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Top 5 Travel Apps
November 23, 2009 by Fractional & Shared Ownership Property News & Reviews · Leave a Comment
By Matt McDaniel, Editor
Unless you’re the type of person who believes a vacation is not truly a vacation unless the fetters of technology have been severed, the travel applications detailed in this article are a must-have for your next out-of-town excursion. So, get out your smartphone and get ready to dial up my Top 5 Travel Apps.
I have to admit that while I love hiking in the mountains, exploring an undeveloped forest and generally being outdoors while on vacation, I have to have my gadgets with me (not that I always can get service there, though).
Whether I’m out traversing in the wilderness or browsing for a tee shirt in Disney World, I need my smartphone apps. They make life easier and help me plan out my time: I can find restaurants and their menus, check show times for movies and concerts, check the news (work-related or current events) and keep up with e-mails from clients and colleagues. I’m lost without my smartphone. And, oh yeah, it lets me receive and make telephone calls.
There are countless smartphone apps available in scores of categories: finance, health, productivity, games and others. The first app many people think of for travel is, of course, one that will tell them about their destination. There are many decent apps for this; I like the Travel Channel’s free Go app, with it’s familiar hosts, and video and audio guides. (While I’m sure there are many paid apps that are well worth their price, I should explain at this point that I favor free apps. So, all my top five apps were all no-charge apps at the time of publication.)
But while I enjoy watching the Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown or Andrew Zimmern on my phone, there are apps that are much more vital to making the most of a vacation.
1. Weatherbug
Perhaps the most important travel app is one that will tell you the weather forecast. I like the simple interface of the generic weather app that came with my iPhone, but for really finding out what’s going on, I use Weatherbug. There, I can get hour-by-hour forecasts, satellite and radar maps, and severe weather alerts.
2. Where
Where actually aggregates multiple applications and consolidates them into an easy-to-read, customizable display of four at a time. I’ve personalized Where so that when I land in a different city, it instantly tells me the lowest nearby gasoline price (I can click for more station options and maps to them), the local weather (okay, maybe I’m a little hung up on that…), local news, and localized business listings so that I can find whatever I need. Additional pages have traffic conditions, restaurants, the nearest Starbucks, and more.
3. XE Currency
Several years ago I found XE Currency online at xe.net – a simple and straightforward currency converter. The smartphone app is even easier to use and is customizable to whatever currencies your dealing with, all at live rates when markets are open.
4. Google Earth
You can use any map program you like to help you orient yourself to your surroundings, but I’ve always liked how Google Earth starts with an outer-space view of the planet and then zooms in to your location. It helps put your distance traveled into perspective. GPS-based mapping apps can mean the difference between making your flight and wandering around a strange city after dark.
5. Translator
Be sure to get this app. The one I have has a lot of ads, which I’m not too crazy about (maybe I should spend a little bit of money in order to get ad-free apps after all…). But having a hand-held, multi-language translator in a foreign land is oftentimes more important than knowing the weather or where to buy coffee.
I have many other apps that assist me when I travel – such as an ATM finder, a Wi-Fi locater and TripCase, a handy little program that organizes the details of my trip (flights, rental cars, hotels, etc.) and updates me (and others) when flights are delayed. It even tells me the wait times at security gates and lists alternate flights.
But the above are my top five. Your experience with them may vary, especially outside the United States. But if these apps are new to you, give them a try. And let me know which ones you like. Write to me at editor@ownersperspective.com and tell me.
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