As I didn’t have time for this blog entry last year due to personal reasons, it is time again for a small textual update regarding my unofficial Formula 1 app PitlaneOne, which is now entering its 13th season. The 75th season of the highest Formula category starts in Bahrain in around two weeks and of course the current drivers, teams and circuits cannot be missed.
Android & iOS
For this purpose, the codebase-equal Android and iOS versions recently received an update to version 1.1 build 191, which, in addition to the latest database, also contain the newest calendar for the 2024 season. Looking back, update 1.1 from July last year is worth being mentioned, as PitlaneOne got various smaller improvements with it:
- Reversed Countdown/News order on Home page
- Tapping Countdown/Live info now always opens Live page
- Redesigned race info on Live page (and added weather forecast)
- Added separators in Qualifying/Sprint Qualifying live scoring
- Added most frequent winners
- Various UI improvements for tablets
- Added support for local date and distance formats
- Added required notification permission behaviour on Android 13
- Fixed failure when tapping on Donate option without Google Play Services installed
- Improved Android splashscreen
Windows 10
The Windows 10 (Mobile) version also received an update to version 2.1 build 432 this week, which, as in previous years, is primarily a maintenance update that prepares the app for the new season. Sometimes I think about adapting the design of the app to Windows 11, but that would necessarily mean ending support for Windows 10 Mobile. And because of the broader range of functions, I find it more interesting in the long term to port the Android/iOS version developed with React Native to Windows at some point in the future.
Outlook
Unfortunately, it happened more than once last year that the session times in the app were incorrect. This was mostly because the schedule published at the beginning of the season changed during the season, but I didn’t notice it or always had to check it manually. To improve this, I wrote a small tool that compares the current schedule with the values stored in the PitlaneOne database a few weeks ago. This should make this problem much less common.
In addition, of course, I still have a relatively long to-do list here and I hope that the end of my work and travel will give me more time for this as soon as I have found a more “regulated” life again.
Furthermore, I can’t currently predict whether I’ll revive the Symbian version again due to the lack of a test device.
Download links and further information
With the above-mentioned updates, PitlaneOne is ready for 2024 on the platforms Android, iOS and Windows 10. As always, the app is free of charge and can be downloaded from the respective App Store, you can find all links on this page. If you would like to support further development, I would be the happiest if you tell your Formula 1-loving families, your friends and your dachshund about the app. In addition, I would like to thank Dalibor, Miguel, Jaakko, Luca, Enza, Luc and Ivan for their translations and I would be happy to receive an email if your language is still missing and you would like to add it. If you would like to support me financially, you can of course do so either directly via the app (look for the pizza symbol) or via the website.