Official F1 Live Timing App 2013 reviewed

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Formula One has, for the most part, been embarrassingly slow to embrace new technology.

High definition broadcasts arrived six years after NASCAR’s. Formula One Management’s relationship with YouTube goes no further than barking orders at them to take videos of F1 racing down to ensure the sport remain a secret from a generation of young fans.

The appearance of an official Live Timimg App a few years ago signalled a shudder of movement in F1’s glacially slow progress into the 21st century. Is the latest iteration a genuinely useful application of new technology – or just another shiny product on which to slap the F1 logo and an unrealistic price tag?

For those familiar with F1.com’s live timing page – still running on creaking, bug-riddled Java – the main timing page on the official app is a substantial improvement. Sectors times are given to three decimal places, each driver’s top speed in each sector is shown along with and – most usefully – live tyre information.

Flip between pages and you can see breakdowns of which tyres each driver has used during the session, instant ‘perfect lap’ calculations and more.

The 3D maps which show the positions of each car run more smoothly than before, with data updates being fed in between two and five seconds.

If you’re unable to watch a session live you have the option of re-playing them and pause, rewind and forward through them.

In every area the official app brings you a step closer to the level of detail the teams get on the pit wall. However quite a few of the pages present the same information in different ways, so that I found I relied almost exclusively on the main timing page when using it.

The latest version of the app also incorporates Twitter feeds and allows you to add your own. But although I find Twitter a very useful service during race weekends (and post hundreds of updates to it during sessions on F1 Fanatic Live) it’s hard to credit a paid app for including a service which is available for free.

With so much information available the bigger the screen you’ve got the more useful the app is. On an iPhone 5 I found the 3D view unusably small and constantly had to scroll up and down the timing screen. This app is much more at home on a tablet.

Then there is the sticking point of the reliability of FOM’s services. There have already been several occasions this year when the public timing screens have not been available and the official app is not immune from the same glitches.

I found myself wondering who the app is aimed at. Armchair viewers can glean much of the same information in real-time from Twitter, multi-channel TV coverage and the existing free live timing page (which makes me wonder how much longer the latter will remain in existence).

It would be most useful for track-side spectators to stay abreast of the action they can’t see. But network availability and the cost of data will be a problem at many circuits – one that the late lamented FanVision service had cracked, as well as offering live audio and video, though for a considerably higher price.

If the thought crossed your mind of buying a one-off subscription for a race weekend visit, the disappointing news is the app is only available on a per-season basis. Android, Apple and Blackberry platforms are catered for but there is no version you can simply log into with a web browser.

Priced more competitively or offered with a more flexible payment system this slick and useful app would easily get four stars. As it is for most tech-literate fans this is a product that’s nice to have but one you can live without.

F1 Fanatic rating

The official F1 Live Timing App 2013 can be purchased through Google Play for Android, iTunes for Apple and BlackBerry World. The Android app is also available via Amazon in the USA:

Buy the official F1 Live Timing App 2013 (USA)

Official F1 Live Timing App 2013

Format: Android, Apple, Blackberry
Publisher: Soft Pauer
Published: March 2013
Price: £23.99

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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86 comments on “Official F1 Live Timing App 2013 reviewed”

  1. i got it for free :) overall a pretty good app

    1. How did u get it free

      1. If you have to pay for something like this,you’re doing it wrong :)

        1. Believe it or not, there are still honest people left in the world.

      2. Apk installer , and download it via Google.

      3. The app itself is free. The data is an in-app purchase at the stated £23.99

        1. Not. The fee is charged in Google Play for downloading the app itself.

    2. Aptoide? ;)

  2. I got it for free too:) and it is pretty good

    1. Please don’t do that! I know this app is expensive, but as an app developer we do feel the consequences of people stealing it. Apps are incredibly cheap as it is and we have to sell very very large numbers to break even.

      Most of the time apps cost less than the price of a Mars Bar, but someone has probably worked for over a year to create it.

      1. As I found out, the app itself is free. The data is an in-app purchase at the stated £23.99. No need to panic over piracy.

