TransLink app derails as hundreds of frustrated users create flood of one-star reviews

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TransLink app derails as hundreds of frustrated users create flood of one-star reviews

By Toby Crockford

The TransLink app has well and truly gone off the rails in the past month, after an update caused hundreds of users to abandon the app and the software's rating on Google Play to plummet.

Complaints about MyTransLink focus on the poor usability of the software, with issues including the app itself crashing regularly, the app causing phones to crash, users struggling to enter their search criteria and customers losing their list of favourite destinations.

Frustrated customers are calling for the previous version to be reinstated and abandoning the app.

Frustrated customers are calling for the previous version to be reinstated and abandoning the app.Credit: Tammy Law - Fairfax Media

The message from customers is simple: go back to the previous version and abandon what they describe as "useless", "terrible" and "absolute rubbish" software.

According to Google Play, the Android version of the app was last updated on December 12 and the App Store indicates the iPhone version was last updated on December 20.

Almost 700 one-star reviews have been written on Google Play, with fresh posts coming in on a daily basis.

The Android app has an average rating of 2.6 stars out of five and 42 per cent of the total reviews have been one-star.

“Update was absolutely terrible. It removed all my favourite stops and services ... Journey planner is absolutely horrid too, gives you the most long-winded trips. The user interface is super user unfriendly. Please stop making it pretty, make it work,” Christine Chang wrote on January 12.

“This app is now absolute rubbish. I am so sick of trying to use the ‘leave before’ or ‘leave after’ functions which result in no results except for being memorized (sic) by the spinning circle which goes on indefinitely," Alan Wade posted on January 7.

According to Google Play and the App Store, the MyTransLink app was last updated in early to mid-December.

According to Google Play and the App Store, the MyTransLink app was last updated in early to mid-December.

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"Sorry TransLink but I’m done with this app. It is one of the least intuitive apps I’ve ever used. With every update it gets harder to navigate and less useful. That is if it works at all and doesn’t fail to load and hang or just outright crash ... Uninstalled and going back to the website via (the) browser," Tim Howlett said on January 6.

“Please, please, please give us back the old app. I just tried to find a simple timetable to leave tomorrow morning. Rather than give me the order of stops to choose from, I’m given a list of addresses in alphabetical order. If I’m new to this area would I know these addresses?” Kylie Flack published on January 3.

“The app told me it was a two-minute walk from Annerley to Fortitude Valley Station .... whilst your website Journey Planner said the correct time of about 43 minutes combining walking and busing,” Benjamin Caulfield said on January 3.

“I’ve had to remove the app from my phone because I kept getting messages that this app was slowing my phone down because it has crashed 10 times in the last week," Michael Stephens posted on January 2.

MyTransLink has an even worse rating on the App Store with only 1.7 stars out of five, but there have only been 47 reviews posted.

In response to the criticism, a TransLink spokesperson said further updates would be made available to fix existing problems and that numerous app features had been well-received.

"We’re aware of concerns from a number of customers about our recent update to the MyTransLink app," the spokesperson said.

"We are listening to feedback through social media, our website, App Store and Play Store and through the TransLink call centre and will continue to rollout changes to improve app functionality and address key issues.

"These updates can take time to test and implement properly and we appreciate customers’ patience through this process.

"A number of elements of the app have received positive feedback, including new features such as an interactive map and vehicle tracking.

"We encourage our customers to continue to submit detailed feedback on any issues you have with the app so we can make travelling on public transport easier than ever."

Just last week, a technical issue with TransLink’s website and mobile app prevented users from seeing whether their buses were running on time during peak hour.

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