What Features Do You Wish The Coachella App Had?

[luckyface]

How about they improve the ability to send and receive information on your phone so the app will actually work?

[PlayaDelWes]

A feature where you would update what acts you plan to see / saw (heck this could just be an extension of Coachooser) and sends that information for consolidation into one database where the data could be used for lots of cool things. You could then sort on most / least popular acts based on stage to get an idea of crowd size. The app could give you a list of attendees who have the closest schedule to yours and perhaps allow you to message them within the app. It may also suggest acts that others who share similar acts to yours are also going to. It could also help you predict large movements from one act to the next so you could 'beat the traffic' if need be.

[PlayaDelWes]

It could also help you predict large movements from one act to the next so you could 'beat the traffic' if need be.

This would obviously be displayed on a dynamic map of the polo fields with vectors between the stages that change in size based on the volume of people going between one stage and another once an act finishes. Furthermore, each stage would be represented by a speedometer type meter indicating 0-100% capacity by extrapolating the # of users of the app to overall attendance.

If there were 50 acts during a day, there would be 50 overlays of vectors over the map, each representing the time an act finishes illustrating the movement between stages. Users would just flip though the sequential maps on their smart-phone app as they would through a photo album.

[gaypalmsprings]

It should have a virtual fan or mister app to stay cool.

[Courtney]

How about they improve the ability to send and receive information on your phone so the app will actually work?

Well that's just far too logical.

[captncrzy]

I'd also like it to emit some sort of high frequency sound that makes people that annoy me pass out.

[algunz]

Or at least just go limp until the set is over.

[VOLVOX17]

Right, complaints well received but I'm actually more interested in could the Coachella app do for us that those other apps still aren't. Like the thing I mentioned above, though now that I'm realizing NFC is not available on iPhone 5, perhaps bluetooth is the way to go? You meet somebody at Coachella, strike up a promising conversation, want to get together again later, flip on a Friend Finder kinda thing that looks in your area for other people with their app open and finds all the names of other users in the area. You each tell the other which name on their list you are, mark that name as a Friend, and then get the ability to chat with them through the app while you're there. Also, if you're just hanging out somewhere alone and feel your phone vibrate and pull it out to find a notification that one of your Coachella Friends is nearby. "RotationSlimWang is nearby!"

this wud b sweat

[VOLVOX17]

The ability to pre-purchase merch and have it waiting and ready to be picked up at the merch tent when you arrive.

yes!

[RotationSlimWang]

This would obviously be displayed on a dynamic map of the polo fields with vectors between the stages that change in size based on the volume of people going between one stage and another once an act finishes. Furthermore, each stage would be represented by a speedometer type meter indicating 0-100% capacity by extrapolating the # of users of the app to overall attendance.

If there were 50 acts during a day, there would be 50 overlays of vectors over the map, each representing the time an act finishes illustrating the movement between stages. Users would just flip though the sequential maps on their smart-phone app as they would through a photo album.

... you sound like a serial killer.

[malcolmjamalawesome]

something that tells you who farted in the sahara

[gaypalmsprings]

something that tells you who farted in the sahara

That would overload the server.

[TomAz]

Hey let's bump phones

(Awkward silence)

[algunz]

I'll bump with you any day, T.

[TomAz]

Oh baby

[gswhooper]

Something involved with tits.

[timothyhockley]

tracklists, menus at food stands, estimation of crowd number, and yeah def something like foursquare where you can see where others are

[ameeps]

The ability to pre-purchase merch and have it waiting and ready to be picked up at the merch tent when you arrive.

We have a winner!

[TheClares]

Pie in the sky requests? How about these?

Each stage/tent should have its own page that shows the schedule, who is currently playing, a countdown timer to the next act (or any act scheduled to there), appropriate links to those artists, a webcam that updates every minute or two showing the crowd size during festival hours.

Love the food vendor link/location/menu/prices idea, although participation from the vendors would be the biggest obstacle. Also like the merchandise idea, although even better would be the ability to order certain items and have them shipped automatically to your preregistered address. Vendors could agree to make these items after the fact and have them shipped with in a reasonable time frame.

Incorporate GPS into a map app, showing where you are and a link to whatever item you are looking for, vendor, stage, sponsor tent, camping site location, shuttles, parking, etc. Overlay the map with the festival layout (entrances, parking, etc). Allow the user to save locations on the map for future reference. Allow registered users of the app to share their location with people they choose so they can track them as they move around the polo fields. Allow people to go offline when they don't want to be found (or stalked). Let users be counted as part of an audience if they stay within a certain listening distance of a band for more than 3 minutes, and reflect that percentage of active users on app. If 10,000 people actively using the app, and 320 of them are in the Sahara, show that 3.2% of people are there, versus the 14% in the Gobi, 5% in the food court, etc, etc, instead of manually checking in at some location with their RFID wristband (although that information might be able to be incorporated into the app).

Only problem with all of this info on a smartphone would be the exponential increase of zombies running from place to place without looking where they are going.