        1. Then I think you’ve got something wrong, because it definitely charges you for downloading the app from Google Play.

  3. I’ve paid for this app for the last 2 years, It’s great and I wouldn’t go without it. I can watch the practice sessions when Im at work and I use the live timing on my ipad when Im home. Definitely worth the money and highly recommended. Break the cost down over 20 races and it work out to be around $1.50 per race, Can’t go wrong with that

  4. The thorn in Formula 1’s side has always been embracing new broadcasting technologies. I thought about buying this app when I was at the Australian GP this year bit saw the $32 price tag and couldn’t help but laugh.
    Sure, it takes money to develop the app etc etc ete but as Keith points out this is information that you can get off TV anyway.
    Formula 1 needs to overhaul it’s broadcast design, seriously.
    Stop fighting and start working WITH YouTube to create less of an “us against them” scenario where they’re treating their FOM footage like ancient revered artifacts.

    They really need to step into the 21st century, and sure this app is a good start, but I just cant justify the price for such a basic service.

    1. I have an app from the England and Wales Cricket Board, which gives live scorecards for every English domestic and international cricket match, news and live Twitter feeds from selected matches.

      It was free, and there aren’t even any unnecessary full-screen adverts that leap out at you every day as a way of coercing you to pay for the same content, as we see far too often. There are just a couple of ads out of the way on the page.

      You don’t need to download a new app every year, either. Now, if the cricketing world can send ball-by-ball data from tens of matches worldwide to my phone simultaneously, without breaking the bank, then why can’t F1? It’s crazy.

    2. @nackavich

      I’m inclined to buy the app but that price… OMG!

      F1 really needs a New Media Officer. F1 meaning FOM here, because some teams have very good You Tube channels and interactive Websites.

      1. @jcost @nackavich FOM have kind of got a New Media Officer in the shape of Sky… if you have a Sky subscription AND an iPad at least anyway… the “Sky Sports for iPad” app contains a lot of the features of this paid application with the benefit of being able to watch from all the different camera options that you get on the Red Button on your TV. Timing Screen, Driver Tracker and Twitter feeds are all in there. I’ve also noticed that the feed to the iPad app is a good 10-15 seconds (maybe more) ahead of the live feed on TV. That said you do need an iPad, Sky Subscription and an internet connection capable of not buffering every 30 seconds but it works pretty well.

        I had to take my car to an MOT at the same time qualifying was on for a race last year… I was able to watch the qualifying on the iPad via bluetooth tethering to my iPhone using my entire months 3G data allowance without any issue.

        This for free is better than the £23.99 app in my view

  5. A few weeks ago when I saw the price of this app, I was gobsmacked …. £23.99 for an app with a longevity of 19 races, for me that is a million miles beyond ridiculous

    When i watch f1 I watch the session itself on the tv and use twitter and live timing on my laptop to follow in more detail. afterwards i use the fia f1 website to look at the stats, ie. long run pace, top speeds. I feel like I get a very detailed sense of whats going on, and the extra insight doesnt cost anything …

    … With this in mind I dont understand how the people who made this app feel they have found a gap in the market that makes them think they can charge this much.

  6. I bought it last year even thought it was expensive. Unfortunately when I upgraded my tablet software it got deleted. I had a copy of my receipt from the Google Play store who were helpful but told me I would have to contact Soft Pauer to be able to download it again, After many unanswered emails to them I gave up. The app seems ok but customer service is non existent, buy at your own risk.

  7. It sounds like a nice app to have, but not something I’d be willing to pay a few euros for. At 30€ it’s not worth the price. Especially considering I can get an online subscription to watch all F1 sessions live for 68€ for the whole season.

  8. I got this app for the Australian Grand Prix when i was sitting in the stands. I found it great for timing because the big screens at the circuit don’t show the times of the cars in a qualifying or practice session and even then the overall positions are hard to see on the big screens due to there small size.
    The car tracker is pretty accurate as well as it helps see if cars are have good gap for a run(came in handy in Q1 in the rain before it was qualy was cancelled) or if a car can make it back over the line in time for a final flying lap.
    I also used a bit when watching the Malaysian GP to check tyre compounds and it’s good with showing sector times and gaps between cars in the races.
    Even though it’s quite expensive i think it’s pretty good value for a full year and i would recommend it to anyone who is going to a grand prix this year who wants more information than what they can see on track and circuit commentary.

