Indie App Spotlight: ‘NextThere’ helps you navigate public transit with rich insights

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight . This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact . Navigating across different cities and figuring out their public transportation can sometimes be a bit messy. Maps apps might not always have the best information, or the apps that do exist aren’t presenting data in a super readable manner. NextThere aims to tackle that problem, and also packs loads of historical data for providing more informed information regarding delays, on-time performance, and so on. It’s great for tourists and frequent commuters alike. Highlights NextThere isn’t a new app, though it has gotten much more feature rich in its latest update, 4.1. It adds departure analytics, a real time vehicle map, and much improved UI. The app also expanded from just Australia and New Zealand to select US regions, including New York, Los Angeles, North Carolina, Boston, Hawaii, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, and Washington state. It also supports Ontario, Canada. This unfortunately isn’t a fully comprehensive list of US cities with public transit, with some key misses being Atlanta, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. That said, once you use the app – you’ll realize the attention to detail that goes into supporting each city properly, rather than just having a generic experience. Two of the things I loved the most are the real time vehicle map and the detailed delay information. The first feature is two-fold: you’ll both see vehicles on the route as they’re moving, but there’s also a feature to check exact vehicle traces for individual buses or trains – seeing where they slowed down or got stuck in traffic. As for detailed delay information, the app takes into account historic route performance, showing you on-time performance, delays on the routes, and also status information. If you’re a tourist in a new city, seeing historic performance could be