Dragon Con

The app is perfect whether you’re new to Dragoncon or if you’re a longtime fan. It keeps track of all events, locations, and times to make sure that you’re on schedule for your panels and other nerdy activities. My only problem is that the app is sort of slow but it’s understandable since there is so much content packed into. Otherwise the app is almost necessary when visiting dragoncon every year.

The app contains a lot of super useful info. It’s also unreliable. It crashes a lot. It occasionally freezes for several seconds at a time, sometimes mid-scroll. When you task switch to the app it will appear to be functional but nothing on the screen will work for several seconds. I’ve developed mobile apps; this is amateur hour. When it’s not suffering from technical problems, the app is exhibiting usability issues. It makes it a chore to share your schedule with friends, and every year you have to recreate your friends list from scratch. Every year the main menu becomes harder to use. A few years ago they replaced the text labels on the nav bar with tiny icons that don’t mean anything. This year the main menu is white on a grey background; not high contrast enough to be easily read on a tiny screen in bright sunlight. Last December Apple briefly tried banning low-effort templated apps. This app is a prime example of why.

This is a really indispensable app for all con attendees, but unfortunately it has a lot of problems, including the fact that it crashes constantly. Some improvements might be color coding the schedule, for example all Hilton events could be blue or something. As for the con itself, it's a wonderful experience! I would suggest adding a theatre track and a history track.