  9. I have this app on my android tablet and use it religiously at qualy and race sessions on the tv and I find it adds to the experience.

    My wife just shakes her head at me when I have my tablet with the timing app, my laptop with F1Fanatic and twitter streaming and watching the F1 on the TV.

    One thing to note that the F1 app has that the timing doesn’t, and thats the location of where the cars are on the track in relation to everyone else.

    1. F1 app has that the timing doesn’t

      Should be “F1 app has that the website timing doesn’t”

  10. I loved the very basic live timing app when it was free. Useful but not essential. I would not pay for this app – it is way too expensive and as someone has pointed out only works for a year or season. The F1 live timing app is old, clunky and the java problems are a pain. When it works its good but surely in this day and age it could be better. I, too, suspect that it will not be long before we have to pay for it. I have followed F1 for all of my 56 years (well for 46 years anyway) but recently it is getting to be so expensive that actually attending races is not a realistic option. I am sure that reducing the amout CVC take out of the sport therefore reducing costs would allow more countries to stage a race (France, Portugal?) and allow more people to attend – and there would be more revenue – economics?

  11. Travis Humphery (@)
    31st March 2013, 12:21

    Years ago when the app first came out I spent the money and bought it.

    I was expecting it to be able to show the circuit map and the driver position live but found after getting it that I had to download that data after each event.

    I was so annoyed at that fact, as it was really the only reason I got the app. I already do what others here have said – watch the race live with my laptop next to me with Twitter and the Formula1.com live timing open.

    Which brings me to another thing that is behind the times – the live timing always gets completely screwed when someone pits. It seems to take more then a lap for the driver positions to correct themselves (surely it should correct as each driver passes the start/finish line?)

    Anyway…

    Can someone confirm that this years version actually shows driver position live? May be worth considering if that is the case.

    1. I was expecting it to be able to show the circuit map and the driver position live but found after getting it that I had to download that data after each event.

      Can someone confirm that this years version actually shows driver position live?

      The driver tracking data has always been available live since the app was 1st launched.

      The timing/tracking data was also available as a download in order to make the app useable for non-live broadcasts.

    2. @Travis

      Can someone confirm that this year’s version actually shows driver position live?

      Yes it does.

  12. High definition broadcasts arrived six years after NASCAR’s.

    Reason been that there hardly any F1 broadcasters capable of taking a HD broadcast.

    FOM had HD capable cameras in 2006 & we did look at HD for 2007 but at that time we found that only 3 broadcasters would have taken the HD feed & concluded that it wasn’t really worth the extra investment at that time.

    It was easier for Nascar to go HD since the broadcaster (Fox at the time) also produces the TV feed, So when Fox launched there HD channel they decided to broadcast Nascar in HD as a way of promoting it. Same with Indycar, It went HD when the TV broadcaster (ESPN at the time) wanted it in HD.

    Unlike those series FOM are producing a world-feed so have to produce something suitable for all broadcasters, They can’t customize the feed for any individual broadcasters, They do what the majority are able to do at the time.

    A current example is 3D, Sky have been pushing very hard for 3D & they want every race in 3D (Even though it doesn’t really work all that well for F1), However since Sky (UK, Italy & Germany) are the only F1 broadcasters who could even carry a 3D broadcast there’s currently no chance of FOM even considering it. If you had a situation where a fair chunk of world-wide broadcasters could carry a 3D broadcast then they would start to consider it more seriously.

    Side-point with widescreen. Many criticized F1 for waiting until 2007 to go widescreen, That wasn’t actually down to FOM as such. Don’t forget that until 2007 the world-feed was produced by local broadcasters & several of them didn’t produce a widescreen feed & we didn’t want the broadcast constantly switching back & forth between 16:9 & 4:3 each race depending on what the local broadcasters were doing.
    When FOM took over most of the TV broadcast’s in 2007 we were able to take the world-feed widescreen.

    Regarding the app, All FOM do is provide the data to Soft Pauer, Its them who produces, maintains & runs the app. They also use a similar app for V8 Supercars down in Australia & I gather it suffers from the same reliability problems & other glitches as this F1 app does.

    1. Unlike those series FOM are producing a world-feed so have to produce something suitable for all broadcasters, They can’t customize the feed for any individual broadcasters, They do what the majority are able to do at the time.

