For the last few months Apple has been running ads telling us that no matter what we need to do with our iPhones, “there’s an app for that”. More often than not, they’re right – the App Store is loaded with gems that really can make life that much easier. Unfortunately they’re not always so easy to find.
Such is the case with ‘ATM Hunter‘, a free iPhone application built by MasterCard that allows users to quickly find the ATMs closest to them. The app, which was released late last month, has a measly 15 reviews despite being ranked as the 11th most popular app in the App Store’s finance section (which apparently doesn’t see too much traffic).
This isn’t the first ATM app on the market – some banks have built their own, and there are a handful of independent apps like iATM (iTunes Link) available too. But MasterCard’s database seems to be much more thorough, offering ATM locations of banks along with those found in restaurants, retail stores, bars, and convenience stores.
For those users who are strongly opposed to bank fees, ATM Hunter lets you narrow down results to branches from your own bank. You can also filter results based on criteria like operating hours, surcharges, wheelchair accessibility, and drive throughs. My only complaint is that unlike competitors like myATM (iTunes Link), there’s apparently no way to see every nearby ATM plotted on a map (you can only see one at a time). In my initial tests the app fared quite well, pulling up every ATM in the area that I was aware of (and many that I wasn’t).
It’s nothing revolutionary, but damn if it won’t come in handy.
Just installed it and it looks good!
The iPhone and its apps seem to solve problems we never knew existed.
Yet another pointless app that can be replaced with a simple Web-hosted search.
Yes, Apple tells us that there’s always an app for that. But look at the Barista app Apple advertised on the back page of the Sunday NY Times front section for $0.99: pay for weak information that you could get for free in a couple of (much better) blog posts.
That’s a business strategy?
The user experience for native apps is usually a lot better than web based apps. Also, native apps like this one can take advantage of the iPhone’s GPS so it can figure out exactly which ATMs are closest.
There’s really no excuse why a Web-hosted app designed for the device should not meet nor exceed what a device-native app does.
Native app developers are charging for what a Web site should be able to do without requiring a download, without requiring application upgrades and udpates when data changes are made, etc.
You might be right from a technical point of view, but I personally prefer an app that can take care of it. I don’t know the science behind that, but part of it is probably that I think it takes less time for an app to fetch specific information rather than trying to load a blog that has 20 links in the right hand column, a header at the top, etc.
Yeah, you can make a mobile edition, but my experience with those is that the design of the web pages isn’t as nice as just having an app that can fetch information.
That’s a good point, didn’t really think about it that way… Should be free from my cards website..
-but I guess your paying for the convince of having it on your phone.
First off a local app is always going to run faster than opening up Safari, typing in the address, then finding what you want. Also, a local app only has to make the request via the web, everything else is stored locally so no requests. That is unless the app stores all it’s info in a local file.
The other major difference you forget is that a web based app CANT do all the things a local app can. Jason makes a great point about the GPS. How would you Swag get over the problem?
Sure, there are apps out there that are a waste of time, but having a bunch of apps that to one thing, and one thing really well and worth having around.
@swag: I completely agree with you. Look at the desktop app evolution. Few years back we had a desktop app for everything we wanted to do. But today most of it has moved to the cloud and we access it using a web browser. People obviously hate downloading and installing apps.
On iPhone however the model seems to be reversed. Yesterday I downloaded FML app. It does nothing that a web app on iPhone safari couldn’t. I don’t know why people find it more convenient download the app (and continue downloading updates) rather thank bookmark a link (heck you could even place an icon for the webpage on the iPhone homepage). The app I most use most on iPhone is http://m.digg.com
@BombayNinja: Yep, you nailed it. Having to install an app for every Web site or data source you use is akin to having to install a new version of Firefox or IE for each Web site you visit.
I understand that the developers are frustrated with the lack of end-to-end solutions. But this is such a temporary hack — a throwback to 1995 software install technology back when people put browser installation icons on their sites, saying “Optimized for Netscape”.
It’s a band-aid. A regression to 1990s technology thinking. It’s a dead model. 1 billion iPhone app downloads represents 1 billion failures for mobile phone makers and Internet content developers to move us forward into the next decade — instead of falling back to the last one.
Digg.com changes their data schema to support some cool new feature: that means my iPhone app needs an upgrade to see any of it. Not to mention how data formats may change without backwards compatibility. The future is going to bring a lot of broken apps with this broken model to access Web content.
You seem to forget…. Safari for the iPhone sucks.
I much prefer local apps to webapps(speed being the primary concern). This app can’t find any ATMs that don’t have a surcharge, despite its claims.
Bank of America already had this built into their app and I have to admit it’s come in handy way more often than I would have guessed.
It isn’t that I couldn’t have gotten by without it but it’s often shown me locations I didn’t know about that were closer than the ones I did.
COme back in three months and updates us how many times did you use the app. Once novelty wears of, most of the apps. are sitting there useless.
Good question. How useful this app is to a person will depend on how mobile the person is. If you are constantly traveling from cities to cities, then finding ATM will be a problem. But if you often stay around the same location, you probably use this app once or twice just for fun.
Here is the one I use in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Galicia Bank:
I don’t use it everyday, only when I do not know where is an ATM cash dispenser (LOL!).It only shows the address and the distance where I am, no maps, no extra features.
cya!
rofc.
D’oh! The image can be found here: http://rofc.com...os/IMG_0004.PNG
cya!
rofc.
Jason,
You’re the only person I’ve ever seen use a properly-spelled through for drive-thru. It looks about as strange as Nick-at-Night.
There is no other way here in the UK!
wat will they think of next, apple gives solutionz to our such problems that we dont even know exist…..well I moved in a new neighborhood, i was searching for property to let in central london for quite some time and i accidentally found this amazing website no agents 24 with loads and loads of information about tips for tenants, tips for moving, hips. I really like my new house. i went out for some fresh air today early morning, although i am generally not the morning person type but i have to admit i really enjoyed it.
Disclosure: myATM is our app.
Quick addition to your post – I note that myATM seems to be the only ATM finder so far that contains the database on-phone, which makes a big difference for iPod Touch users and people in locations with bad data reception.
Arguments about web vs. local app aside – this is another good example of why there should be an ‘Applicable Country’ category for apps in the App Store.
All too often you see an app that you think would be useful (often a paid app for that matter) yet you have no idea from the description or the reviews as to whether or not the app is relevant or will even work in your country. Good example is these restaurant/bar finder type apps. Some work great in the US but are totally useless outside the US and you can’t find out unless you download it and try it. If app developers had to add an indicator showing what countries the app is relevant for, or is expected to work in, (perhaps using the international country codes) it would help prospective customers an lot.
Just so happens that one reviewer mentioned that ATM Hunter worked for the ATMs in his local town of Plymouth in the UK, suggesting that this app should work fine for UK users.
There is an applicable stores section, and you can select up to 30 countries individually, as well as “Rest of World”.
For example, we only released GasBag in the US, UK, and Australia, as those are the only countries we have gas price data for.
We released myATM worldwide, but were careful to say that it only had US data – purchasers outside the US would only want to do so if they were travelling to the US and wanted to have the database before they arrived.
Why do you need an ATM if you can pay with a card in any shop?
I downloaded the app and found that the Credit Union ATMs at my institution didn’t show up. I used both the “my location” and address searches and I was inside the CU that I work for. I got banks, gas stations, convenience stores, etc. I have e-mailed MasterCard regarding the issue. I am waiting for a response from out rep.