Mobile App Review

Mobile App Review - USA Rest Stops

    In this post, I will be reviewing the mobile app "USA Rest Stops" by Innovative Software Technology, LLC.  Per the description of the application, you can "Quickly find all the rest areas in the U.S."  The categories it is grouped within the Google Play store are Travel and Local.  The application has a 3.6-star rating and has been downloaded over 100K times.  Innovative Software Technology is a small mobile app company that has published one application and worked on another.

Usability

    The application has a straightforward interface, and when opened, it uses your location to identify the closet rest stops.  As you can see from above, there are only four tabs on the bottom, and it is easily identified that they contain.  The home always lists the rest stops sorted by distance from you, the direction and uses icons to provide a listing of services at each rest stop as well as ratings other users have given. The map shows a map of the U.S. and allows you to zoom in or out, and there is an elegant filter feature that lets you select your beginning and end destination and select the services you desire in a rest stop.  The app will then map out your trip and select the rest stops with the services you selected.

   On the States tab, you select the state, and it then provides you with a list of major interstates and highways.  Once a state is selected, it provides you with a list of rest stops, similar to the home screen, and lists towns between rest stops and state borders.  The more menu offers options to pay for the app, which will remove the advertising at the top or bottom of the screen and options to log in, add national parks, badges, rate the app, feedback, help, and version information.

When you select a rest stop, you can click on directions, allowing you to send them to Waze or Google Maps.  You can also edit the properties of the rest stop and submitting to improve the database.

Design

    The design is straightforward to understand and provides valuable information at a glance.  Keeping the different screens to a minimum keeps it uncomplicated, which you want when you need a rest area that meets specific criteria, like a pet area.

Functionality

    The application is 43.51 MB on Android devices and also takes up space for data and cache.  All of the information for everything is remote and requires a network to use.  I tested by disabling the wi-fi connection and switching to airplane mode, and all the screens were blank shells.  The application also depends on the crowd for keeping it current.

Improvements

1) Based on the user reviews, there seems to be an issue with checking in at a rest stop.  I know that when I tried to check into a place 1000 miles away, the app complained I was too far away.  I am not sure that the app was accurately detecting the user's location.  I have not personally had this problem.

2) when clicking the map tab, you get the entire center of the country.  I would like to see it default to a setting that you select in the more options tab. Maybe a number of miles from your current location or the current state you are in.

3) This app is competing with other map applications.  While in Google Maps and Waze, you can search for rest stops without leaving the app.  Granted, neither have the Icon display of rest area resources, but can see this application getting absorbed into another travel app.

4) Another suggestion from my assignment was incentivizing the stopping at rest stops and grading them via crowdsourcing.  Maybe drivers could accrue points redeemable at rest stop vending machines.