We live in a world where the best travel advice is available from smart mobile devices at the tip of your fingers – your phone . The difficult part is choosing which apps to download before heading off on a trip.
With over a million apps available and thousands of those being travel apps we’ve done the hard yards and found what we think is a great selection for any trip.
Before you get going apps such as TripAdvisor and WeatherBug make organising your travel that much easier. TripAdvisor gives you instant access to travel reviews, photos and maps so you can find the best airfares, hotels, restaurants and activities for your budget. WeatherBug gives you live weather conditions, forecasts, rain radar and web cams. It lets you see the environment at your destination - making packing a lot easier.
One app that you might already use on a regular basis is Google Maps. The sheer volume of information that Google has collected makes this a must-have on any phone or smart device. Just make sure you check the download costs of the country you are going to. Depending on the destination you are in, it may cost you the GDP of a small country. Use Wi-Fi where you can and this app will prove priceless.
If you won’t have access to Wi-Fi or the internet it’s worth looking for apps that offer a built-in map of the area you’re heading before you go. Most of these are about 99c (AU) and let you use the GPS to find your location on the map, without the need to access any online information.
Language books can be a handy addition to any trip, but they’re heavy, cumbersome and becoming out-dated with the much quicker and interactive language apps. Google Translate can quickly translate between 60 languages and you can even speak into your phone for a translation or hear your translation read out loud. If you’re heading to western Europe Word Lens is a great choice. Take a photo of a sign with your phone and the app will re-write the sign in English. You have to see it to believe it.
Smaller apps can come in quite handy too, like the built-in world clock feature. Put all your destinations in to keep track of the correct time – as well as your home time zone so you can quickly and easily check that you’re not phoning home and waking your friends up at 4am. Unit Converter is another handy app, not only to get live currency conversions but to convert between metric and imperial measurements when travelling to places such as the United States.
And most importantly don’t forget Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to taunt all your friends back home with trip updates about your great travel adventures.
No comments:
Post a Comment