B.A.A. Racing App Hack 2.1 + Redeem Codes

When my spouse’s tracker went completely off, you can imagine how I felt. Where they hurt? Are they okay? Are they wrapped up in a medical tent right now?! So naturally I went around asking for others to try and track them. Yet on everyone’s phone, they where completely gone. It was terrifying because they have a history of some medical problems that I did not want to repeat. But they worked so hard to get to Boston, so I held on. The tracker kept glitching on and off in different places. Finally I saw them cross the finish line, exhausted but proud, but the experience did give me a scare. Just know that technical difficulties might occur. Otherwise, the app was alright.

I agree with the review that said last year’s app was better. This app tried to be and do too much, and it was seriously lacking for race day, especially if you were tracking multiple people. So many small, seemingly obvious user features were missed. For example, you could not re-order the list runners you were tracking after adding them. More importantly, the list order of tracked runners should have automatically updated as the tracked runners crossed checkpoints(aka fastest to slowest), showing up in the order you would likely see them on the course. This obviously showed correctly on the course map view, but the list view was the default and should have also shown tracked runners in chronological order. The app was also excruciatingly slow to load and reload throughout the race.

Something I’d like to see for next year: There should be a “course spectator” option where you can put in your rough location as a spectator and be notified specifically when your tracked runner(s) hits the closest checkpoint before your location. I missed seeing a few of my tracked runners because it was distracting going back and forth between checking the app notifications and cheering.

Overall I think more thought and intentional user design needs to go towards the race tracking aspect of the app and evaluating how people are using that feature since it’s the main reason people download the B.A.A. app on Marathon Monday.

Poorly organized orchestration between app & website content. In the app, a huge fraction of the content sections pull you back to the website, which pokes you in the eye on every page to download the app (which largely serves to bring you back to a website telling you to download the app). Give me the content I *want*! (Specifically: Start times for my friends who are running. I have them in the track part of the app but don’t know when they are starting.)

The app was much better last year. Which brings me to my first piont. Why do we have to download a whole new app every freaking year?!? For one thing, it would be great if one could track a particular runner year by year in one place. VERY FRUSTRATING. The text labels on the icons are teenie and impossible to read due to being super low contrast. Pale gray is a terrible choice. These are extremely hard to read on both a black or a white background. Please get some older adults on the design team. You might be surprised at what gets missed without another perspective.

2023 repeatedly got errors about not being able to connect to the server. Didn’t matter if I was using data or connected to wi-fi.
Expected better reliability.

My friends run Boston marathon and I’ve been using BBA’s app since 2018 or so. The app back then was very unstable and tracking feature was simply bad. I was extremely happy with 2022 app. Tracking was real time and helped me where to see the for cheering them along the course. I knew exactly when they crossed finish line to meet them at Family Meeting area. Great job developing the year 2022 app.

The app is really good and gets better each year. I hope maybe this year or next they could update the map so it can be viewed in landscape. It would be easier to follow the many family members and friends that are starting at different times and running at different speeds

Small item but would be helpful!

Thanks

Less than 2 weeks before THE Boston Marathon and the app still says “B.A.A. Half” and won’t work for any of the marathon functions. Then, they take it off the App Store, make some changes, put it back on the App Store without changing the version number (ie letting you know an update is available). To get the the app to display marathon info I had to delete existing app and redownload, no option to update. Whoever manages this app should be fired, absolute amateur practice for the most famous marathon in the world.

Tried to follow my wife via the app, it said she was at least a mile away when suddenly, she was right in front of us and I could not get a photo of her for my kids. The later part of her race, the app said she was 2 miles away, then it showed her going down the street that was not part of the course that stopped at a dead end. Next thing I know the app shows her at the finish line 5 miles past where I was standing. Could not be more unimpressed.

The B.A.A. app provides a fantastic overview of The Marathon. One improvement that should be considered is the addition of the competitor’s home location. I searched a friend’s name to track, 6 results, narrowed to 2 USA competitors, not much better.