Frequent traveler Mark Finlay investigates ten mobile apps which are great when you are traveling.
Here is a list of some cool app’s that any traveller will find useful while out on the road or in a foreign land.
1) Google maps is one of our favourite apps, for navigating our way through a strange city, and has also come in handy when our GPS failed to recognise the newly built road we were traveling on and kept wanting us to turn around. We just got tired of hearing the voice saying “recalculating”, and turned the GPS off and relied on Google maps to get us to our destination.
2)Another favourite of ours is also from Google, and that is goggle translate. We have found that this has come in handy many times when you are unable to communicate in a language you don’t speak. Just type in what you want to say in English and the app will translate it into whatever language you need then you can try and say the words yourself, or show the person what Google has translated onthephone into their language.
3) If you like to take along a guidebook when you travel, you no longer need to. Just download Lonely Planet’s guide to the places you will be visiting.
4) Another app on a similar line to the Lonely Planet app is the popular city destination magazine timeout. This app will let you know all the entertainment news for a city along with where is a good place to eat the kind of food you are looking for.
5) XE currency exchange is as you might think a currency conversion app. Just set your default currency. A good thing about it also is that it automatically remembers the last conversion you did and will calculate a new conversion at that rate when you are not connected.
6) Drop box Photo sharing/storage is a great place to upload all the photo’s you have taken during the day. This way you can then share with your family and friends back home, with them being able to instantly see the photos over the Internet.
7) Skype Wi-Fi Communication is the obvious choice for communicating with you family, and friends. The recently released Wi-Fi app lets you use paid hot-spots like you find in airports with Skype charging you per minute rather than the minimum hour rate most airports charge.
8) TripAdvisor is another great app that gives you other travel opinions and ratings of hotels, restaurants, and attractions worth visiting. TripAdvisor also contains an augmented function called “Live View”.
9) Apartment Finder dos exactly that, enables users to find apartments quick and easily direct from their iPhone.
10) Flight track Pro. Again for the flyer this app gives you real time flight information, and progress reports, along with weather conditions. It is also perfect if you have to pick someone up at the airport by letting you know if a flight is delayed or diverted you can time your journey to pick your party up right outside the door, rather than having to park, and wait around the airport.
Flickr Image Credits: both sirexkat.
