Filed under: Software, Cool tools, iPhone, iPod touch
Delivery Status touch: obsessive package tracking on the move
For fans of the Delivery Status Dashboard widget (and we are), the wait is over: Delivery Status touch is now available in the App Store for all your mobile package-tracking needs. It replicates the functionality and outstanding design of the original widget, and author Mike Piontek has made getting those unwieldy tracking numbers into the iPhone/touch application as simple as can be.
Using an email-based system which runs through Mike's servers, you can add tracking information to Delivery Status touch directly from the Delivery Status widget on your Dashboard. You can also sync a bookmarklet to Mobile Safari or -- especially handy for Windows users with no Dashboard widget -- turn your deliveries into individual bookmarks for syncing. You can, of course, type the numbers in manually if it should come to that.
Once you've got some packages to track, tapping the left side of a delivery icon shows a second level of details. A subsequent tap offers links to the tracking page in Mobile Safari and a Maps link which shows the current location of your package. You can then map a route to the destination and get an idea how far your precious cargo has to travel, if you want. If there are multiple packages in your shipment, a small number appears in the icon which you can tap to view the other items.
Like the widget, Delivery Status touch offers support for a wide array of shipping services. I think the only thing missing may be the Pony Express. Whether you're an eBay junkie anxiously waiting for your latest score or a corporate user tracking vital pieces of your infrastructure (or one of the rest of us somewhere in the middle), Delivery Status and Delivery Status touch make a winning combination.
Delivery Status touch is available in the iTunes App Store for $1.99; this pricing is listed as "introductory" so you might want to get it before it becomes more expensive.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Galley said 9:21AM on 9-21-2008
Once I realized it was from the same developer as the dashboard widget that I have been using for years, I purchased it without hesitation. It's well-designed, and works as advertised.
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Neil said 9:23AM on 9-21-2008
£1.19 for this? Are you kidding me?
No thanks.
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CaptSaltyJack said 7:19PM on 9-21-2008
I'm tired of cheapskates like you complaining about apps that cost $3. You have no idea the effort it takes for developers to:
1) design the application
2) implement it
3) test it
4) submit to Apple
5) get it rejected by Apple for various reasons
6) rework it
7) resubmit
8) appears on the App Store (unless it's rejected again)
Blood, sweat, and tears, man. And cheapos like you are bitching about the price? Wow...
Jonathan Chan said 11:43AM on 9-21-2008
I picked it up. I love the widget. $1.99 isn't asking alot.
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Christian A. Stroemmen said 11:48AM on 9-21-2008
For $1.99 this might just be one of the best apps available on the App Store. Couldn't recommend this more for anyone that wants to track their packages.
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angeL said 12:01PM on 9-21-2008
Just picked it up. I love the design of this App.
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Jennifer said 12:43PM on 9-21-2008
$1.99? That's a joke. I spend as much time in front of my Macbook Pro as I do anywhere else, so I'll just use the desktop version, which has the appropriate price of $0. The widget is free, why isn't this? Does this guy think that people are that desperate to know where their packages are at every moment of every day? The shipping sites aren't updated that often anyway. No thanks. I'll either use the email notifications that shippers offer already or use the dashboard widget. This guy is outcompeted by his own software.
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Greg said 1:31PM on 9-21-2008
It takes him time to make the widget and the app. Maybe you work for free most people don't. He should charge for the widget so he won't be outcompeted?
Jennifer said 1:46PM on 9-21-2008
And it takes time to make lots of other software that is free, too, you know. If the price is too high for what it does, the price is too high for what it does.
Mike Piontek said 4:58PM on 9-21-2008
The widget started out as a hobby. Originally it was just for Apple orders--I made it because I got tired of refreshing my order page just to see if my new Mac had shipped! It became pretty time consuming as people requested more services and more features. It's also quite a bit of work (and occasional banging my head on the keyboard) just to maintain the existing services. On a couple of occasions I've been close to giving up on it, but the donations and thank you emails I get encourage me to keep going.
The iPhone app was a great opportunity. By charging a small fee, I could finally (hopefully!) make enough to fully pay for all the time I spend on both versions of Delivery Status. Since most people don't need to know where their packages are at every single moment, I figured the ones that do wouldn't mind paying a small amount. A lot of people use my software for their businesses, so to them I think the price is very cheap! The more I make, the more time I'll be able to spend on this and other software, much of which is also free.
Brett @ TUAW: Thanks for the great write up, I really appreciate it!
MILE said 3:14PM on 9-21-2008
Actually I don't really order that much stuff, so it maybe comes down to one or twp packages/deliveries a month...and I could well do without this app...
But I have bought it anyway, just because it is such a well designed application and a great example of what iPhone apps could be and should be like...! So I really don't have a problem with supporting the developer and encourage him to come up with other good stuff in the future...
But I am SO SICK of all those morons complaining about how overpriced an app is that actually costs like one or two bucks...!! While some of the crap in the store isn't even worth the time and effort of downloading, there are many apps that are actually a bargain for the price they are being offered...! You should try and find something similar for Palm OS or WinMobile for under 5 US$, good luck with that...
Maybe there shouldn't even be free apps in the iTunes store anyway, since now every few minutes some jerk comes along posting a one-star review that just says "should b free" or "lowr da prize & I bye id" or whatever...
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SpinThis! said 5:52PM on 9-21-2008
The real problem is the store lets people review and rate applications without having bought or even downloaded the application first.
Especially with free applications, the store should at the very least let you weed out users who have never downloaded the application (let alone used it) and also calculate the star rating based just those users or "all users" (the current system).
kj said 6:18PM on 9-21-2008
I just purchased this from the app store. It's probably the most useful non-Apple app on my iPhone. Awesome job by the developer. $1.99 well spent.
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mingistech said 8:11PM on 9-21-2008
Mike Piontek is an awesome developer (and my neighbor). I've used the dashboard widget of this app for years. Comes in super handy every christmas when I go online shopping for gifts.
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Gene Cowan said 9:05PM on 9-21-2008
I look at the price this way: I love the widget, and would gladly have paid a paltry 99¢ for it. I'll be buying this app and counting it as a 98¢ purchase along with the widget. Heck, I paid 4 times more this morning for a latte, and that wasn't nearly as tasty as these well designed utilities.
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eepgonewild said 1:57AM on 9-22-2008
Are you kidding me saying $2 is too much to pay for a useful utility like this. There are apps that cost much more than this, and not near as useful. Most apps that are free are ad supported now anyway, and I would rather pay $2 to a developer that works his tail off to make a good product, rather than have some sleazy pop up embedded in the app. Also the great thing about the App store, if you don't think its not worth the price, good for you, move on, get something that you do think is "worth it". I think this will benefit many people, and most will think this is a fair price indeed. Thanks Mike for the great work.
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Gridskipper said 2:49AM on 9-22-2008
The widget rocks and this is a great bonus. I can't believe people complain about $1.99. I bid on a round trip flight to Long Beach last week that I didn't even get to take. I paid $125.00 to stay home. Give me a break.
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newmarek said 3:53AM on 9-22-2008
Great Job Mike. Keep up the good work.
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krye said 8:42AM on 9-22-2008
SOLD! I've been waiting weeks for this. I actually contacted the developer a few months ago to ask him if this was in the works. I'm glad it was. $2 is worth it.
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Eleventeen said 10:52AM on 9-22-2008
It's not a native app, it's a webapp, but I like trackthepack.com. They have an iPhone specific page as well as a regular web page.
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