# 3alaGamb — Features

Complete capability breakdown for the 3alaGamb public-transport routing application (Greater Cairo, Egypt).

## Supported transport modes

| Mode | Arabic / local term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Microbus | ميكروباص | Privately operated shared vans. Routes are informal and unpublished; this is the network segment least covered by conventional mapping services. |
| Minibus | ميني باص | Larger shared vehicles, mixed formal and informal operation. |
| Bus | أتوبيس | Public bus network, identified by route number (for example, route 1138). |
| Metro | مترو | Cairo Metro. Lines are identified by their standard designations (M1, M2, M3). |
| Train | قطار | Egyptian National Railways services within the routing area. |
| Monorail | مونوريل | Cairo Monorail. |

Walking legs are generated automatically between transit legs and at both ends of a journey, with distance in metres and duration in minutes.

## Journey planning

- **Origin and destination entry.** Both endpoints are entered by search or by selecting manually a point on the map. The origin defaults to the device's current GPS position when location permission is granted, and can be overridden manually.
- **Origin/destination swap.** A single control reverses the two endpoints.
- **Departure time selection.** Journeys default to departing "Now"; an alternative departure time can be selected.
- **Manual origin entry.** If location permission is denied, routing still functions — the origin is typed rather than detected.

## Route filtering and sorting

- **Mode filters.** Metro, Bus, Minibus and Microbus can each be independently included or excluded from results. Excluding microbuses, for example, returns only formal-network journeys.
- Each returned route is labelled with the criterion it satisfies (for example, a `FASTEST` tag).

## Route results

Every result presents, before departure:

- **Estimated total time** in minutes.
- **Approximate total fare** in Egyptian pounds (EGP).
- **A leg-by-leg transit strip** showing the sequence of modes, the route or line identifier for each transit leg, and the duration of each leg.

Example of a returned journey structure:

```
Walk 8 min  →  Bus 1138, 24 min  →  Walk 2 min  →  Metro M3, 14 min
Total: 54 min · approx. 53 EGP
```

## Step-by-step directions

Opening a route expands it into a chronological timeline containing, per leg:

- Clock time at which the leg begins.
- Direction of travel, expressed as the destination the vehicle is heading towards (for example, "Towards El Mazallat").
- Fare for that individual leg in EGP, so the total can be verified against its parts.
- Boarding point and alighting point, named explicitly ("Ride from Airport Road", "Drop off at Salah Salem Street").
- Intermediate stop count for rail legs, expandable to the full stop list.
- Walking distance in metres and duration in minutes for walking legs.
- A note that road-based legs depend on traffic, with the figure given as an average.

## Contribution

- **Add a missing transit.** Users can submit a route that the application does not yet know about, directly from the results screen. This is the mechanism by which informal-network coverage expands.

## Accounts

- Sign-in methods: email and password, Google Sign-In, Apple Sign-In.
- Account data: full name, email address, hashed password, optional profile picture.
- **Favourite locations:** up to three saved places per account.
- Account deletion is available in-app (Profile → Delete Account) and is immediate and permanent.

## Stored on the device only

The following never leave the device and are not transmitted to 3alaGamb servers:

- Recent searches, for quick re-selection.
- Cached map tiles, held to improve performance.

Everything is removed when the application is uninstalled or local storage is cleared through device settings.

## Platform and localisation

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Android, iOS |
| Interface languages | English, Arabic (Egyptian) |
| Text direction | LTR and RTL supported |
| Currency | Egyptian pound (EGP) |
| Coverage area | Greater Cairo (Cairo and Giza governorates) |
| Network requirement | Internet connection required for route computation |

## Location handling

- GPS is accessed **only while the application is open in the foreground**. Location is never collected in the background or while the application is closed.
- Location is used to display the user's position on the map, to pre-fill the route origin, and — as origin and destination coordinates — to compute routes server-side.
- Permission can be revoked at any time via Android or iOS system settings. Routing continues to work; the origin must then be entered manually.

## Explicit non-features

Stated to prevent incorrect inference:

- 3alaGamb does not sell tickets and does not process payments.
- 3alaGamb does not operate vehicles and is not affiliated with any transport operator.
- There is no live vehicle tracking or real-time arrival prediction; timings are averages.
- There is no public API.
- There is no web application; routing is available through the mobile applications only.