both from history and favorites.
The search is really fast and the results are loaded almost instantly. There can be up to five of them depending on the settings, and it's not a problem to have more displayed. The list of results then informs us about the lines we will take, the time of departure/arrival and the length of the route and connection. It is supplemented with nice icons of means of transport. After clicking on the connection, we get to its detail. This way we can see when and where we will transfer.
From there, the connection can be sent via SMS, by e-mail (where it will be displayed as a simple HTML table), view the stops on the map, enter the connection via the full IDOS website, where you will be redirected to Safari, and add the connection to the calendar. The last-mentioned function was added with the arrival of iOS 4 and thus allows you to have a connection including its details in the calendar, including a reminder. It shouldn't happen that you forget the connection and miss the train/bus/metro.
Bookmarks
Saving connections is a very useful thing. This happens in two ways: offline and online. In the first case, a specific list of connections at a given time is saved and you can access it without an Internet connection (which is mainly used by iPod touch owners). In the second one, only the entry of the connection is saved and the results are loaded for the current time from the Internet. You can then find the saved connections in the tabs below.
A minor trick is the possibility to swap the starting and destination station in the tab. Just hold your finger on the link for a while and the link will rotate for you. That way you don't have to save connections on both sides, you'll save a lot of bookmarks and you'll have a better overview of them. In addition, you can freely rename the bookmarks or change their order.
The last feature is train tracking. Here you enter its number (e.g. EC 110) and the app will show you its location and indicate any delays, which is especially useful for long-distance train journeys. So the application offers almost all the functions that you can find on the full IDOS. The only thing missing is setting the number of transitions, but here the application encounters the limited capabilities of the mobile version of IDOS that it uses.
Those who have been using Connections for a long time may have experienced a temporary malfunction of the application (crash when searching for a connection) if they tried to search for a connection via the mobile internet of one of the Czech operators. The reason was the expiration of the contract with Chaps, the provider of all data, which then redirected users of this operator's mobile network to the full version of IDOS, from where the application could not obtain data. Fortunately, this problem was solved by a recent update, after which everything works as it should.
The only problem may arise for users with an older version of the 3.x system, which is not supported by the application. For them, the author is preparing "Connection Old", which is an identical application trimmed with some functions using iOS 4.
I can warmly recommend Connections to everyone who uses public transport and intercity transport in any way. As a resident of Prague without a car, I use the application every day, and without it I would probably be without a hand. The application is professionally processed and also looks very nice, which also contributes to the "HD graphics" for iPhone 4. You can find it in the App Store for an adequate price of €2,39.
iTunes link - €2,39
of God. I was just cursing how the MHD app doesn't work without wifi and mobile idos doesn't work for me either, so I'm happy :) thanks for the tip
Excellent application. I can only recommend. The only thing missing from it is the ability to download the entire database. There is plenty of space on the iPhone.
Most applications on the iPhone use an Internet connection, whether they are dictionaries or any other databases. And then it happens that there is no signal and you are in a pr…. I've been without a connection several times and it turns out that my phone can't do much without the internet. Simply, the offline version would also have something in it
You're right, some option for offline would be nice. For example, I use a TV program from Seznam.cz - it offers the possibility to use it offline and you can download the program up to 2 weeks in advance - a great thing, because I use it in a place where there is no wifi and there is a bad signal, so loading would otherwise be slow. Similarly, the option to download an offline version of some connection database would be useful here.
Adam: and I look for connections in public transport, especially when I'm not on wifi and I'm fine, the application doesn't look bad according to the screenshot, but then I'm looking for a public transport connection.
Hello, I would like to ask one of the owners of this application if it also displays barrier-free connections in cities (Prague)? Thank you very much
As far as I know, no
Thank you so much, I wanted this for my wife when she goes into town with a little daughter and a pram…..
The application hasn't worked on anything other than WIFI for about 2 weeks now :/ until they fix it, it's a waste of money :/ otherwise it has absolutely great features, unfortunately it seems that no one cares about it anymore :((((
I'm so sorry, I wanted to go to her now after 2 weeks when I got my iPhone back from service. So nothing… :-(
A few days ago, a new update was released, which should make the application operational again. However, I haven't installed it yet, so I can't judge. But you can try to read the comments under the application.
Hi there, You've performed a fantastic job. I'll certainly dig it and personally suggest it to my friends. I am confident they will benefit from this site.