Courier Mobile App

Hi all, I'm pleased to be able to announce that the first version of our mobile app is all ready to go and available in the App Store.

What can you do?

• You can enable tracking. We will be working hard over the next few weeks to improve visibility of your location to other members on the site.
• If you have tracking enabled, the app will alert you if you come near to any work, or if any work is added to mtvan nearby. It runs in the background and will ping you in the normal way to get your attention.
• From there, if you'd like to quote you can view the courier work listing. Click on the job for more information and a map, and click through to quote where you'll provide the normal details required.
• If you have excess work that you need to book whilst on the road, you can also book it directly from the app. This may also suit busy controllers while they're away from their desks.

Use of the app is completely free. All you need is an iPhone 3GS or newer (or iPad), iOS 5.0 or newer, and a working data connection. The app is also optimised and ready for the iPhone 5's 4" display and iOS 6.

There's no faffing around required to get up and running, just find us in the App Store and download and log in with your normal credentials.

Here's some more information, and here we are on the App Store.

Some Screen Shots:

seems darn good :-)

works fine on the iphone 4s

Thompson Direct said:

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works fine on the iphone 4s

Great :)

I'm on a lowly iPhone 4 right now. I'm yet to try it on a 5, but it all seems fine in the simulator.

Oliver & Sons said:

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Must be me at this end then, told me the app could not be found on my new iphone 4s, where's me old Nokia ?

Have you downloaded it from the App Store?

The app looks good

should work fine on the iphone 5 as its near as damn-it a 4S with a faster processer and a larger screen

Nice! Might change my android for an iphone .

just downloaded it on my iphone 4s dead easy to download, but how to you add work available or is it me just been thick

found out how now you have to press the + button on the courier work page

very useful and should make life easier out on the road.

Cool! I'm due an upgrade in a couple of weeks :)

Does it work on galaxy note?

Turner Logistics said:

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Does it work on galaxy note?

No, iOS only.

Anybody know how to close a booking on the mobile app ?

Harrison Haulage said:

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Anybody know how to close a booking on the mobile app ?

Not currently available.

Many thanks

Are you planning an android version ?

Patterson Couriers said:

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Are you planning an android version ?

Not for the time being.

I normally don't comment much just tend to read the forum but well done this app is spot on its clear and easy to use I'm due an upgrade so leaning towards iOS, this site has the potential to be the best exchange for couriers. And this app will make my life and hopefully others a lot easier to answer to jobs. Just get rid of outdated jobs it's really annoying, apart from that well done admin!

looks good! shame I have a Samsung S3 and a Blackberry!!!!

Time for an upgrade, [name]?!

Android owners, we are second class now.

2nd class it seems.

Hopefully something will come for Android users, it certainly looks good.

Personally I do not like iPhones have had a couple but Android better in all respects!

[name], going from android phone to an iPhone is a downgrade!! Seriously, this app. is ideal for what we need so hope you'll consider an android version.

We haven't got anything against Android or its users, but the numbers speak for themselves. iPad and iPhone together absolutely dominate in the list of mobile devices connecting this site. Android is nowhere by comparison, and Blackberry is vanishingly small.

So the plan is to get the iPhone app perfect in every way, i.e. add features and improve features over time in response to user comments and feedback. Then look again at Android, having got it all right on the iPhone.

I think the full website works quite well on a reasonably-sized Android phone or tablet, so that's probably the best way ahead if you can't bring yourself to buy an iPhone or iPad.

Not trying to close down the discussion on this, just trying to let everyone know the whys and wherefores of what we are doing.

Sounds like that old Guiness advert, "there's no demand for ice-cold Guiness, you're the hundredth person we've told today"!

Haha, true!

I think I'm really saying let us get on top of the iPhone thing before opening something new and technically different like Android.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the comments.

Check out the twitter to see people using it and commenting:

mtvan on twitter for mobiles

mtvan on twitter

Getting a twitter app on your android phone is a good way of getting free alerts, btw.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Just crashes for me.

Installed and deleted the app twice.

says 'sending login details please wait' for 2 seconds and closes.

iPhone 4S

[business] said:

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Just crashes for me.

Installed and deleted the app twice.

says 'sending login details please wait' for 2 seconds and closes.

Iphone 4s

Hmmmm I'll check out what might be happening. Nothing seems immediately obvious to me though.

You deleted rather than just closed right?

Website Admin said:

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[business] said:

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Just crashes for me.

Installed and deleted the app twice.

says 'sending login details please wait' for 2 seconds and closes.

