Category Archives: taipei

A new page for every metro station – introducing a new look for Metropedia

For each of our online metro maps, we provide an accompanying “Metropedia” with a webpage for every metro station and metro line (for example People’s Square in Shanghai, Kowloon in Hong Kong). We’ve just designed all the Metropedia pages to match the style of our new beta metro maps. Highlights of the new pages include:

  • New stylish header with a snapshot photo of the location
  • Fast facts including the name of the station in multiple languages and audio pronounciation
  • Location map from Google Maps
  • Tips contributed by the users of our iPhone apps
  • Photos from the area around each station
  • Nearby places from Wikipedia and Skimbl
  • Works well on phones and tablets as well as desktop browsers

Check out the Metropedia homepages for for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei, and do let us know if you have any suggestions on how to improve the Metropedia pages!

Sample page:

Sample page on iPhone:

 

Faster loading, faster route-planning on our beta metro maps

We’ve just launched some more incremental improvements to our beta metro maps for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei

  • By popular demand, you can now drag between two stations to plan a route (this is how route-planning works in the classic version). You can also use the new method of clicking on the first station, choosing “Plan route” and clicking on the second station.
  • It’s also now quicker to plan a new route after planning your first route – no need to dismiss the route-planning bar
  • Finally, we’ve improved the caching of the map tiles, so the map should load much faster on repeat visits

 

We’ll continue to work on fixing bugs and making improvements in the beta version until they surpass the classic versions 🙂 If you spot any errors, or have any feedback on how to improve the beta versions, do let me know in the comments, or via our support page.

Updates for our beta metro maps

Since we launched the “beta” versions of our online metro maps a few weeks ago, we’ve received lots of great feedback from our loyal users. Some people love them, some people have found problems or issues and want to go back to the old versions.

Just to let you know, we are reading and responding to all the feedback, and continuing to make improvements to the beta version. Today we made several improvements to our beta maps for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei, including:

  •  The default zoom level shows a larger area
  •  You can now zoom in/out smoothly, rather than only in steps of 2x
  •  When hovering over a station, you’ll see a “hand” cursor, making it clearer when you can click
  •  Fixed a bug where flags would disappear during route planning
  •  Faster loading of map tiles in China

To opt-in to the beta version, click the orange banner.

To opt-out and return to the classic version, click the ExploreMetro logo and choose “Don’t use beta”.

We’ll continue to work on fixing bugs and making improvements in the beta version until they surpass the classic versions 🙂 If you spot any errors, or have any feedback on how to improve the beta versions, do let me know in the comments, or via our support page.

Coming soon: all-new online metro maps

Since 2007 we’ve been providing interactive Flash metro maps at exploreshanghai.com and for four other cities. While recently we’ve been focused on apps for iPhone and Android, our popular online maps at  are starting to look a little dated. It’s time for a fresh start, so I’ve been redesigning the online maps from the ground up. The goals of the redesign are:

  • No more Flash: as an increasing number of devices don’t come with Flash Player installed
  • Make the design responsive – that is to say, it should display well on any screen size, from a mobile phone right up to a large desktop monitor
  • Allow users of mobile devices who haven’t got our native apps to access basic mapping functionality on all devices for free
  • Add online maps for Seoul and Taipei
  • Add some features from our native apps, like more intuitive routeplanning, and zoom in/out

We’re still testing the new maps, but here’s a sneak preview of things to come (click to enlarge):

Soon, you’ll be able to opt-in to use the new version when you visit one of our sites. Stay tuned for updates!

The Joy of Six: introducing Explore Taipei 6.0 with Orange Line Extension, top tips

We’re proud to announce that Explore Taipei is the fourth of our award-winning subway maps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to reach version 6.0


Version 6.0 includes the new branch of the Orange Line (Xinzhuang Line) including stations between Taipei Bridge and Fu Jen University.

With version 6.0 we re-wrote the map code from the ground up to be faster. The app now loads quicker, and zooming in and out should be smooth, even on older devices.

The other big new feature is tips. Ever wondered what points of interest are close to a subway stop? Now you can tap on any station, then tap on Tips to see what’s nearby.

Tap the thumbs up button on any tip which you find useful. And if you know a great local restaurant, attraction or a clever shortcut, you can add your own tip:

You can also view a list of the most popular tips for the whole city.

Explore Taipei 6.0 is a free update for existing users. Not got Explore Taipei yet? Download it now from the iTunes App Store.

All change please: Taipei Nangang Exhibition Station

The Taipei Metro station at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center now serves both the Neihu Line (brown) and Nangang Line (blue). As of February 27, 2011, riders will no longer need to take a shuttle bus to transfer lines, cutting transfer times between the two lines dramatically.

The brand new Explore Taipei 3.0 includes the new interchange, so you can plan routes, and check times and prices for your journey. Find out more!

Introducing Explore Metro maps 3.0 for iPhone and iPad

Today, we’re launching a major update to our apps! Explore Beijing, Explore Shanghai, Explore Guangzhou, Explore Hong Kong, Explore Taipei and Explore Singapore have all been updated to version 3.0. This includes new native support for iPad and iPad 2!

We’ve taken the best features of the iPhone/iPod touch experience and redesigned them to work on the iPad’s larger screen. Here’s what you’ll see when you start Explore Shanghai.

 

Of course, the metro map takes centre stage. You can search for a station with the search bar, or tap on any station for timetables and route-planning:

 

Notice the “flip” button? A great new feature is the ability to “flip” the screen to see a large Google Map of the station and surrounding area:

Other nearby stations are highlighted. You can also tap the “locate” button  to centre the map on your current location.

Because the apps are “Universal” apps, they work both on iPhone/iPod touch (including retina graphics!) and iPad/iPad 2. If you’ve already bought one of our apps for iPhone, you can install it on iPad for free. And of course, updating to version 3.0 is free. Not downloaded yet? Our apps cost just $1.99 on the iTunes App Store: download now!

We’d love to hear your feedback about ways to improve our apps. Do get in touch if you find any bugs or have any suggestions!