Maybe we should make a Loopt Fail Whale

Hi all,

Here’s the good news: the new Loopt for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available in the App Store. Yay! 

The bad news: we expect heavy volume in the coming days as people update and this means you will probably be experiencing some unfortunate performance issues – such as really extreme slowness.

We’re working around the clock to fix these issues but some of them are going to require us to submit an update to the App Store. We’ll keep you posted on our progress via Twitter so make sure to follow us there if you want updates.  

Cool,
The Loopt Team 

p.s. - If you want to see how the new Loopt for iPhone and iPod touch should work when it’s running smoothly, be sure to check out the video.

Comments

[Ryan]

The app looks sick in that video!! Can't wait for these changes to be made.

[Jamie]

It's been working fine for me so far, great job with the update guys :)

[twitter.com/Fabviid]

Can you also add the "Search" feature back into the Friends tab? Glaring omission!

[Peter Berglund]

Please step back to basics when you write version 2.1. You have made it too bloated and the map function is hidden too deep in the UI which has got cluttered. I love Loopt but this was an upgrade that removed usability for me. The new design is not good. It is too complex to use now and dangerous in the car. I mean, to get to the map you must 1) click the Friends button, 2) then click the friend in the list, 3) then click "Profile" (???), 4) then hit a teeny tiny Map button, 5) pray that the car in front of you didn't hit the brakes. If you want to check out another friend hit a back button called Friends (upper left) and repeat the steps. This app should have only one button - the Map, anything else is

Seriously, the person who designed this must be out of his/her mind. Do it again. Do it right. Or go back to the old version. But this is not acceptable.

[Shawn]

I'm giving it the benefit that maybe change is harder for me than I'm willing to admit. But truth be told, it really isn't user friendly anymore. Given that it still shouldn't be too hard for any of our generation to figure this app out, when I first joined Loopt, it took me a couple of seconds to know where everything is. It's not like that anymore. It's also missing the distance listing of your friends. It used to say how far your friends are from you, and if they were 2 miles east, or 24 miles south. Not anymore. I can't even view their full cross-streets without having to click on their profile. I also don't see a page of my own friends except for the list... which now means I have to scroll down and try to figure out if someone deleted me or their Loopt account.

There's definitely much room for improvement. I wish there was an option to go back to the previous version until all these kinks are worked out.

[FelixMendeldog]

Loopt 2.0 Sucks. It no longer dynamically updates your position while running. Also, it no longer displays your distance to friends so now it's it's now almost useless when driving toward a rendezvous.

Worse yet, Loopt 2.0 apparently only polls the iPhone's GPS *once per session* and it doesn't wait for a GPS lock. So since it only polls once per session, the only way to report a reliable position to Loopt 2.0 is too open Maps, get a GPS lock on your position and immediately switch to Loopt. What a pain in the ass. Once it's running you can now drive for an hour (I did) but your reported position will remain the same until you repeat the steps above.

The new interface is cluttered and fiddly. What was once a brilliant app with small flaws is now a bloated piece of crap designed to sell ads; today I got a Target ad superimposed over my map.

Loopt is on it's way out, guaranteed.

[Marc Sofia]

I think you missed something. To get to the friends map you (1) click on Friends and (2) click on the green globe, upper right. Furthermore, if you leave the Friends tab in map view, the next time you return to it, it will automatically be on map view, so at that point it's just one step. At least, that's the way it's working for me. Hope this helps.

[Tim]

Go back to the way it was and improve that, incrementally. This is like someone just started over and didn't really have a "users" approach.... just some cool stuff (they thought) to express their programming ability as nauseum.

[Mark]

I agree. The instant location update is what gave this app that 'really cool' appeal. To me its all about the mapping and you hid that feature into a tiny almost hidden button.

The user interface is too confusing. Please go back to what you had or you can count me out as user. Keep.It.Simple.

[Mark]

I DON'T LIKE IT!
You had a great thing going and you over did it. I can appreciate the work that went into it but.....
For some reason I could not receive 'pings' or 'pongs' with the previous version. My case was handled by a tech. named Chris, I was hoping to have that issue solved with this update....it wasn't. Now with the removal of the instant location updates this app is just so-so.
Please fix what you had and add to it in small steps, not a complete re-design...its just not the same now.

[Mike]

Agreed with the comments here. Version 2.0 is clunky and needs work.

[Mike]

I'd suggest posting specific feedback here where the folks at Loopt can respond:
http://getsatisfaction.com/loopt

[Mike]

I'd suggest posting specific feedback here where the folks at Loopt can respond:
http://getsatisfaction.com/loopt

[Mike]

Agreed!

I'd suggest posting specific feedback here where the folks at Loopt can respond:
http://getsatisfaction.com/loopt

[Loopt]

Hey Mark,

You can still send Pings and receive Pongs with the new Loopt: Go to Friends, then select a friend from the Map or List, then tap the Profile tab (next to Journal in the upper right). To see how, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPu9HQ162fQ and skip to 2:10 in the demo video.

-Loopt

[Loopt]

Hey Felix and Mark,

The new Loopt might be taking a while to locate you as a result of the high usage we've seen as people have been upgrading. We’re working to add capacity, and we will release a new Loopt update in the App Store soon that will make things snappier.

-Loopt

[Loopt]

Hey Marc Sofia,

Thanks for helping respond to Peter. You're right, to get to the Map view, tap the Friends tab at the bottom, then tap the green Globe icon in the upper right and you are there! You can then tap the green List icon in the upper right to switch back to the List view. To see how, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPu9HQ162fQ and skip to 2:10 in the demo video.

-Loopt

[Loopt]

Hey Loopters,

We appreciate the feedback we’ve received about the new version of Loopt and are working on an update that will incorporate a lot of your feedback like:

1) Making it much faster
2) Giving you one-tap access to the Map
3) Making Loopt easier to navigate

In the meantime, you can use the old version of Loopt if you’d like. Visit the App Store, search for Loopt, and download LooptTC

-Loopt

[Tim]

Thanks for that link. Fortunately I found a way to go/get back to the former version.

[Tautar Pearce]

How come on the share i cant cut and paste stuff from my iphone i have thoughts and thing but cant paste em on loopt

[PaulG]

I tried loopt 2.0, didn't like it.
I agree with all of the above comments.
Just went "back" to Loopt 1.0 (TC)

[Todd Mears]

All of my friend dissapeared and I can't add them back. It shows that I can add them, I touch them and hit add. Nothing happens.

Help.

:)

[Dusty]

I can't get loopt to work on my samsung moment, and instead of a fail whale I would have prefered to have seen a mobius strip...loop, loopt...get it...math....