Iphone 4s

Hmmmm I'll check out what might be happening. Nothing seems immediately obvious to me though.

You deleted rather than just closed right?

Signing in and out fine for me. Is your phone jailbroken?

No, all as Apple intended.

Restarted after install and after deletion before re-installing.

[business] said:

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No, all as Apple intended.

Restarted after install and after deletion before re-installing.

I'd suggest trying a restore in iTunes. We've had 60 people using the App ok today.

Where technology is concerned I'm as thick as two short planks but I managed to download the app and as far as I can see it's working fine on my iPhone and iPad. Look forward to using it in earnest. Brilliant idea. Thanks

Rgds Graham

Oliver & Sons said:

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Where technology is concerned I'm as thick as two short planks but I managed to download the app and as far as I can see it's working fine on my iPhone and iPad. Look forward to using it in earnest. Brilliant idea. Thanks

Rgds Ray

Great stuff :)

You'll find it'll work on both but you can only be logged in on one device at any one time, this is a deliberate feature!

If you sign in on the 2nd device, you should find the 1st signs off within a few minutes.

[business] said:

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No, all as Apple intended.

Restarted after install and after deletion before re-installing.

I tracked down a small bug that will have affected new mtvan members only. Please try to sign in again now.

Working now.

Nice work.

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded the app, and for all the feedback. Keep it coming.

We'd also like to know what everyone thinks would be a good next step for it.

If you're a courier, what else would you like to be able to do with the app while you're out on the road?

What would you like to see on the website FROM the app? For example, if you are a courier company, would it be useful to see a map of couriers (who give their consent) plotted?

I think that app is great when your out on the road, the small issue I have is everytime a job alert comes in I look at them but the next day they all come back as job alerts even tho I have looked at them. Is this a teething problem or my phone ?

Harrison Haulage said:

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I think that app is great when your out on the road, the small issue I have is everytime a job alert comes in I look at them but the next day they all come back as job alerts even tho I have looked at them. Is this a teething problem or my phone ?

Are you logging out of the app between days?

No, I take it thats why ?

No, if you don't log out it should not notify you again.

My recommendation would be to leave the app on all the time, logged in and just turn off tracking if you don't want to share your location with us whilst at home for example.

I guess it could be a teething problem, but it's not something I've noticed. Do you mean it's actually popping an alert into notification centre more than once for one job?

ok will give that ago, thank you.

[name] (mtvan.com Ltd) said:

We'd also like to know what everyone thinks would be a good next step for it.

Sorry to bang the drum again, I know you don't want to hear it but, Android for me

Just downloaded looks cool & much easier on the go

what happens is I look through the job alerts 1 day so the alerts dissapear, but the next morning I will have say 11 alerts but I have already looked at them so they are back again.

Harrison Haulage said:

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what happens is I look through the job alerts 1 day so the alerts dissapear, but the next morning I will have say 11 alerts but I have already looked at them so they are back again.

Are you expecting the courier work list on the app to get smaller? It's a list of available work, not a list of alerts.

Sorry to bang the drum again, I know you don't want to hear it but, Android for me

No, it's fine.

Sorry, we had to choose one to start on, and we went with the one with by far the highest user count on mtvan.

Any timescale on Android?

Why would my dates next to the work be 1970? tried logging out & back in my phone calender all ok

[business] said:

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Why would my dates next to the work be 1970? tried logging out & back in my phone calender all ok

Any particular job, can you tell me precisely where?

Website Admin said:

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[business] said:

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Why would my dates next to the work be 1970? tried logging out & back in my phone calender all ok

Any particular job, can you tell me precisely where?

I'm feeling like it might be something to do with your timezone on the phone, or perhaps lack of. Seems a bit strange though. In the App I look at the timezone that your phone is in and use it to display times correctly for you.

Lewis Haulage said:

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Any timescale on Android?

No, I'm not ruling out ever doing an Android version but it is not being worked on right now.

all of them are dated 01/01/1970 Phone time zone is set to London, all emails time is ok deleted app then re installed still the same

[business] said:

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all of them are dated 01/01/1970 Phone time zone is set to London, all emails time is ok deleted app then re installed still the same

I've tried the app as you on my phone and had no problems. Your mtvan account details all look ok.

What version of iOS are you on?

I've searched a bit and found a few people on various apps with the bug you describe (calendar working fine etc).

Go to Settings -> General -> Date & Time -> Set Date & Time.

