Thirteen checks, most important first
Updated 25 September 2026-
01
Open Ping after updating. Every place, bus route and check-in should still be there, notes and all. If anything is missing, or the app will not open, stop and tell me before doing anything else, including before signing in.
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How fast does it open?
Close Ping fully (swipe it out of your recent apps), then open it. Does the screen freeze before anything moves? Roughly how many seconds? Try it twice, once now and once later in the day.
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The new Settings
Four rows now: Appearance, Map, Your data, About Ping. Try the search box at the top: type "theme" or "backup" and tap the result. Your account (sign in, sign out, delete) lives under Your data.
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Change the theme
Appearance, then pick a different theme. You should stay on the Appearance page, not be sent somewhere else.
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Turn the map
On the Places map, tap the compass. The map turns; names, pins and buttons stay upright. Tap again to turn it further. Press and hold to go straight back to north.
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Phone sideways
On the Places map, turn your phone on its side. The controls sit along the charging-port edge and the map gets the rest. Then leave Places: the app should go back upright.
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Bus times after a while
Open Transport, leave the phone for ten minutes or more, then come back. Your last known times should show at once, then fresh ones stop by stop. Tell me if the page sits empty.
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Save a place with a reminder
Add a place with a reminder, say every 30 days. Its pin should be the ordinary colour, not red, until after your first visit.
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Opening hours
Open a few places that show hours. They should all read the same way, one line per day. Screenshot anything like "Tue to" or a missing day.
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Groups of places
Zoom out until pins merge into a numbered group, tap it, and step through with the arrow. The arrow should stay in the same spot as the card changes.
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Sign-in buttons
Settings, Your data: both "Sign in with Google" and "Sign in with Apple", side by side. If only one is there, tell me straight away.
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About Ping
Settings, About Ping. The top row tells you whether a newer build is out; right now it should say you're up to date. "Testing this build" opens this very page. Tell me if the top row is missing while you have internet, or if it offers an update the store then does not have.
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Opening the Places map
The first time you open Places after starting the app: a small spinner, then the finished map. If a plain orange island shows up in between, tell me.
Where you are most useful
Four things a test machine cannot answer. Hardest first.
- The opening freeze (2). Measured on an emulator, which is not a phone. Your reading is the one that counts.
- Turning an iPhone, and back (6). The simulator cannot be turned from a computer, so this has never once been done on a real iPhone.
- Which edge the controls land on (6). Fixed on 25 September after one phone reading. If they are on the wrong edge on your phone, say which way you turned.
- Sign-in buttons on iPhone (11). Only an iPhone can show both.
Signing in is optional; Ping works fully without it. Your friends list never leaves your phone, on purpose. Your places are yours; nobody else can see them.
This page changes with every build.