ABQ Int Balloon Fiesta

A _major_ problem with the Balloon Fiesta now is that information about schedule change due to the weather is kept in a mayonnaise jar in Funk and Wagnall’s basement until the news media gets around to reporting it a day later. This is the app that should fix that, with push notifications and a genuine ‘updates’ section. As-is, it just reproduces web content, which also is not kept up to date.

Tried to search by name or picture of the balloons to tell where they were on the field. There were not pictures for most and the balloon name search should include the ability to search for special shapes. Searching for pilots was not helpful when you do not know anyone. Having the map in the app would have been helpful. Maybe include a glow stick function for cheering (like a rock concert) and even an American flag for the National Anthem. The notifications were good but not frequent enough and you couldn’t review them in the app. It would have been nice to know what the flag colors mean - this was in the printed material but not the app. Lastly - the app was a challenge to use - as with anything cellular - the towers were overloaded and you could barely text. Need to bring in temporarily cell service expansions.

This is great addition to the fiesta! So much so I stopped using the paper guide. The push notifications are priceless! I only wish the notifications menu (the bell) updated at the same time as the push notice rather than much later. Inadvertently swipe clearing the push notice as it pops up means you have to wait for it to post in the menu - a minor complaint. Major complaint turned compliment was the glitchy map but they had an update out by mid-fiesta to fix it, so turn that frown upside down!