NEW Trapster Blog!

Inside Scoop on the Moderator Community and Web Team- What’s Coming Next

Trapster — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:22:02 +0000

Hello my Trapster users! As promised I am back and stuck my beak into another group here at Trapster, the Community Management of Moderators! After speaking to Stefanie the head of the Moderator Community I was able to get a better grasp on what exactly goes on there!

What is the hardest or most challenging thing about building the Moderator community?

Trying to come up with fresh ideas, inventive contests, and better moderating tools to keep the community involved and active. I also try to keep the lines of communication open across multiple platforms so the Mods know I’m always here to help.

(Pictured: Left: Stefanie- Moderator Community Manager Right: Web Team)

What is your team currently working on?

We’re launching a totally redesigned Trapster website in a month or two. It’s been in the works for the past year and we’re extremely excited for our users to see it. We’re also working on an HTML5 Mod tool so that Moderators can use any device when moderating the Trapmap.

What are your goals and hopes for Trapster?

I’ve been working on Trapster for over 4 years now and having seen how much we’ve grown and changed thus far I can only hope we continue to evolve and push the boundaries of what our app can do. But most importantly I know that 2013 is a year of big things and I’m excited for our users to see whats coming.

Where would you like to see Trapster in a year?

Well in my dream world everyone with a mobile device would use Trapster when driving ;) but in reality I just want to grow our community to be as big and as active as possible. The more we all use Trapster when driving the better Trapster becomes.

What are some cool new additions to Trapster that your team did recently?

We’ve been working on lots of cool new things from updating our maps with 3D buildings on our Android platform, to the website redesign, to the mobile mod tools, it’s all really exciting stuff!

Favorite things about Trapster?

We’re a big dysfunctional loving family and extremely passionate about what we do.

I don’t know about you, but that just got me pumped for what Trapster has in store for us! Catch you next time! Up Next: Marketing!

Monica

[Update] Trapster 5.2 for iOS – Rev Your Engines!

Trapster — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:01:56 +0000

We went all out to make your Trapster ride easier to use and slapped a brand new coat of paint on it. With a fresh look and feel along with HERE 3D maps and buildings for retina displays this update will blow your socks off. Take a look at this sweet update:

- Redesigned, simpler user interface featuring menu updates

- High resolution HERE 3D buildings and maps for retina displays

- Emergency weather alerting (U.S. only for now)

- In-app purchases now available: Custom dashboards

- Backgrounding enabled: Trapster will run in the background, after 5 minutes of non-use Trapster will turn off

- Bug fixes

Hope you all love the new digs! If you love the update make sure to leave us some love on the iTunes store.

Drive easy,

Team Trapster

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[HUGE CONTEST] Report and Vote to WIN BIG!

Trapster — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:23:04 +0000

Trapster is here to save you Time, Money and to Keep You Safe! This month we are going to do a month long contest on SAVING TIME!

The user that reports and votes the MOST traps below will WIN a $100 Visa gift card, Trapster prize pack & a phone charger. They will also be featured in the next Trapster newsletter!

REPORT AND VOTE ON MY FRIENDS. Winner announced 9am pst 6/3/13

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google+ for weekly chances to WIN!

Behind The Scenes With Trapster’s Android Team

Trapster — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:29:36 +0000

Did you know that the Trapster team consists of 30 people and 10 of them work on the Android team? I have a behind the scenes look inside the development that makes Trapster run everyday.

I spoke to Sam Nazi the team leader for the Android-Trapster team and got all the Trapster inside scoop.

Me- What is the hardest or most challenging thing about being a developer?

Sam- “A balancing act between Android, Trapster and the Map SDK. All three have to work in unison and sometimes it requires a bit of give and take to make that happen.”

Me- What is your team currently working on?

Sam- “With pushing out a market release just 3 weeks ago we are accumulating crash reports and feedback from our users to fix. We are also performing tests internally to identify further shortcomings and better improve performance.”

Me- What are your goals and hopes for Trapster?

Sam- “My goal for Trapster is to make an application that is free of bugs that everyone can enjoy. My hope is that Trapster becomes the go-to driving application. “

Me- Where would you like to see Trapster in a year?

Sam- “I’d like to see Trapster translated in as many languages as possible an used across the world.”

Me- What are some cool new additions to Trapster that your team did recently?

Sam- “We recently pushed out a complete redesign of the entire application which includes a new look and feel as well as incorporating 3D maps. On a more geeky side we improved performance on how fast traps cluster on the map when zooming out. We were able to reduce the clustering time from 1.5 seconds down to 50 milliseconds.”

As we can all see, the Trapster team is constantly improving the application with the goal of being the best driving application in the world, and believe me when I tell you, after seeing this team vigorously at work I have no doubt that Trapster will continue its success.

Until next time,

Monica

Up next: The Community Manager- Moderator Community!

Top 5 Tips: How To Use Trapster In States That Have Hands Free Laws

Trapster — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:56:32 +0000

In the United States there is a major change taking place in something we do almost everyday, driving. 39 states have already implemented a “no texting while driving” law and now laws are moving towards hands free including mobile GPS devices. 10 states have already adopted this new law: Oregon, Connecticut, Delaware, Arkansas, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Washington, Nevada, and the newest addition California. A trend that we’re sure we’ll see spread to other states in the next few years. Currently Trapster has audio alerts to inform you of traps and hazards while on the road. We are working on a few hands free ways to report and vote but for now here are 5 ways you can use Trapster and still abide by the law!

