If you listen to Breakfast Radio then chances are you have caught the Road Angels Roadside Assistance team on the show talking about the benefits its service provides to the typical Zimbabwean motorist.
This isn’t where it all starts and ends with the company though. Some time last year we wrote about the Road Angels app that was launched on Android and iOS, with a brief look at what services the app offers.
After a little bit more than a year, we took a peek at the app (the Android version) to find out what had changed about it and how the market had responded to it.
In terms of the User Interface, the app has maintained its initial look and feel, with most of the changes that have come to the app over the past year geared towards function and relevant information.
It’s still essentially a roadside assistance app, so the design wasn’t tinkered with and the simplicity that made it easy to use at first has been maintained. The main focus is still emergency assistance through the sharing of the most relevant and updated information. It’s something that was even reflected in comments and recommendations on Google Play regarding the app. Road Angels has responded with more contact details for emergency services have been added on and numbers have been updated.
The main focus is still emergency assistance through the sharing of the most relevant and updated information. It’s something that was even reflected in comments and recommendations on Google Play regarding the app. Road Angels has responded with more contact details for emergency services have been added on and numbers have been updated.
The app now has added details for services in smaller towns like Kadoma, Marondera and Kariba and work has been put into additional information for the distance calculator. The same brush up has been made to the tollgate locations list.
The Road Angels App has always had a tab with listed traffic fines, and this current version has the latest State-approved fines. It’s not surprising though that when we asked about the feedback regarding the app’s functionality, the guys at Road Angels pointed out that most users have bemoaned how ZRP traffic officers have a total disregard for these official fines. It’s hardly the sort of problem that the app can solve, or any developer in this position wants to face, it’s just the reality of things though.
So how popular has the app been? Well, the download number haven’t been mind blowing, although the Road Angels team has said that their interim target is to have it snapped up by 10,000 users.
With the kind of comprehensive information that the app provides (some of it seems relevant to pedestrians as well. Look at the emergency numbers feature) this should be achievable if Road Angels maintains its strong publicity drive. After all, the app is and will always be free.
Perhaps the Ministry of Tourism ought to help spread the word of such informational tools to every visitor that comes to Zimbabwe?
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8 comments
Thumbs to the Road Angels team for such a wonderful app. However on the distance calculator, i think there is an error on Shangani. Is the distance between Shangani and Gweru 336km or if we try the other side, is Shangani to Bulawayo 260km??? Am okay with the rest of the distances. Is this the same Shangani which is along the Bulawayo Gweru highway???
Thanks very much for that observation, it must be a glitch , we will attend to it immediately.
This app has been quite useful to me on a couple of occasions. Once on the road to Vic Falls from BYO I was stopped by the cops (it was Heroes weekend and a Sunday) who wanted to fine me as the middle passenger in the back seat was not wearing a seatbelt (the other 4 passengers all had their seatbelts on). They wanted $15 for the fine, and when I searched the RA app it did not have the fine for seatbelts not being worn. So I was parked by the side of the road with the cops breathing through my window when I decided to phone the ZRP helpline (straight from the App) in Harare and confirm if the fine was correct. Someone actually answered the phone and said they would phone me back when they had confirmed with the Road Traffic Act. They phoned me back and said the fine was $5 and then offered to speak toe the cops who were hassling us. How great is that? Cops let us go as they felt embarrassed! Go Road Angels!
Wow!!! What an Angel the application was to you on this fateful day. Keep up the good work Road Angels.
We are glad that we made a difference to your Journey Baba B, its such feedback that keeps us waking up everyday to try and make people’s lives better and easier.
Would have loved to have this app, but then Opps I am on microsoft lumia. Cant you develop one for us in the wilderness
I second that. It would be great if the app was ported over the Windows store
When should we expect this app on Windows Store? It would be good to have it there as well