What’s up STs forum! Super excited to share my next smartapp with you! I am in need of some BETA testers for it.
My new app “Travel Time Guru” is a automated alert system for travel time to your workplace. It uses the free version of the Bing Maps API to lookup travel times based on the current traffic conditions. The cool part is you can tell it when you want to arrive at work and the app will automatically calculate how much time you have left until you need to leave to be on time for work. It will check the traffic every 5 minutes until you leave the house at which point you can restrict it from running based on Mode and Presence. (Make sure you setup a restriction)
There are a few caveats though:
- Traffic data is not available everywhere. I believe it is available most places but there is a chance it may not be available for you.
- Right now it is only for driving directions. BUT transit schedules and times will come at a later date.
How Do I Start?
In order to use the app you need to sign up for a free Bing Maps API key. You can do so at bingmapsportal.com. Follow these steps to get a key:
- Go to bingmapsportal.com
- Sign up for an account
- Once logged in select “My Profile” > “Create or View Keys” > “Click here to create a new key”
- Make the key a “Basic” and “Non-Profit” key. (That’s right, you are NOT allowed to profit using this API key.)
- It will create a key that you can input into the app.
Then just install the code below as normal.
How well does it work?
This app is in BETA right now. I am going to add a ton more features to it in the future but I want to make sure my logic works and is bullet proof before I do. Please give your recommendations here and I will implement them if possible and if you find any problems with the app please let me know so I can resolve them!
Right now the app is hard coded with responses that refer to “work”. In an upcoming update the app will be more customizable. I work from home so I am looking for guinea pigs to test this for me so I know the logic is sound.
FAQ
- Why did you not use the Google Maps API?
The free version of the Google Maps API does not provide “travel time in traffic” but the Bing Maps API does
If someone is willing to front the $0.50 it takes for each lookup on the Google API then we can use that one
Anyone?
- Can I get transit times?
Soon
https://github.com/tslagle13/SmartThings/blob/master/smartapps/tslagle13/travel-time-guru.groovy