Whilst there was an initial ill-feeling about the supposed control Apple appeared to be taking by insisting on a rigorous ‘control’ of iPhone/iPad apps … I welcome this, very much! At least all Apps work seemlessly with the Apple product. Not everybody is a ‘techie’ … and I far prefer to know that what I am selecting from the App Store has been ‘properly checked out’ by Apple. As Apple ‘affectionado’s’ we have come to value the high quality control and reliability of all that Apple represents. It is, therefore, no surprise to see the massive success of the iPad and iPhone 4.

However, to return to my real gripe – no Visual Voicemail … and it appears unlikely to be available with Vodafone in the foreseeable future! I’ve looked at ‘HulloMail’, and the new interface … it looks pretty good, and it’s FREE!! I also liked the opportunity to send short ‘voice messages’. Whilst it does offer pretty good features, I still feel cheated by Vodafone … I’m surprised o2 don’t instruct their retention team to refer to the lack of Visual VoiceMail services on Vodafone, Orange, and possibly other service providers?

Thanks for the mention although I’m not sure about the ‘crappy logo’ comment With this in mind you will be pleased to know we have gone through a rebrand and the new release of the iPhone app (out in the next week or so) has a new look and feel and we think it looks fab.

hope you enjoy.

regards
Jane (Marketing HulloMail)

Thanks for the info! I must admit I was going by the reviews that appeared shortly after your app was released, so apologies for the incorrect information. Very interesting about the NRE data being available to all (for a fee obviously). I shall certainly take a detailed look at your app, and post a full review in due course.

I just wanted to clear up a few common misconceptions in this post. Firstly, the National Rail Enquiries app you mention isn’t developed or sold by National Rail Enquiries. The app is developed and sold by my company, Agant Ltd.

Our app costs £4.99 because we can’t develop it for free – we’re a small independent iPhone development company, and we have to make money from our apps somehow. We decided to charge a one-off fee, as this was the only option at the time we launched the app. This one-off fee covers all future updates to the app, all of which will be free.

We’ve worked with NRE to make sure that our app is using licensed data, to ensure that it is around for the long term. The free apps you mention weren’t using licensed data, and this is why they are no longer available.

I should also add that we certainly don’t have a monopoly on using NRE’s data – in fact, our license agreement explicitly states that NRE can work with other companies too (and we completely agree that this should be the case).

If you don’t want to buy our app, you can always use the free CrossCountry Trains app (for live departures and arrivals), or the Trainline app (for journey planning). But I’d definitely recommend you try our app – we’ve spent over 12 months developing it, and have some great ideas in store for future versions too.

The update includes an info button on each rate view describing the rate amount and also a link to the HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) website if you need more info in regards to Value Added Tax.

Thanks
Steve (VAT Mate Developer)