November 23, 2010 Favorite travel apps
Nothing saves more weight that ditching that laptop in favor of a handheld device. Here are a few of my favorite travel apps for iPhone/Touch/iPad — good ways to put those iTunes gift cards to work.
The first two are all about a good night’s sleep. Some light travelers are also light in the wallet and, as such, may not be able to afford the quietest of accommodations. Naturespace and White Noise are apps that provide soothing background noise that make getting to sleep and staying there easier. You can use earbuds for best effect, but if comfort or safety concerns cause you to shun earbuds in bed, both apps play at a high volume on the iPhone or Touch’s built-in speaker with surprising, three-dimensional audio. Sleep timers mean they don’t have to play all night. The free/lite version of either is terrific; upgrades are available. Naturespace seems to be Apple-only. White Noise has a version for nearly every mobile platform.
My other fave is London Tube Deluxe. It’s hard to imagine more value for 99 cents if you’re headed to the town on the Thames. Great for Touch, even better for the iPhone.
Other obvious picks are Skype and a variety of guidebook and language apps. What are your most apptastic essentials?
(Brad)
Frank@OBOW
The noise apps are also helpful when you’re trying to sleep on a plane…
Reader Comments (9)
No other app, at any price, comes close as a travel essential app. Part of the pleasure of traveling is eating, and eating well. I first downloaded this app during a trip to San Francisco, and since have used it in New York City, London, and smaller cities as well. Restaurants are rated by quality of food, service and decor, and can be searched by cuisine and proximity. As it is a download rather than a web access program, it can be used anywhere. Zagat to Go works better than having the individual Zagat books, it adds nothing to the weight of your bag, and is always available, for a spur of the moment brunch or lunch. Zagat to Go is absolutely, positively worth the $9.95.
TripIt, for keeping all of my itineraries in one place
Gate Guru, for finding good restaurants in airports and the airport maps
various public transit apps
Southwest, for SWA flights
and, of course, Yelp for finding stuff whilst there.
Instapaper lets you save virtually anything from the Web for reading later. It intelligently strips out clutter, giving you only easy-to-read text. It is best for reading long-form text, stories from magazine websites, blog entries, etc. I don't use it for reference material, but for having something interesting to read at any time.
Evernote, while similar, is best for storing virtually any kind of text, graphic, photo, pdf, e-mail, etc. for referencing later. I store travel notes, clip travel info from the NY Times, save maps, write notes take photos, etc., and all can be retrieved offline. It is very easy to search for text, for keyword or folder. It syncs across platforms and all your info is accessible on a computer or via the Web.
It took me some time to get used to both apps and figure out how they best fit my needs. But because they are so flexible, they are easy to tailor to how you work. I have instant access to every bit of information collected before and during the trip. And you can add to either from any computer or from Safari on your iPhone, Touch or iPad.
Both are free. Instapaper has a paid app that gives you more options and lets you save more items. Evernote uses a paid model if you need to save large amounts of information, but I've never come close to the monthly limit of the free account.
And both are continually improved by their developers; they keep getting better.
Qype seems to be more useful than Yelp in Germany and England.
Berlin FahrInfo and Hamburg Fahrplan for local transit in those cities.
Pzizz - naps and sleep programs
Others that I find useful: Simplenote (I find Evernote too big for my needs), Google Maps (if I have free data, OffMaps is a poorer substitute offline but reasonable for an OpenStreetMap client), National Rail Train Times and, if you're an Edinburgh resident the EdinBus bus tracker app.
Currency – Can get current conversion rates and you can select multiple currencies and metals
FlightTrack – Check on the plane waiting to arrive at your gate to see if it is on time… gate and baggage claim information
Skype – Great for touching base with friends and family, and be able to show them where you are and some local sights
TripAdvisor – Select Hotels, restaurants, flights, things to do, forums…
myLangPro – language translation, select a language, type in a phrase and it will translate for you… not always grammatically correct for the local language, but passes
Specific Airline Applications – your choice
Food Search – Zagat, Yelp, Urbanspoon
Navigation – Google earth, Garmin USA ($45), AT&T Navigator (free app, $10/mo on month-to-month turn on/off as needed) , GPSLite, Topo Maps, Star Walk
Kick; N.Y. Subway ($5) – Has day and night route maps, current (+-10 minute) updates for delays, walking directions to closest station for specific line(s)