After more than a decade of service, the long-running MyTranslink app will be officially shut down on Friday, replaced by a newer version that’s already being branded a downgrade by frustrated commuters.
The change comes after Microsoft ended support for its free developer platform Xamarin, which powered the old app. That forced Translink to roll out a new journey planner, simply titled Translink, in August last year.
But if the goal was improvement, passengers aren’t convinced. The old app had a poor 2.3-star rating, but its replacement has fared even worse at 1.4 stars, with many users calling it “almost unusable.”
While MyTranslink allowed customers to quickly check nearby departures, save favourite stops and services, and see live timetables, the new app instead requires saving specific trips or commutes. It also forces users to open separate web pages for Go Card balances and timetables, rather than displaying them in-app.
“Can’t save destinations for quick journey planning, can’t see stop timetables at one tap, this is worse than a paper map from 2015,” one commuter wrote. Another added that “relying on wind speed and astrology would probably be more helpful.”
Other complaints have slammed the cluttered maps, the lack of service favourites, and confusing new features. “Please just slap a new coat of paint on the old app, this one is terrible,” another user pleaded.
In response, a Translink spokesperson defended the update, arguing the new platform allows for “real-time journey planning, increased personalisation, saved trips, and live navigation.” They said several upgrades had already been rolled out, including links to timetables, nearby departures on the home screen, and more options for sorting journeys.
“Translink continues to work closely with our app developer Siemens to provide new and improved features, address customer feedback and deliver updates aligned with Queensland’s public transport needs,” the spokesperson said.
But the South-East Queensland Transport Association (SEQTA) said many passengers still rely on MyTranslink and that retiring it now was premature.
“The new Translink app is still missing features and it’s very disappointing,” SEQTA spokesperson Imogen Buckley told DovaFM. “Between that and the app hallucinating data, there’s a common sentiment that it’s too early to shut down the old app.”
Despite the backlash, MyTranslink will disappear from app stores and stop functioning from Friday, August 29 marking the end of an era, but not, it seems, the end of commuter frustration.