Parcel tracking made easy with iPhone

The choice is yours

There is one task the iPhone should be able to do easily and that is parcel tracking. The iPhone lends itself to this kind of app very well and we have four of them to choose from. So which is best? Which has the most features? Which is the easiest to use? and which presents the information most clearly? Hit the ‘read more’ to see our comparison of the four….

First up is Parcels.

Parcels, created by Lucid Design, is the least visually appealing of the three apps. It looks very ‘iPhone-esque’ with the pinstripe background and blue status bar at the top. It allows you to enter as many Track and Trace numbers as you want and will track NZ Post, Courier Post, National and International parcels.

Once the trace number is loaded it will give you information on the status of the parcel as per the image below. One thing this app does that the others don’t seem to do is enable you to go to the website to view the actual signature. This is a nice touch and can come in handy.

The main screen where your parcels are listed only shows you the name that you set when loading the Track n Trace number in.

It doesn’t seem to like old tracking numbers. I have a number I was using for testing where the parcel was delivered on 22nd February but it doesn’t seem to want to take the number. This is the same for the NZ Post app as well.

The app is straight forward to use and as I mentioned before it is very iPhone-esque which makes for a familiar experience. The keyboard auto switches to numbers when you have typed the first two letters and then back to the keyboard for the last two letters. With this very basic look and feel you can’t go wrong but these days with the high quality design of many apps on the store it just feels like it’s missing something.

It has a Free price tag so trying it out won’t cost you anything.

– Parcels

Next up CourierPost Pro and CourierPost Free

OK so I said there were four apps and there are but ‘CourierPost’ comes in two forms: Pro and Free. Both look the same but with the Pro version you get a few extra features. Both apps are created by MobileNet and both of these apps, like the others, allow you to track NZ Post, Courier Post, National and International parcels.

Let’s look at the Free version first. Visually, unlike Parcels, it has more of a NZ Post/CourierPost look and feel to it. The icon in particular looks very similar to the official logo but with a slightly different envelope, but don’t be fooled… this is not an official app. Throughout the app it continues to use the official colours and is much more pleasing to the eye than Parcels.

Looks aren’t everything though, so what about the features? The Free version limits you to tracking just 5 parcels and with both of the other free apps this is it’s biggest flaw. However if you only track a few parcels every now and then then it shouldn’t be a major issue. On the main screen it features a quick dial button to call CourierPost and “coloured gems” to give you a quick indication of the status (green=delivered, yellow= in transit, red=delivery failed). It also gives you a quick glance at the tracking info (tracking number and status).

If you want more information you tap on the ticket and you get a detailed view. It doesn’t give you the option to view the actual signature but the information is laid out in a clear way.

So what do you get for your buck 29 in the Pro version? You get all the same as the Free version but you also get to add an unlimited number of tickets, which all the others do for free. The biggest feature you get is the ability to book a collection. This feature is only available in the CourierPost Pro app, you simply add your site code (which it will remember for future collections) and any optional instructions. Tap the big red book button and a courier will be winging his or her way to you to collect your parcel (FYI if you need to cancel it you need to call them, which you can do by using the quick dial button).

One thing this app doesn’t do (both paid and free) is auto-format the keyboard as you type, so you have to switch between 123 and abc manually. Not a major issue but if you are paying for the app I think it should be there.

– CourierPost Free

– CourierPost Pro

Lastly NZ Post

The official app from NZ Post. It took the longest to come to the store but out of all the apps is the most rounded. It has the look and feel of NZ Post (not CourierPost) and comes at no cost.

Like the other free apps you can trace an unlimited number of parcels, see information on the delivery status, it looks great and uses the auto-formatting keyboard making it easy to type your ticket numbers in. But what does it do that the others don’t?

The first thing this has is a search function, allowing you to search through the unlimited number of tickets you can enter. You can search by name or by ticket number making it quick and easy to see its status. Talking of status it also gives you update information, which non of the others do, allowing you to see what has happened to your parcel so far. To round out the offering it allows you to send the tracking details by email, very useful for all those TradeMe sales.

As expected from the official app and like the others, it allows you to track NZ Post, Courier Post, National and International parcels.

– NZ Post

One thing none of the apps do is recognise long tracking numbers and this is one update that all the apps need.

Long tracking numbers not recognised by any app

So which is best? Well it’s dependent on your needs and there are two main runners, the official NZ Post app and the CourierPost Pro app. If you need to be able to book pickups then the only choice is CourierPost Pro, but at a price of $1.29 if that is not a requirement then the best choice is the free NZ Post app.

All of the apps could take something from the other and if you merged all 4 together into one it would be a great app.

Comparison Chart (Click to enlarge)

Have you tried these apps? Which do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.