Gallery: Super Handy Maps Show Which NYC Subway Lines Get Cell Service, and Where
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The app you see here is part of Subspotting. The data visualization project maps the available cell phone reception for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon across all 21 of New York City's subway lines.
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It includes maps, which chart with blue, yellow, pink, and red lines the electromagnetic peaks and valleys found along the city’s subway tracks.
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To make the maps Daniel Goddemeyer built a custom app that could log the reception of the four main carriers in two-second intervals. He then packed a briefcase with four iPhones—one device per carrier—and rode all the subway lines. In both directions. It took two weeks.
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It’s a small but poignant bit of community service, and Goddemeyer has a dead-simple goal: “To let people know where they can connect, to download the PDF, or send the next email.”
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