Try disabling 'Set Automatically' and try to manually set the current date and time there.

iOS 6.0.1

Set automatically is off, I will look later but I'm not too fussed at the mo as I'm upgrading handset very soon.

Thank you for your help.

Works fine on the iPhone 5.

Good stuff, will test it out later / monday as got a few loads to post.

Im getting alerts on this app for work that was posted a couple days ago

Thorpe & Sons said:

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Im getting alerts on this app for work that was posted a couple days ago

I have jobs showing from the 30/7/13 cant get them off tried uninstalling then reinstalling the app, but still the same, Jobs that were posted last week

time to build an app for the majority or still faff about with apple stuff?

Works perfect on iPad 2

Any progress on the Android app?

Android seems to be seen as a second class product... Least I don't fear dropping my android phone without the fear of the screen obliterating at the hint of a contact with a hard surface. iphone =fragile!

My daughter dropped hers on the day it was delivered and screen shattered into shards of glass. We both got glass stuck in our hands. They're lethal apart from being sh@te.

I'm also interesting in knowing about the progress of the Android app.

Does anyone remember the ice cold Guinness advert? Barman to customer, "there's no demand for ice cold Guinness, you're the hundredth person I've told today" Bit like the Android app...

Seems a bit like the conundrum of VHS or Betamax!! (those of you under 30 please ask your parents) lets face it even the new blackberry is android based! I have a phone and tablet android based and I'm desperately hanging on to my old blackberry because of the 'proper keyboard' but even that will break at some point!

Watson Express said:

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My daughter dropped hers on the day it was delivered and screen shattered into shards of glass. We both got glass stuck in our hands. They're lethal apart from being sh@te.

No further questions your honour!

Admin be serious upgrade how can u call from going to something like a sumsung to an iphone an upgrade pls oh and the sales for samsung took over iphone.

Well its up and running on my iPhone. Anyone want an android smartphone?

Android app please admin

Rogers Services said:

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So the plan is to get the iPhone app perfect in every way, i.e. add features and improve features over time in response to user comments and feedback. Then look again at Android, having got it all right on the iPhone.

This was November last year... Still no Android app!? Why please?

We've had a few problems for new members on the iPhone app in the last couple of days. Should be resolved now.

Any news on the Android app?

I keep getting alert for jobs posted last week won this app. This is because the jobs haven't been marked as sold and it can get annoying at times

Thorpe & Sons said:

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I keep getting alert for jobs posted last week won this app. This is because the jobs haven't been marked as sold and it can get annoying at times

Yes very anoying that and getting jobs 200 miles away for a 2 mile job, could do with a ignore button!

Maybe it's not worth having an android app then?

Akhtar Haulage said:

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Thorpe & Sons said:

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I keep getting alert for jobs posted last week won this app. This is because the jobs haven't been marked as sold and it can get annoying at times

Yes very anoying that and getting jobs 200 miles away for a 2 mile job, could do with a ignore button!

Yes or a decline button so you don't get the alert again. I don't bother with the tiny jobs

[business] said:

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Akhtar Haulage said:

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Thorpe & Sons said:

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I keep getting alert for jobs posted last week won this app. This is because the jobs haven't been marked as sold and it can get annoying at times

Yes very anoying that and getting jobs 200 miles away for a 2 mile job, could do with a ignore button!

Yes or a decline button so you don't get the alert again. I don't bother with the tiny jobs

Thanks for the ideas. You will only ever get an alert once for a job (providing you don't shut down the app).

Ilkley... What's your alert radius set to?

Watkins Services said:

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Any news on the Android app?

No, sorry. We'll update the site when there's something worth mentioning.

Does anyone use this?, cos I just find it wasting battery life. And for the idiots like me how the frig do you clear/delete the damn things

Lewis Haulage said:

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Does anyone use this?, cos I just find it wasting battery life. And for the idiots like me how the frig do you clear/delete the damn things

I couldn't agree more. How do you know where anyone is anyway, there is no map to pinpoint where you are exactly or am I doing something wrong

Lewis Haulage said:

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Does anyone use this?, cos I just find it wasting battery life. And for the idiots like me how the frig do you clear/delete the damn things

We get as many quotes through the app as we do through the website (quite a lot).

Thorpe & Sons said:

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I couldn't agree more. How do you know where anyone is anyway, there is no map to pinpoint where you are exactly or am I doing something wrong

We have a new courier directory in the works that will show courier positions. People using the app do so as it's an easier and quicker way to quote for work.

