Please review the Frequently Asked questions below. If these don’t answer your question, or if you have a different bug or behaviour, please send me feedback via the Contact link above.

September 17, 2026

Siri and Apple Intelligence in iOS 27

Version 1.11 of Next3Trains is built for iOS 27, and most of what’s new is about Siri. Some of it works on every iPhone the app supports, some of it needs a newer version of iOS, and the most interesting parts need Apple Intelligence. Here’s what to expect on each.

On every iPhone

Ask for a destination. As well as “Check my trains in Next3Trains”, you can now say “Next trains to London Bridge in Next3Trains”. You only name where you’re going: the trains leave from the departure station of your current route, chosen the same way Check My Trains chooses it - your location, your widget, or the route you last looked at. The destination doesn’t have to be one of your saved routes, so standing at Blackfriars with a Blackfriars to Haywards Heath route saved, that phrase gets you Blackfriars to London Bridge. It works on Apple Watch as well. The phrases are listed in Why isn’t Siri working?.

September 17, 2026

What are Disruption Summaries?

Disruption notices, while very informative, are not particularly useful for someone stood on a platform with thirty seconds to decide. From version 1.11, on devices that support Apple Intelligence, Next3Trains can read the notices for your train and give you a short plain-English summary of what’s happening and where.

What you need

iOS 26 or later, or macOS 26 or later for the Mac app.
A device that supports Apple Intelligence, with Apple Intelligence turned on in the Settings app.

If your device can’t run Apple Intelligence, the feature is hidden entirely and the app behaves exactly as before. If your device can but Apple Intelligence is switched off, the Settings toggle appears greyed out with a note telling you where to turn it on.

September 17, 2026

What's new in Next3Trains 1.11

Version 1.11 is the iOS 27 release. The short version:

A new app icon

The icon is now a proper layered icon. On iOS 26 and 27 that means it gets Light, Dark, Tinted and Clear versions from the system, with real depth to the three trains. On older versions of iOS, and on the Apple Watch, it’s the same design rendered flat and noticeably sharper - the three trains no longer merge into one shape at small sizes. As a side effect the app is about 1.3 MB smaller. The same logo now appears inside the app too, on the welcome and empty screens and at the top of a new About section in Settings.

September 3, 2026

How do commuting hours work?

Turning on Optimise for Commuting Hours in Settings gives you a morning window, an evening window, and the days of the week you commute. Several parts of the app use them, and a couple of details are easy to trip over.

What the windows control

Widget updates. iOS gives widgets a fixed daily budget of refreshes; the app prioritises spending it inside your windows rather than spreading it over the whole day. See Why aren’t my widgets updating?.
Notifications. Cancellation, delay and platform change alerts are only sent inside your windows, on your commuting days. See What notifications will I get?.
Live Activities. One starts automatically during a window for the route you’re nearest to. See How do Live Activities work?.
What the widgets and watch complications show on your days off. By default that’s a day off card (with a bed icon) rather than a departure board, but since version 1.11 it’s your choice - see below.

The windows do not change which route the widget shows - that’s decided by location or by the route you last looked at. See Why is my widget showing the wrong station?.

September 3, 2026

How many coaches will my train have, and how full is it?

Knowing whether you’re waiting for a four-coach or a nine-coach train changes where you stand on the platform, so the app tries to tell you - but only when it can do so honestly.

The coach count

When the operator publishes the length of a train, the app shows it on the train’s row and in its details. Many operators do, and for those trains nothing has changed.

Some operators don’t publish it for all of their trains. In particular, GWR doesn’t seem to report length for the great majority of its services, and Avanti West Coast for all of them.

September 3, 2026

What are the notices and planned works on my route?

Next3Trains shows you why things are going wrong as well as that they are. Since version 1.9 there are a few places where that information appears.

The warning triangle on a route card

When the station you’re leaving from has a notice - a line closure, a disruption, a change to the way the station is operating - an orange warning triangle appears in the header of that route’s card. Tap it to open Service Notices, which lists the notices in full. Links in a notice open in Safari.

September 3, 2026

What does the ⓘ next to a station show?

Since version 1.9 there’s a small ⓘ button beside each station code on a route card - one for where you’re leaving from, one for where you’re going. Tap it and you get a sheet of information about that station, so you can check whether the lifts are working or whether there’s a ticket office before you set off.

What’s in it

Alerts - anything the station is currently publishing about access: lift and escalator closures, changes to step-free routes, and so on. This is live. Bear in mind that an alert can describe work that’s weeks away, or one that has been “current” for months with no end date, so read the text rather than assuming it means right now.
Accessibility - the station’s step-free notes and category, how many lifts it has, whether staff help is available and when, whether there are wheelchairs to borrow or a ramp for boarding, induction loops, tactile paving and an accessible toilet.
At the station - who manages the station, whether it’s staffed, ticket office hours or ticket machines, toilets (including baby changing and Changing Places where they exist), waiting room and shelter, Wi-Fi, refreshments and a cash machine.
Getting there - car parking (including accessible spaces) and cycle storage.

If a station publishes nothing at all, the sheet says so rather than showing an empty page.

August 9, 2026

Using Next3Trains with Shortcuts

Next3Trains provides three actions you can use in the Shortcuts app to build your own automations. All three run in the background without opening the app, so they work as one step in a longer shortcut.

Check My Trains

The same action Siri uses. It takes no parameters - it works out which of your saved routes is most relevant from your location, your widget, or the route you last looked at - and returns the next three departures with times, platforms and any delays.

August 9, 2026

What notifications will I get?

Next3Trains can send you push notifications when something goes wrong with a train on one of your routes. Notifications are opt-in - if you never turn them on, the app carries on working exactly as it did before and nothing about your setup leaves your phone beyond the station codes needed to fetch train times.

The three kinds of alert

You can turn each of these on or off independently in Settings:

August 9, 2026

How do Live Activities work?

A Live Activity is the panel that appears on your Lock Screen, and in the Dynamic Island on iPhones that have one, showing your next trains without you needing to unlock or open anything. Next3Trains uses one to keep your next two departures in front of you while you’re actually travelling. This needs iOS 16.2 or later.

Starting one

You don’t start it manually. During one of your commuting windows, the app starts a Live Activity for the saved route whose departure station you’re nearest to. Opening the app also refreshes whichever one is running. Windows that run past midnight work too since version 1.9 - see How do commuting hours work?.