      That’s what bothers me because the broadcast ends up being a compromise if you’re not part of that “majority”, just to give you an example, here in Mexico we get an HD feed sure, but is not a native NTSC (60i) signal and when you get quick camera movements it’s all crappy and blurry also, the graphics are framed for 4:3 TVs so in free practice and qualy all the drivers’ names are on the way and it’s very distracting.
      Anyway, I have the F1 app and the main reason is that I can watch all the sessions timings at any time I want, so no more waking up at 6 am on Sundays!

      1. The graphics being framed for 4:3 TVs even in the HD/Widescreen version of the broadcast is due to your local broadcaster selecting that feed. There are two world feeds, one that is 4:3 & one that is 16:9, here in the USA we get the 16:9 feed because that’s what NBCSN (and SPEED in years past) uses.

        1. FOM send out 3 versions of the world-feed as far as graphics go.
          There’s a version with graphics in 4:3 safe zones,
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrIZgAv2XBg

          A pure 16:9 feed with graphics outside the 4:3 safe zones:
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqYEvlY16b4

          And the 3rd clear feed with no graphics at all for use in post race analysis & highlights etc…

          There’s also the extra feeds they put out such as the OnBoard, Pit Lane, Timing & Ddiver Tracker.

          1. John Bergqvist (@)
            24th May 2013, 13:24

            They also produce a version with graphics but without team radio, as i’ve noticed that Sky use when they’re on their “Pit Radio” live bits, which they (Sky) must be-able to switch to seamlessly.

        2. @fisha695 Well you’re right in my case it’s probably Fox Sport’s fault that we get this problems, and yes last year I had the chance to watch a couple of races in the US and the picture quality was much much better than what I get, not sure I like that many adverts though :)

  13. I bought the 2011 version and was disappointed as it never ran properly on my underpowered old phone.

    I don’t think I could be moved to pay £23 again especially as half the races are highlights only so there is no point in live timing or even a historical session.

    However for those wanting something better than the F1 web-site living timing I suggest searching Google for “F1LT 2.0.0” – a free PC application which is pretty darn good.

    1. I took your advice and just downloaded F1LT, its really really good, i’ll definitely be using this for the next race, thank you very much for the heads up fellow f1 fanatic

    2. @jarvis : Thats a bloody good app… got an Android version too… I will suck that up.. Thanks mate.. Not wasting $25 on that Soft Paw app

  14. if you have android you can download the paid version for free if you dont want to spend $30 or whatever it is in your country. i do realize that you are not supporting the developers but why must we pay for a service that is free if you are in front of a pc but if you our out and dont have a pc a mobile is your only option.

    1. @mrjl93

      why must we pay for a service that is free if you are in front of a pc

      As mentioned in the article, much of the functionality in the app goes beyond what you can get via the fee desktop timing service on F1.com.

    2. I admit to downloading the apk in the back end of 2010 for trial purposes. I wasn’t prepared to pay that price for something that was untried, untested and even unreviewed. But I have happily paid for the app from the beginning of the 2011 season.

      I used to sit and watch with the f1.com timing. Not any more, I haven’t logged on to F1 live timing in 2 years. I cannot do without this app: I don’t watch ANY F1 session without it.

      Main differences between the f1.com site and this app that make the app a worthwhile purchase are:

      Track map. Might be a bit gimmicky, but when you can see that a driver setting purple sectors doesn’t set a fastest lap because there was traffic, you can make proper analyses of practice and qualifying. Likewise in a race when a gap suddenly shrinks because of traffic. It isn’t apparent with data only. It shows data for every car that you can interpret yourself. The world feed misses quite a lot.

      Tyre data. You can see how many laps the set of tyres have completed. Watching long run stints in Australia P2 with this app, I was able to pick the finishing order of the race after 10 laps.

      Selection of data. When looking at sector data, you can toggle between most recent time set and best time set. So when your driver sets a green sector, you can check to see how it compares to everyone else’s best sector time. Very valuable in qualifying.

      Download session data. When I watch the replay on Monday night (or if you have to record the race and watch it back later) I can download the race data and watch the race with the timing as though it were live. Also works for ALL sessions throughout the season. In fact, if I decide I want to watch a race from 2011, I can still download data from that race and use the live timing and track map data while I watch.