Website Admin said:

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Thorpe & Sons said:

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I couldn't agree more. How do you know where anyone is anyway, there is no map to pinpoint where you are exactly or am I doing something wrong

We have a new courier directory in the works that will show courier positions. People using the app do so as it's an easier and quicker way to quote for work.

I understand that, but it does get annoying when people don't mark the job as sold. I keep getting alert from last week and should be out of date by now when its down as "ready now and deliver asap"

Thorpe & Sons said:

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I understand that, but it does get annoying when people don't mark the job as sold. I keep getting alert from last week and should be out of date by now when its down as "ready now and deliver asap"

Do you force-quit the app to save battery life? If the app is not closed you will only receive an alert for any job once.

I'll try and improve the alert situation for the next release (will need an update for iOS 7 anyway).

Well here is my reply to topic closed, sorry admin but we all pay the same money therefore we should be entitled to the same service, you cant alienate members just because they use a different phone.

I don'y use the app myself as i got fed up with getting alerts for jobs that was no longer available. Just the vendor being lazy and not allocating it or marking it as no longer available

Shame that [name] as apps like this could be very useful if used correctly, however it would be nice to have the option of using it.

I use the Courier Exchange app and gain a great deal of work out it, it would be very useful if the mtvan app worked in the same way for android as well as iphone, i'm sure a lot of members would find it useful. I'm personally getting rid of my iphone as i find them rubbish and a waste of time.

I have one of each but find the iphone up to my needs. The android has a much larger screen and would be better for my failing eyesight (sob). [name] now gets ready for a bit of sarcasm from t'leyland lad. Been on Courier Exchange 2 months and got ONE job via tracking app. Time is a great thing innit.

Hopkins Direct said:

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Well here is my reply to topic closed, sorry admin but we all pay the same money therefore we should be entitled to the same service, you cant alienate members just because they use a different phone.

Thanks for your post. As mentioned previously while we can see the value in an Android app, we currently cannot justify the resources required to produce one. Our efforts are simply better spent elsewhere. This is the case for the vast majority of start-ups. You do have the option to get hold of an iPhone for fairly minimal cost though, the app works well on an iPhone 4.

I have to say Admin that you have a very strange outlook by dismissing Android so completely.

I use Android and will never buy another iPhone, especially not just to access one app. Android has upwards of 75% of UK smartphone sales and growing. Excluding some games, I cannot think of one commercial app that disregards Android so blatantly (and you seem proud to do so).

You say your stance is based on figures for visitors to your site. Perhaps the lack of attention to Android users has something to do with this. I avoid using the site whilst mobile as it is very fiddly to access and use on my phone. I would suggest that there is an army of Android users out there that would use the site more if it or the app were optimized for Android.

Apple's over-priced, over-hyped, over-designed, fragile closed shop product has had its day. My Moto G KitKat 4.4 is faster, stronger, higher resolution, more adaptable and future friendly - all at a fraction of the price of an iPhone (£120 sim free)

According to www.comscore.com

"If you look at the raw numbers for sales market share between Android and iOS devices, Google seems to be dominating the space. In Q4 2013, Gartner reported that Android had 77.8% worldwide market share while iOS had only 17.8% share. One quarter prior, Android had 81.9% and iOS took second place with 12.1%."

I think it's time for a re-think. As for being a "start up", I was using this site 10 years ago. That's the longest start up I ever heard of..

I have been on this site for quite some time and this discussion keeps popping up. I personally got the iphone myself but i don't find the app very useful for me, as for android users, members have been asking for the android version since i started on here and still no android version. I feel that many android users would find it a good tool to have to pick up work. It would be a way forward to possibly gaining more members if more options where available. I personally won't be getting another iphone when my contract ends next year. Apple phones are nowhere near as good as many that are out there at the moment. I agree with the previous comment a rethink is needed

I'm an Android user & have no intention of getting an iPhone. It's a mistake IMO not having an Android App.

Thanks for the above posts guys, some explanation about our position...

Williamson Group said:

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I have to say Admin that you have a very strange outlook by dismissing Android so completely.

We are not completely dismissing Android. We recognise it's popularity and the benefit an Android app would bring to the site. However it's a question of prioritising what brings the most benefit to all users of the site. Recently we've been focussing on checks on our members and vetting tools (address confirmation, insurance uploads etc), these changes have been welcome and we imagine that you'd agree that they have been worthwhile. We do hope to be able to deliver something for Android in the future but are unable to provide a precise roadmap of where we're focussing our efforts.