Æ News – Edinburgh Fringe iPhone app to get upgrade
New upgrades scheduled to be available by August 4
The current version does not include a search facility for venue listings
By Thom Dibdin
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has announced that the free Fringe iPhone app released on Wednesday will receive substantial upgrades before the start of the Fringe.
As revealed exclusively in a review in the Annals of Edinburgh Stage, the app begins to make sense of the vast amount of data in the Fringe programme. However, the review expressed concerns that the app is still some way short of its true potential, particularly in its search facilities to access the 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues.
Gavin Dutch, managing director of Loc8 Solutions the Edinburgh-based company behind the app, told the Annals that many of the concerns would be addressed in an update released before the start of the Fringe.
Responding directly to the review, he said: “In fact we have already implemented solutions for quite a few of them, including venue search, and search of events at a specific venue. Finding your nearest show will also be much easier as in the update shows can be ordered by distance from your current location, or any other location you choose.
“We would have preferred to have all the functionality refined before release but thought that people would still find the app useful in its current form before the Fringe started so released early.”
The Fringe have confirmed that version two of the app is due for release on August 4. New functions and enhanced features will be added as updates during the run up to the Fringe.
The full list of new features in version 2, as detailed by the Fringe is:
- Find shows which are nearby and starting soon;
- Search for shows and venues by name, time and category;
- Live feed from the Half-Price-Hut showing which half-price tickets are available;
- Check ticket availability with Fringe Box Office;
- Call box office direct from the listings to book your tickets; and
- Share interesting shows and festival diary with friends by email.
Commenting on the new app, Kath M Mainland, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “This is an exciting digital listings service for our visitors, performers and venues on the iPhone. This application gives allows us to broaden the delivery of our Festival listings services and engage with new audiences. We are especially pleased that we have been able to work with local company Loc8 Solutions.”
The free Fringe iPhone app is available to download here
The Fringe Programme is available online here
The review of the app in the Annals is here
ENDS
