25 FREE MUST HAVE i-PHONE APPS
Long, long before smart phones, everyone traveled with nothing more than backpacks, a Lonely Planet, maybe a chunky laptop for the rare hostel that had WiFi, and a pocket of change for phone calls home.
How times have changed. Today, we depend on our iPhones for everything.
PLANNING YOUR TRIP
Evernote (free). A great tool for collecting all of your notes in one place.
Use it to collect all of your must see places, notes from great blog posts and even lists of great places to stay. There’s also a desktop version of Evernote.
Pinterest (free). A way to organize great images. Pin photos of a place you’d love to visit. Keep track of your travel inspirations.
Twitter (free). Though most people use Twitter as a way to keep in touch, it’s also a fantastic tool for saving money on travel. Many airlines and hotels announce special deals on Twitter first, and other Twitter users are a helpful source of information on great local food and attractions.
Tip: If you’re a heavy Twitter user, try HootSuite , which helps you schedule tweets and follow hashtags.
BOOKING YOUR FLIGHT (go to Cheap Flights in my Travel page)
SkyScanner (free). This is the go to site for researching flight costs and finding out which airlines fly certain routes. You don’t book your flights directly through Skyscanner, but the app can directs you to the airline’s website. Skyscanner’s especially fantastic for researching cheap flights to any destination from your location.
Google’s OnTheFly (free) Itasoftware. This is the web version of the ITA Matrix use to search flights. Like the web version, the iOS app, called OnTheFly – ITA Software, is reliable, easy to use, and remarkably accurate with airfare prices. All prices include tax.
Like SkyScanner, you can’t book directly with the ITA Matrix.
FlightTrack ($4.99). Keeps track of your flights.
It gives up to the minute updates letting you know if you’re flight is still on time as well as useful info on the plane, airport and gate it takes off or lands at
FINDING A PLACE TO STAY
Hotel Tonight (free). Lets you book last minute hotel rooms, at a deep discount, for the same evening. Though it’s quickly expanding into other markets, including Mexico, Hotel Tonight largely offers discounts on hotels in the United States (plus a handful of Canadian cities) and a few major European cities.
Booking.com (free) One of the go to sites for booking hotel rooms. It has good coverage around the world. Easy to use, allows us to search for rooms that will fit 2 adults and 2 children. Desktop version. Booking.com Tonight app to find last minute deals.
Airbnb (free). Book apartment rentals for a family of four. Easy to use, fast, and lets you view conversations and itineraries when you’re offline. The desktop version may be better than the app, as it’s easier to compare and view multiple apartments.
GETTING READY TO GO
PackingPro ($2.99). If you’re a list maker, Packing Pro is your app.
The pre-trip planning section is especially helpful, and can remind you to do things like buy travel insurance. Great if you’re taking multiple trips, and want to make quick work of making a packing list.
Clock (free). Apple’s iStore is packed with probably hundreds of alarm clock apps, but none can beat the reliable, easy to use alarm clock in the Clock app that is native to the iPhone. Get to all those flights on time this year.
DRIVING
Google Maps (free). App gives turn by turn navigation. Available for car, public transportation and walking. Accurate almost everywhere.
Always search your destination on Google Maps before you leave, and make sure not to close the app if you’ll be away from a WiFi connection and don’t have a data plan in whichever country you happen to be in. This way, the map will still be in the map’s history if you can’t get online. If you’re heading to two places, open one in Google Maps and another in the default map app.
Gas Buddy (free), Gives you crowd sourced prices on the cheapest gas, different types of gas, gas station addresses and amenities (like convenience stores) wherever you happen to be. Very popular in North America, where gas prices can vary greatly even at gas stations only blocks apart.
EATING
Foursquare (free). Gives useful user reviews and recommendations for restaurants, grocery stores and attractions around the world. You check into places you’re visiting, and can leave reviews, photos and tips. When you check in, Foursquare broadcasts your location to your friends, so it’s not the best app for those who want their location to remain anonymous. Restaurants outside of urban and tourist areas tend to have fewer recommendations on Foursquare, so this app is less useful when you’re somewhere remote.
Yelp (free). Great maps and user reviews of the best places to grab a bite to eat.
Reviews tend to be longer than those at Foursquare, making it useful if you’re looking for detailed information on a new place to eat.
GETTING AROUND
TripAdvisor Offline City Guides (free). You will used these constantly for major cities. As the name suggests, these guides don’t need an Internet connection, making finding restaurants, hotels and attractions a snap when we were on the go.
The offline map modes are nice when you’re too cheap to buy a data plan.
Google Translate (free). Translate to and from over 60 languages with a nice auto detect feature if you’re not sure which language you’re inputting.
You can now download translation dictionaries for Android devices, and it’s rumored that these will be coming soon to the iPhone so you don’t need to be online. It also allows speech input and you can hear the translations spoke. Very handy when trying to make your taxi driver understand you and you’re late for your flight.
WEATHER
The Weather Channel (free). Reliable, and easy to use, this app can get you weather forecasts for almost any location on the globe. The Weather Channel® Max app has some increased functionality, but the new user interface is getting mixed reviews.
CURRENCY
XE (free). The XE Currency app lets you convert currency with a simple click in over 180 currencies. XE Currency Pro ($1.99) is ad free and lets you monitor twice as many currencies as the free version.
CALLING HOME
Skype (free). The gold standard to which all other Internet calling programs aspire, Skype is reliable and easy to use. Calls to the US and Canada are nearly free, and you can call other countries for some of the best rates on the net.
It features video calling and speakerphone capabilities. There’s also a hugely popular desktop version of Skype .
magicJack (free). When Skype is down or not working reliably. Reliable and simple to use, the free calls make it a great Skype alternative. Calling to Canada and the US is free and you can get a free number and voicemail with a new account.
Talkatone (free). Like Skype and the magicJack app, Talkatone makes its calls using a WiFi connection. You’ll need a Google account to use the Talkatone app.
SHARING
Facebook (free). Share travel photos and updates with friends and family.
Use for things you won’t see on the blog.
Instagram (free). An easy to use, fun photo sharing app, it is great for anyone traveling with a camera. It’s great fun to use, and easy to boot with tons of filters and fun effects. Recently purchased by Facebook.
Vine (free). A relative newcomer to the social apps scene, Vine lets you share short videos from your iPhone with its six second video format.
NETWORKING
iNet (free). The iNet app lets us check the devices on our local network and tells us the IP address of all our other gadgets when we’re trying to share something locally. iNet also lets us know who’s sharing our internet connection and lets us verify that we’re not sharing anything we’re not supposed to.
Speedtest (free). Speedtest.net does a speed test to see how fast your internet connection is. It’s a vital tool when troubleshooting bad internet connections or even when choosing a room and decent internet is a must.