      The price for the app does decrease as the season progresses, and in the past I am sure they have had pricing for individual races and even free sessions (eg. P1 or P2) where data was free as an evaluation tool for prospective purchasers.

      Yes it is expensive, but per race it isn’t exorbitant. Maybe I am lucky that where I watch the races is on free-to-air tv (for now) and I don’t have to pay for the privilege of watching F1. If I had to pay for Sky AND the app, I might have a different opinion. But for me this is a must have if you follow every session and are keen understand races all the way down the field.

  15. I’ve had this app for the past three or four years and actually find it indispensable.

    For £2 a race I think its worth the money. I find races increasingly hard to follow and this gives you a bit more insight into strategy and relative pace of the drivers during the stints.

    I did not buy it for Australia but seeing how that race panned out made me get it for Malaysia. The latest version is also a big improvement with twitter integration.

    I don’t particularly understand most of the negative comments on here. No point in getting the free version, get the paid one. Recommended.

  16. Because race days are working days in the Middle East, I used the 2012 timing app on my iPad last year and I found it incredibly useful. It was a god send when I was in the stands during the Abu Dhabi GP because I struggle to read the text on the big screens, it was handy to have the timing sheets with me.

    Because I liked the app last year (and because the F1.com timing screens are blocked by my office firewall) I got it again this year, this time on iPhone. It is again proving itself to be a useful tool and I have leaned on it a lot during the first two race weekends of 2013. Like Keith I spend most of my time on the main timing page, but I have to say the page which shows you which tyres the drivers are on is incredibly useful. Since the onset of the Pirelli era I found it difficult to follow and plot people’s strategies using just timing pages because you never knew what tyre people were on at a given time, the new tyre page solves that and also gives you the number of laps they have run on the tyre. Following strategies got a whole lot easier. The track map is and was always a gimmick I think. I always reduce it and just have the timing screens up. It doesn’t update quickly enough to be a useful tool.

    All in all it is a good thing I think…though it may well be better for an iPad/table than an iPhone.

  17. I love the sport and i am a massive F1 fan, but there is no way that il spend that kind of money on an app which could be alot better.

    PS. Jailbreak

  18. It is expensive but love this app.

    The replay and sector times used together is amazing when you want to know how your favourite driver is doing lap by lap. Especially with these tyres it tells you exactly when someone’s tyres are going off.

    Also the live track position tracker is amazing when someone comes into the pits, cause you can tell almost exactly in what position they will come out.

    Adding this app to live tv and f1fanatic live chat to watch each and every session of a weekend makes it an amazing experience.

    Also helps with predictions! Like for example at Malaysia I knew from practice replay that red bulls could hold pace longer than Mercedes.

  19. There’s a free “unofficial” timing app that looks very similar that is available for Android (not sure about iPhone). It doesn’t have the track position map or the Twitter feed, but it does have a running commentary. I found this app to be quite good and timely while watching Malaysia.

  20. I’ve been using f1 figures by Pickle AppWare for the last two years, it’s about £1.49 from the app store I think. It has all the functions of the F1.com live timing (You need to have an account on the F1.com site) I got this when the free official app disappeared and it’s very good, although the reviews don’t seem to reflect that. If you just want timing and position graph etc get this app.

  21. Amusing that it’s available for Blackberry but not Windows Phone/Windows 8 RT

    ‘I’ll use it on my BB Playbook!’ said at least 4 people.

    1. @gridlock : Windows phone is stone age..

  22. I’m sorry if I’m wrong but don’t they just promote a 3rd party app by tagging it “official” now? IIRC, there was an official (free) F1.com app in the last years which they now seem to have dropped.

  23. I have the app but for 2 years running now I can’t get it to work due to it being unable to open a Port on my connection. Help is appreciated! :)

  24. The new app is much better than the previous versions, but I ran those on my BlackBerry. This year I am running the app on my iPhone and iPad. You are right – it looks great on the iPad.

  25. I use this app since there was available some years ago. I know this is not really necessary, but makes my life easer during a race, or when I’m not at home during some weekend session. 28€ is not cheap but on the other hand is not a quantity that can break any budget. The only small inconvenience is, as TV signal has some delay, one take note of things previously to watch it in the TV.