[DruggyFestivalGuy]

GPS GPS

[Dustin da DnB Soulja]

Here is what I need, I need an app that saves where my camp site is, that allows me to set up my line up, that allows me to use NFC to transfer my line up and get other peoples line up. Gives me a map that lays over my location of the map. A map that has information of all of the faq's and everything.

[ectomort@mac.com]

There is another iPhone app for Coachella besides the official one. Fair warning: I'm the author, so try as I might, I can't be perfectly objective on this topic.

The unofficial app is called "Stagecraft: Coachella", it's iOS only, and has been released on the AppStore for the last several years (before that it was used by myself & a few friends.) This year's edition is currently in the approval process; but you can check out last year's if you are curious. Search "Stagecraft Coachella" to find it.

My problem with the official app is that it reflects priorities which don't match my needs. For example, for the first several years, it was written by a hobbyist programmer and photographer. He's a nice guy, I'm sure; but the design was ugly, it was slow, over 200Mb in size (mostly large photos) and it was really buggy, especially when the cellular network was unreliable.

If you have ever been to Coachella, you know that the cell network is NEVER reliable. For 2012, GoldenVoice hired a professional company to build their branded app. It was better, smaller but still quite a drain on battery life and offered lots of "features" I don't want or need (find friends) that required use of the network.

Enough about the official app... it's neither polite nor my point to diss it. It's free, it's there, and folks should give it a try. And if you're on Android or Blackberry, it's your only choice.

But if you have an iPhone, there's another option...

With Stagecraft: Coachella, my goal was to build pocket replacement for the paper schedule. I designed it & built the first version before the official app existed with the goal to make something simple and non-distracting.

I wanted a solution that I could use to do "on the fly" research without requiring a network (band bios, genre and photos are built into the app) or use the web when I do have a connection (band links to the Internet are included).

Set times, stages and performer info is updated over the air (it usually take me a few hours to get the data ready after GoldenVoice releases it) and there'll be an AppStore update with all the data built-in probably in time for week 2 attendees.

A single tap is all that's needed to "favourite" a performer. A couple of taps and I can change the display between list ordered by time, list ordered by stage, or an "agenda" (which is similar to how the printed schedule displays info). A couple of taps and I can show everything, or just show my faves.

While the festival is happening, the schedule highlights artists which are "on now" so it's really easy to make quick decisions. If you have favourited artists playing at the same time, Stagecraft Coachella shows the conflict right away, so you know when you have to stage-hop. (You can also disable the conflict coloring, if you want.)

Typically, Stagecraft's schedule has included the Do Lab, Heineken Dome and Oasis Domes performers and set times in addition to the 5 official stages/tents. The goal is to do that again this year.

It has support for simple alarms (alarms are set for all of your favorites), you just choose how much advance warning you want from a list (or "none" to turn em off.).

It has a basic map built-in; but the functionality there is minimal. (I'd like to do more with it, but my time is limited so I have to focus on the core features.)

The screen designs and colors are intended to work well day or night and not be too distracting to folks around you.

I spend hardly anytime "selling" Stagecraft Coachella (I'm better at making things than selling them), so it's pretty much been word-of-mouth and pure luck as far as user's finding it; but the feedback I've gotten over the years has been positive. There's a Twitter account (@SCCoachella) and Facebook page, but like I said, my priority is the content and app.

Oh, and there's no fees, ads, or anything like that... just an app I wrote and wanted to share.

Check it out, and if you like it, tell someone else.

I'm also open to feedback; but there's not a lot of time left to add stuff for this year.

See you on the polo field!

[ectomort@mac.com]

Honestly, the current app is trash. Coachella should just do what Outside Lands/Ezoo/Treasure Island/Hangout/every other smart music fest does and get their own skinned version of FestApp.
http://www.aloompa.com/portfolio/festival-apps
I've used it for Outside Lands and it's so much more stable and user friendly and the features actually work.

I totally agree. The Outside Lands official app was good enough this year that I didn't bother creating my own app. I thought the food/wine aspect of the OL app was really well done and useful too.

[ectomort@mac.com]

the schedule really needs to be modified on the app. any act starting their set at midnight is transposed to the next day. just add the jpeg image.

Yeah, they official app suffered from some simplistic database design.

[ectomort@mac.com]

Countdown clock as to when a new batch of churros are done.

^ OMG, this!
i hate having to book across the fields playing Churro Hunter.

[gaypalmsprings]

the place and time of the Official Gay Orgy

[RotationSlimWang]

I totally agree. The Outside Lands official app was good enough this year that I didn't bother creating my own app. I thought the food/wine aspect of the OL app was really well done and useful too.

Well, if you think that Aloompa is good enough that you shouldn't bother creating an app, you're gonna be bummed when you see this year's Coachella app.

[menikmati]

Maybe its just me, but the only thing I care to know about while I'm at Coachella is the current time/set times....and I have a booklet that has set times for that every reason. The only useful thing I can think of is an alarm system to alert you to go to the next set in case you lost track of what time it was and/or where you were.

[Twattycakes]

I want it to tell me when bands are playing and where.

[djbionik]

A way to let people add a live setlist.