1) Check Trapster before you start on your route
2) Make sure your phone is in a car mount
3) Make sure your bluetooth is on to hear audio alerts
4) Report and Vote when you are stopped
5) Use the TrapMap on the website to report and vote on traps

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Creative Commons & Sources: http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html
http://jalopnik.com/its-now-officially-illegal-to-use-gps-on-your-phone-wh-470991455

[Update] Trapster Android 4.0 Hitting The Street

Trapster — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:04:56 +0000

We really suped-up our ride with the additions of Here 3D maps and 3D buildings this release. Not only can you see the map from a 3D view, but you can also see the buildings and landmarks around you while driving through them. This cutting edge technology uses vector-based images, which perform much faster then the old 2D tile based images.

4.0 gives the app a fresh coat of paint with the sweet new look and feel of the dash, buttons and menus. Keeping the user in mind we really tried to make everything easier to use and cooler to look at.

Sweet new updates:

- Keepin’ it fresh with a NEW User Interface
- 3D maps
- 3D buildings
- Sound theme added: Chinese
- Taking it local: Arabic, Swedish, Turkish and Russian
- Tune ups: Faster loading and performance

We support all devices 2.3 and above. If you would like to install Trapster on a tablet or another device please download the APK here.

Hope you all love the new digs!

Drive easy,

Team Trapster

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Tell us what gets your wheels turning and be entered to WIN!

Trapster — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:01:46 +0000

We value our users feedback so much that we are giving away a iPad Mini™. Your feedback tells us what we are doing right, what we can be doing better and what new things we should build for you! All you have to do is fill out our 2013 User Survey and you will be entered to win.

Click Here to be taken to the 2013 survey.

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ for weekly chances to WIN!

[Contest] S#!$ Our Users Say

Trapster — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:50:59 +0000

If you are connected to Trapster on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest or YouTube you know how funny Trapster users are. We run contests weekly asking for captions on photos, one-liner’s, and much more. We always get back the funniest responses. Literally the whole Trapster Team is laughing until they are crying. We look forward to these every week so we thought we would feature one contest a month to give you a good laugh.

This was the picture last week where we asked followers to finish this sentence and these were some of our top picks…

Sarah- To much redbull??
Bill- Hey y’all, watch this! (as he finishes his 9th beer)
Matt- It’s Hunting Season, for Trapster users and this is a Great vantage point.
Matt- Speed Controlled by Sniper!
Ben- It worked when K.I.T.T did it
Sarah- It was a b@#$% to get up here… but its a way better view.
Gillian- The ultimate treefort or a better view at the drive in theatre
Dannee- See, the duke boys got them selves in a pickle.
Carlos- My version of Angry Birds…..Angry Rednecks!
Angie- The Bat-mobile has nothing on me!!!
Jonathan- You see this alien ship picked me up!!!
Chris- I thought I hit the brake!!!
Van- I thought i was in a monster truck & i was getting some sick air….
Susan- It’s my anti theft tree!
Mohammed- Hiding from a speed trap!
Robin- Sure puts a whole new meaning to jack and the beanstalk.
Mark- This here is RedNeck “Deerstand” !
Mark- … this Dukes of Hazard flashback!
Dave- Redneck auto lift: park over two seedlings and wait!
Brad- Needed to trim a few branches and I lost my ladder
Peter- Honey, where did you say you parked the truck again?
Maurena- Lucy! You got some explaining to do!
Ryan- I can explain…. I was using Apple IPhone Maps when all of a sudden.
Paige- I can explain… I was at Hogwarts and Harry did a spell and now look its stuck
Harold- That was fun! NOW WHAT!
Scott- The Sign said Treeway and I thought it was just a miss spelling
Bobby- I can see my house from here!
Anne- It said, turn left at the fork in the road, not the tree!
Brian- Field Goal!!!!!
Beto- Oil change is done. Let it down

Think you got something better? Comment below for a chance to WIN a new Trapster Phone Holder!

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ for weekly chances to WIN!

Winner announced 03/01/13 9AM EST.

[Update] Trapster 1.2 for Windows Phone Now Available!

Trapster — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:09:00 +0000

For all you Windows Phone users we have a new update available.
Check out the new features, upgrades and language additions:

- NEW Trap: Traffic Jam: A commute-improving feature.
- Intelligent Alerting notifies you of traps that fall only on the road you are traveling
- Localization: added languages- Russian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic - Search and routing: find coffee shops, restaurants, gas stations and more wherever you are!
- Pesky Crashes fixed
- Performance improvements

As always if you have feedback or need support: www.getsatisfaction.com/trapster
Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ for weekly chances to WIN!

Love Your Language & Get Sweet Gifts!

Trapster — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:38:47 +0000

Here at Trapster we value you and the language you speak, a big part of what we do is localization. We are asking Trapster users all over the world if they would like to help us by making sure we have accurate local translations.

Currently we support English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese (Brazil), German, Swedish, Turkish, Italian, Dutch, Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), and Russian. If you would like to see a language we don’t currently support added to Trapster, let us know!

As a thank you for translating we have built a program so you will be rewarded for your help. You help, you win a prize every time Click Here to become a Trapster Translator!

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ for weekly chances to WIN!