  26. In my opinion, way overpriced for what most potential customers are willing to pay for nearly any kind of app no matter how good or useful. I’ve followed F1 since the 60s and embrace technology wholeheartedly, but it seems like a medium priced app would get more F1 fans on board. It would generate more cash to sell 10,000 apps at U$10 than to to sell 1,000 apps at U$34.

    I do appreciate the review and the comments as I have been wondering about this app. A lot better quality reviews from true F1 fans here than at the app store.

  27. I don’t have a smartphone but on the computer I use this: http://code.google.com/p/f1lt/

  28. I have run it for the last two years on my Android phone and Nexus 7. While this year’s price increase was steep, this is the most reliably way to follow ALL SESSIONS live when living here in Alaska. Still worth it.

  29. I think it would be worth the hefty price tag if you bought the app at the beginning of the year for 23.99, and then at the end of every year you can update it for free for the drivers etc of the new season.

  30. Every race i watch with my father and sister, 3 tablets are on the table with this app. I don’t want a big clunky laptop on the table, but we still want to follow the gaps between drivers in a race.
    Must have app imho …

  31. Ben Thomas (@)
    31st March 2013, 22:10

    It’s incredible how behind the times F1 is considering how advanced the sport is supposed to be. I’d like to see something similar to how the NFL show their games over the internet. They have a service called Game Pass which enables you to watch the games live online and I believe up to four at once. For F1, this could mean you watch the main feed, follow a few drivers and have the pit lane feed all on one screen. During the off season, you could also go back and watch highlights of a session/race or even the whole session in full. This would mean the FOM would have to supply some form of commentary. If this were offered at a competitive price, I would be more than happy to purchase this as F1 slowly moves away from free-to-air television. Thoughts?

    1. For FOM to provide an internet service would cause all sorts of problems with the contracts, the tv broadcasters have clauses giving them exclusive rights to f1 video distribution in each country.

      I used to work for the BBC & did a few races in the TV truck working the red button & online stuff & when we did the tv contract in 2008 we had such a clause & the sky/bbc share deal also has that clause, there sharing exclusive rights in the uk.

  32. I don’t see anything to tear me away from just having http://f1.narezka.ru/?lang=eng open.
    Much better than the official web application.

  33. I’m a bit buried in comments so I doubt this’ll get much notice, but I’m surprised nobody seems to have mentioned the wonderful F1LT project (http://f1lt.pl/).

    It’s free, available on multiple platforms, and has a huge amount of data available between tracking laptimes, positions, commentary, track/air temps, pit times. The only thing I couldn’t manage to find last time was which tires a driver was on at a given time.

    1. Thanks for that info. I wasn’t aware of it.

  34. You can get it for free off any torrent site

  35. The price of the app is way too expensive and out of reality – most apps and games in Google play store are around 1€ with some new game titles costing 5-10€.
    If they want to sell this app they should sell it unter 10€.
    Another stupid thing is the expiration at the end of the season. Why should I buy every year the same app again and again. Why can they just automatically update it just like any other app. Or at least to have to pay a smaller amount for the next years update and not the whole price again.
    And last , if I buy the app in the first race of the season or in the last they charge me the same price . Shouldn’t be more fair that the price devaluates as the season progress?
    Luckily for the magority of the people there are some very good free apps out there.

  36. My suggestion would be :
    1) remove this stupid demo(free) app from the market which is useless
    2) Have one basic timing app at minimum price(1-3€) or free ( like it was some years ago)
    3) Have the premium app with the tracker and all the extra stuff at a higher price but for less than 10€.

  37. In my opinion this is a must have app I would be lost without it on race weekends.

    Having sector times and tyre info for Q1 and Q2 I find I am way ahead of what is going with the commentators particularly when the leaders try to get through on a prime run and the midfield switch to options, plus having info sector info for Q3 again means you can see who is doing what ahead of the tv.

    I often use it for FP 1 and 2 while at work and also for FP 3 to get a feel for qualy.

    For the race in the Pirelli era I just find it so much easier to follow what is going on and again with the added benefit of being able to follow your favourite driver if they are not being shown on tv.

    The replay function is excellent and if I have ever missed a session and have it taped can watch it as live again.

