AND FINALLY: The world’s best app

BTN does not have the time or resources to evaluate the best app in the world but a straw poll in this office came up with a strange winner.

First for us was the Transport for London (TfL) “Tube Status” site which on the face of it is the provider of essentially bad news.

The London Underground carries up to 5m passengers a day, and for the most part it gives a really good service.

BTN suggests using  the app before descending into the depths. Tube Status.

In case of problems, you will know straight away and have to make a decision. Previously one only found out about delays and so on while waiting, frustrated, on a platform.

The app is informative, up to a point. 

Should you go down, look for an alternative route, or try and book into a hotel for the night?

Most stations now have wi-fi and one assumes it will reach the tunnels, rather like the Heathrow Express. As your train comes to a halt, you will straight away know how long the wait is.

In a perverse way, the Tube Status app is good news.

And just like Harry Beck's famous route map of 1931, the London idea will be copied around the globe.

BTN’s best apps of 2019. 

Second place, for European readers, goes to easyJet, for a very easy app that virtually gets you on to the aircraft. Hilton Hotels is third for a visual and descriptive production that is really useful.

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