PECO Modellers' Library 4+

A Good Start

Hello,

I want to start off this review for thanking PECO for this awesome idea of an app. Instead of having to subscribe for the magazine or revive the paper copy, I have these on the go with me which is great. The prices are awesome! Must say I’m really impressed.

Now as to why I must write a review on this app: it has a bit of problems.

So first off, this app crashes like crazy or at least it does for me. It may just be bugs but I have problems running the app when it’s trying to download two or more magazines at a time- it just gives up. So I’ve settled down and had to do one at a time which isn’t awful, just slightly annoying considering other apps that can handle these tasks without being a multi million dollar company. I find that sometimes I open one of the magazines to find a PocketMags loading screen, only to have the app crash while it loads. What is it loading anyway? All magazines I own are downloaded which should not require much loading within the app itself. This is a major problem that makes the app unusable sometimes. I find it only happening when I don’t have service, so it’ll be something I’ll look into when I return to land.

So for the second problem: let’s talk about the internet message that pops up on the screen every time you aren’t connected to WIFI or LTE service. It’s a pain to deal with and keeps you from being able to actually read the magazines since it refreshes the whole page when you tap “ok”. This should be able to be fixed with a simple “Airplane Mode” in settings or stop having the message pop up all together. The message seems to only be for the ones you haven’t purchased yet, but the app refreshes itself even if you have cellar data turned off, to where as it creates a problem still. You can tap “okay” all you want it will just pop up whenever it feels like. It’s a major annoyance when you are zoomed in a page trying to read it.

The third problem I have is really the whole app setup, mostly the my library viewing section of the app. I like how you can just go to the ones you own- that’s great but I do no like how east it is to delete a magazine. If you swipe up or down on the library page, the app prompts this Apple like feature and shows grey “X”s on the top of the magazines to delete them. I have, on several occasions, almost deleted a few simply by scrolling down the page to see all my magazines. That should not be happening. A simple scroll down the page shouldn’t prompt the delete ability that easily- especially when you have a delete option in the little setting bar on the library page. Instead of making it a delete function, I suggest making it a refresh function that allows you to refresh the page. That would make a lot more sense.

In conclusion, the idea behind this app is great! It gives people a way to plan their layouts without having to pack the physical items in their journey, provides richer colors since it’s on your phone, and cost relatively little money for great sources of information. I wish PECO reads this review and takes into account the points I have brought up. Again, not trying to bash, but just some needed improvements that need to take place in order to make this app complete.