    I have had limited bugs and glitches certainly nothing that has not corrected itself quite quickly and again this seems to be linked to the official feed so it is not an app problem.

    I know everyone’s financial situation is different but with 5 sessions a weekend and 19 races that’s about 25p a session, for me that is a no brainier, happy to sacrifice 10 coffees or 5 trips to McDonalds a year for this app.

  38. f1 should be broadcasted over the internet…maybe even youtube..I dont live in Europe, and we dont get f1 practice coverage where I live, only the quali and race is broadcasted(and i dont get any f1 gossip like the pre/post race stuff)..it would be wonderful if we had youtube broadcasts, or some sort of official f1 channel on the internet.that would be just great. I am pretty sure the indian IPL Cricket tournament used to get broadcasted on youtube.

  39. I use an App called F1Live24.
    Shows distance between cars, positions, lap times, and it’s FREE!

    Not bad att all for a free app

    1. *on my iPhone, forgot to mention.

      Not sure whether it is available for Android. (but you can install the “real app” for free anyway)

  40. Worth noting that in November/December each year, the developers usually offer next season’s subscriptions with a 25% discount.

  41. For a while now i’ve been waiting for some kind of live timing for windows phone. If they offered this app for WP i would buy it. If there was some unofficial live timing app i would use that. So lap top is the only option for me.

    1. Unavailability of some F1 app is only thing holding me from buying a WP device.

  42. knoxploration
    1st April 2013, 15:35

    I paid for this app last year, and spent all year regretting that decision. It was absolutely riddled with bugs, many of which weren’t fixed after being reported to the developer. It was, essentially, completely impossible to get through a full race without two crashes, and after each crash you have to adjust the time slip all over again to get it to match what’s on the TV. The information shown is hopelessly inaccurate — in particular, the track map is nonsensical, often showing things like cars driving backwards on track. Five seconds is an eternity in an F1 race; an app which updates so seldom and simply guesses what is happening in between (as this does) is effectively showing you a fictitious event. And frankly, I compared it side-by-side with the java app on F1.com and found the latter far more effective and accurate. The official app would frequently stop updating for 30-90 seconds, then suddenly playback at accelerated speed for the next 15-30 seconds until it had caught up. Occasionally, it wouldn’t work at all. There were no such problems on the F1.com applet; these problems were specific to the app.

    The app’s commentary ran as a painfully slow and uncontrollable scroll that made it impossible to keep up to date on unless you spent all your time staring at your phone or tablet, and ignoring the actual race. And then there’s the fact that on Android, the developer uses iOS paradigms that are unintuitive and run counter to everything else on the OS, and they point-blank refuse to even consider abiding by Android paradigms instead, or even giving users the choice of paradigm via a settings option.

    And it has to be said that all of this is regarding the app being run on what, at the time, was about the fastest Android tablet and phone available, and on a totally untaxed, high-speed broadband connection. In other words the app, and not the hardware and connectivity, was at fault.

    Frankly, as somebody who did so, if you pay for this you’re daft.

  43. I have the app. I find it’s priceless in helping me to follow the action, particularly for the races which are only available live on Sky. I mainly flick between the circuit map screen and the live timing screen during sessions. For races that the BBC show live I find it handy to keep track of the exact gaps between cars, especially the ones that the director isn’t focusing on and may be on alternate strategies in the midfield, in real time. During the races that the BBC don’t show live, I find the app invaluable as radio commentary just can’t give the level of information about times and positioning that’s available from the app, and I find it quite interesting to watch as cars pull away and close up to one another during the race.

    The only criticism I have about the app is its price. £23.99 is far too expensive for what it is, if it was £10 I still think it would be expensive but would tempt a lot more people to buy it, as it does look really slick and generally works well on my android phone. If all the races where live on the BBC I simply wouldn’t entertain spending £24 on the app. However, last year when the first races came round and I couldn’t watch them I decided it would be worth a punt to try and make getting up at 2am to listen to a free practice session on the radio more bearable, and it was.

    Basically I think the app is invaluable to anyone who wants to have an extra layer of information about what’s going on on track to help them follow the various sessions, however I can understand why people may decided that £24 is too expensive for a phone app that’s only any use for nineteen weekends.

