More than 15,000 customers examined the app for a month before it was officially released
Presto’s cellular app for each Apple and Android device has officially arrived; however, transit riders who spent a month before the release trying out the app had been giving it mixed opinions.

Some commuters, like Abhi Sharma, say the app works properly.

“I can see my cutting-edge balance the use of the app; however, what absolutely makes it really beneficial to me is that I can reload my Presto even as I am visiting,” Sharma advised CBC Toronto. But the long-awaited software isn’t this kind of hit with other riders who’ve spoken out on social media. Multiple users on Reddit were reporting troubles loading money onto their playing cards, one of the app’s most important features.

Metrolinx's new Presto mobile app for Apple, Android gets mixed reviews from users Social Sharing 1

TTC launches ‘Hop On-Hop Off’ application for Presto card customers

Mayor, TTC union, asks the province to step in on Presto card device transition
The cell app, which was released at the end of January, has some of the functions formerly handiest offered at the website. They include the capability to test and load finances, notifications for low stability, and the ability to control a couple of Presto playing cards.

iPhone versus Android

Though the app is to be had on both the Apple App Store and Google Play, it gives unique alternatives for users. The biggest difference is the near-subject communication (NFC) functionality of Android phones, which means users can instantly load money onto their card by preserving their Presto card to their cellphone.

Apple restricts this option, which means that iPhone customers should wait between 4 and 24 hours for their budget to be available after making a fee. Ross Woodruff, an iPhone person, is one of the thousands who took components within the app’s beta trying out section. He says this challenge for Apple users reduces the ease of the app. The design is satisfactory, and it looks all proper. It’s just no longer very complete-featured,” Woodruff stated. “It’s virtually only a

mobilized model of the website, which is not first-rate. For Android consumer Pratik Dam, the NFC capabilities on his cellphone make the usage of the app a super revel in because they store him an experience to a Presto merchandising gadget or subway station whilst he needs funds right away. However, Dam says hehe would love Presto to take it similarly and put off the want for bodily cards altogether. “For me, having the app ought to come with the feature to use your phone as the bypass itself,” he stated.

Response from Metrolinx

The dam isn’t by myself, with many on Twitter sharing the equal mind. But in keeping with Metrolinx, commuters will have to look ahead to this potential characteristic. At this time, you can’t tap your cellphone to pay for transit,” the enterprise wrote on its internet site. CBC Toronto emailed Metrolinx asking for their reaction to issues raised by way of iPhone users about the app but did now not acquire a reaction.

But Metrolinx government vice president Annalise Czerny did launch a written announcement praising users who examined the brand new capabilities. “We’re pleased that extra than 15,000 clients took the time to test our Presto app and give us their remarks,” Czerny wrote. Though there are subtle differences between the user interface featured in the Android and iOS versions of Metrolinx’s new app, the functionality is nearly identical across both platforms. Further, the Android version disappointingly doesn’t feature the ability to instantly pay by swiping the phone near a Presto machine. However, Metrolinx says that functionality is still coming in future versions. Given how tightly guarded Apple is with the iPhone’s NFC functionality, it remains unclear if the ability to validate a transit trip at a Presto kiosk will ever come to the tech giant’s smartphone. “We are still pursuing options for customers to tap onto transit using their phones, and we will share more details when they’re available,” reads a statement from Metrolinx regarding the Android version of the app’s NFC

functionality.  That said, via the new Android app, it is possible to load funds and passes instantly to a Presto account by holding the card to the rear of your phone. Similar to making changes to your Presto card via desktop, it takes between four and 24 hours for changes made through the new iOS app to be pushed through.

Metrolinx’s new Presto app’s final version is soon to be available on iOS and Android. The app will initially be released to 10,000 iPhone and 10,000 Android users through a limited beta test. You can sign up for the beta test through either the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. “The beta launch will be available to a limited group of users to get feedback on their experience before the official version is released,” says Metrolinx

Previous articlePUBG Mobile to IRCTC Rail Connect: 10 must-have apps you should download on your Android smartphone or iPhone
Next articleTrailblazer: First girl to join Boy Scout troop in Mobile
Lucia Stokes
Pop culture buff. General organizer. Music evangelist. Reader. Award-winning twitter ninja. Devoted food advocate. Skateboarder, maker, fender owner, Swiss design-head and doodler. Operating at the junction of modernism and sustainability to save the world from bad design. I work with Fortune 500 companies and startups.