As fun as travelling is, for some it’s not without a glitch or two. Whether it’s working out what the weather is going to be like or keeping your flights and accommodation organised we can all do with a little help. Thanks to the boom of smart phones this helping hand is easy and sometimes free to get hold of and take up very little room in your backpack.
Here is a list of the apps we think you may find useful when you travel.
The Weather Channel
– iPhone
– Free
The weather can make a big difference to your travel. It can be the deciding point on where you go and what you do. So getting the weather report based on your location becomes an integral part of getting the most out of your trip. This app provides this information and allows you to share the information with people in your address. With the max version of this app you can also get animated future radar, a video centre, access to the severe weather centre, information on beach conditions and more.
Healix travel vaccinations
– iPhone
– Free
As any seasoned traveller will tell you keeping track of what vaccinations you need for which country isn’t an easy task. With Healix travel vaccination you can now browse through a database of countries to find out what jabs, vaccinations and immunisations are required. It will also provide further travel advice to make sure your safe on your journey.
Cheap Gas
– iPhone, iPad
– Free
Of course if you can’t get to your destination or get around whilst there you probably won’t be too pleased. Cheap gas simply does what it says on the packet. This app searches the area you are in and displays a list of the prices for gasoline. The app comes with an augmented reality feature and a mapping feature to make it easier to find where the station is.
GasBag
– iPhone, iPad
– Free
Similar to the previous app this one provides a way to keep track of the gas prices near you. The app is user-driven meaning price updates are kept regular by the community that use it. GasBag also allows you to track your mileage, gas expenses and the efficiency of your car.
Traffic UK
– iPhone, iPad
– £1.49
Getting stuck in traffic is never fun and can make you late for flights or important meetings. Traffic UK provides real-time traffic reports on your phone. Using your current location or any other location you configure, it will retrieve the current traffic conditions in the area and display them on a map. This app is also available for Canada, Australia, India and Switzerland.
Travel Money Monkey
– iPhone, iPad
– £0.69
Keeping an eye on how much your spending and how to make your money last is a must for most travellers. Travel Money Monkey finds the best deals in the UK for holiday money by comparing foreign currency exchange rates by the leading travel money bureaus.
Packing pro
– iPhone, iPad
– £1.99
Before setting off from one destination to another you will need to keep track of what you are packing and make sure you have it all. Packing pro allows you to create tick lists of what items you have packed (or should have). Very useful for keeping on top of things if you are packing and unpacking a lot.
Next flight
– iPhone, iPad, Android
– £2.44
If you’ve ever missed a flight or have had to catch an earlier flight than planned then you know the trouble it can be. This is a nice app that helps cut the stress by searching for available flights from 1200+ airline at 4200+ airports worldwide.
Skyscanner
– iPhone, iPad
– Free
Receiving more than 100,000 downloads within days of being released this app is an extremely popular flight booker. It comes in 23 languages and claims to find the “cheapest flight prices on the go”.
Tripit
– iPhone, iPad, Android
– Free
Keeping track of your bookings from flights numbers to hostels and everything between can be complex and messy. Tripit allows you to access all your travel plans in one place, making organising your trip easy.
Lingolook Flashcards
– iPhone, iPad
– £4.99
Most travellers are used to carrying various phrase books in their bags, but these can weigh you down somewhat. This app is a visual phrasebook on your mobile phone. Available in eight languages and growing, it provides a visual representation of the word you are looking for as well as a translation. Meaning even if your language skills aren’t great you can still show the people you speak to a picture of what you are looking for.
Food Spotting
– iPhone, Android, Windows phone 7 (soon to be blackberry too)
– Free
This is a great app that allows you to find your favourite food or experience a new dish. Instead of reviewing restaurants, users share the food they like by taking a photo and tagging where to find that dish. You can choose to look through users’ favourites or find out what the professionals have to say.
Urbanspoon
– iPhone, iPad, Android
– Free
Choosing where to eat can be difficult when surrounded by an array of great choices. Its moments like these that brought about the need for Urbanspoon. Shake your phone and urbanspoon displays a slot machine esk interface that’ll pick for you. You are able to see the food venues nearby, find out what your friends like and browse through lists of restaurants.
Share-a-bill
– iPhone
– $3.99
Once you have found the food you are looking for you may want to split your bill. If there is a number of you involved this could normally get complicated. Share-a-bill simply split your bill with a group of people without putting your maths skills to the test.
World Customs & Culture
– iPhone, iPad
– Free
This app provides useful information on the customs in 165 different countries. Its quick and easy to use interface allows you to browse by flags, index or scrolling. It’s extremely useful if in a new country without a guidebook.
HearPlanet
– iPhone, iPad, Android
– £1.83
Most areas these days will provide flyers and booklets with information about the area your visiting. This however can fill your bag with paper and tour guides often charge. HearPlanet is a virtual tour guide in your pocket. This app allows you to listen to information about the area your either in or planning to visit. Due to its audio function the app can be used whilst driving or multitasking which makes its very convenient. (A light version of the app is available for free)
Skype
– iPhone, iPad, Android
– Free
You have most likely come across Skype before but just in case you haven’t we thought we’d mention it. Skype allows you to make free calls from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection (keep in mind if it’s 3G the data plan your using might cost) and the person you are calling is also on Skype. It is possible to make cheap calls to landlines also; you should check the price before making the call.
Free Wi-Fi finger
– iPhone, iPad
– Free
If you’re planning to use Skype or the internet but don’t have the budget to pay out each time you connect then this app may be right for you. With it you can find free Wi-Fi internet hotspots where ever you are. It has close to 500,000 free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots in over 144 countries on its database.
Air Sharing
– iPhone, iPad
– $2.99
For those of you that need to access your files as you travel this is a great iPhone app. View your documents on Dropbox, MobileMe, iDisk, Box.net, FTP, WebDAV, mail servers, SSH and more and print those documents directly from your iPhone. Definitely one for business travellers
Local Mind
– iPhone
– Free
When visiting new areas it can sometimes be difficult to find the best places to visit and get local information. This app is a way around that. Log into the app and choose a destination that sounds interesting, then submit a question about that location. Localmind will then forward your question to someone that is checked in via Foursquares, Gowalla and many other location based application allowing them to answer with relevant information that’s up to date. This allows you to find out if the cues are long or how busy a place is before visiting.
SitorSquat
– iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry
– Free
We’ve all been there at some point or another. Needing the toilet and not knowing where to go to find one may not be something that happens often but when it does you know about it. Sit or Squat displays the nearest toilet to your location so you never have to be court short again.
Mobile internet is increasing in popularity year on year and we believe travellers with smart phones will increase. That’s why this is just the first in a collection of articles on mobile phone applications. If you have found an app particularly useful or perhaps you have developed your own then please share it with us so we can add it to the next instalment.