  44. Great free app available for Android here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.procoit.f1lt

    Has adverts but can be removed for a £1.20. Developer works hard during all F1 sessions to get rid of bugs and it is coming along nicely.

  45. Something I’d like to point out – I wrote to the people in charge of the app with several questions (can I buy the app and have it on both my tablet and my smartphone, am I going to be charged the full amount if I get it halfway through the season, etc) and I got an immediate and very clear response. That, above the quality of the app itself, was already an argument for them.

    1. Your post backs up my experience – I’ve chatted to them on Facebook and Twitter and got very good responses.

      Out of interest, were you able to have it on both devices?

  46. I have been unable to justify the expense of this app, especially considering it is valid only for one season at a time. A £30 charge for the app (and data, it’s useless without the data) for life I would probably have paid.

    I have used a variety of timing apps throughout the years, including the f1.com java nastiness, a text based Linux program live-f1, and a few Android apps. I can’t stand watching the race live without timing. With this in mind, I search for sources every year, and this year have found “Unofficial Live F1 Timing” by ProCo Apps (on Android) to be one of the best for both my tablet and my phone (for if I’m not at home).

    I have to say I am considering the Official version this year. It does look fantastic. I am yet to be convinced that it is worth it over the apps I’m currently using, though…

  47. The pinnacle of motorsports and the tortoise of broadcasting. What do they spend all their money on? They want to expand “the show” but they still want it to be secretive at the same time. Doesn’t make sense to me.

    The app is a good idea and I was considering it until I saw the price. It is quite a steep price considering it is only for this year. If it was that price for a number of seasons, I would consider it. I wouldn’t want to pay more than $10 CAD. $30 is way too much IMO, as many others have said.

  48. If this app was cheaper then I would probably buy it, I don’t have access to the practice sessions on TV so often have to ‘watch’ those sessions though live timing originally through the website but now using the more superior F1LT android app.

    The biggest issue with this app though is that you have to buy it every year and they keep putting up the price each year. Sure paying $36 once is a hit to get a service better than live timing on the website, but having to pay that amount every year is a ripoff on the part of Soft Pauer. The only reason I can see that they charge so much is maybe FOM charge them for the feed and they need to recoup those costs. If so then, why not have an initial purchase then maybe a much much lower annual fee. They would get more people using the service. Or combine it with the MotoGP app (also made by Soft Pauer) then I would see the $36 worthwhile. Right now though, F1LT provides all the info I need when watching TV, and at a glance allows me to keep track of the timing when I’m out and about on a Friday or Saturday night

  49. I bought the app for the first time this year. It was the first full season that I had a decent sized smartphone to view it on (Samsung S3), and it’s worked really well technically. I think the app was slightly cheaper for a few weeks when it was first released, so I probably paid less than £20. I thought it was an indulgence (I’ve never paid for an app before) but worth trying for at least one season.

    I don’t subscribe to Sky so I don’t know if they provide this level of internet content, but I’ve found the app very useful to keep an eye on tyre data in particular – how many laps each driver has run on which type of tyre in each session (new/scrubbed, prime/option, etc). Also the ability to zero in on individual drivers on the track, to see what kind of traffic they’re in, get combined visual/data on gaps to other drivers, and see flagged incidents before the cameras & commentators see them (if you like that kind of thing, but you can customise it not to show them if you don’t).

    The ability to download sessions and replay live timing has been useful for the occasional race that I couldn’t be bothered to get up for and watch live on TV – it’s got practically everything I need to make it feel like as if I’m watching live. If all I can get is TV highlights, I can pause or fast-forward the action on the app to synchronise with it.

    I haven’t attended a live race this season, but I plan to go to a couple next year, and it’ll provide me with the kind of data I can get at home. I know the Montreal circuit, for example, has wifi, but if it’s not up to scratch I can fall back on a mobile router. So I plan to buy it again next year as long as there isn’t a price increase.

  50. Where I can download it? It is for Windows (PC)? Where I have a guide about the app (description of colours, modes for free practice, qualifying and race, etc.)?
    Thank you.

  51. cant buy the app as ‘not supported in my country’ and no other option. Really? I have bought the app for the past 4 years and now I’m not allowed it!!! Ridiculous.

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