Travel: Apps

T+L's parent company (American Express) brings the smart-phone user the eSkyGuide app that is "the most comprehensive flight database ... (that) gives you the full schedule for all flights along a particular route, including ones that are sold out ... It also identifies the airport nearest to tourist destinations ... and offers up-to-the-minutes status reports on delays and weather, along with contact information for airlines." It costs $4.99 and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

This app "gives you a flight's departure time, current speed, altitude, location, and odds for an on-time arrival. Most important, you can share flight information with your friends via Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail ..." Cost is $4.99 or $9.99 for the Pro version, which adds more real-time information. It runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Gate Guru lists all the businesses near your gate (and includes user reviews, pictures, maps) in 100 airports around the world. This app is free and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, with Blackberry and Android versions coming later in 2010.

This app is an interactive map that works off-line and helps you select a seat that will allow you to enjoy those from-the-air sites during your flight. All you do is select your flight number in advance of your trip and launch the tracker at take-off. "You'll have a continually updated cheat sheet (based on flight plans used by your airline) explaining what exactly you are flying over at any given time." For iPhone, iPad $3.

This app is provided by Booking.com and is helpful when booking last-minute accommodations. You can make reservations through the app. It is free and runs on BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch.

StayHip helps you locate boutique hotels (though there is no guarantee this will indeed make you hip). You can view slide shows of over 400 properties and coverage is worldwide. By clicking on your destination you can find availability and rates and you can book from your phone. This app is free and runs on Android, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Aha Radio allows you to stay hands-free while driving. The app "reads you the latest GPS-enhanced traffic reports on a pre-entered, customized route, using Clear Channel sources and updates from other drivers. The app also announces news, Facebook and Twitter posts, and points of interest along the way." The cost is free and runs on iPhone/iPod Touch.

This app helps in locating parking spaces by using your phone's GPS. Primo Spot uses a 3-D map to show the location of parking lots (with rates), as well as available street parking. An interesting feature of the app is that it includes the location of bike racks. Currently, only Boston and New York are available, but the app states that more cities are on the way. The cost is $2.99 and runs on Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Trapster makes of point of stating that it isn't a radar detector; however, this app (which is an automated voice GPS app) does give you a warning about speed traps, road cameras at intersections, checkpoints, and common police waiting locations. The app is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, Garmin/TomTom, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Palm WebOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile.

Budget Travel magazine states, "With gas prices soaring yet again, it's no wonder that GasBook's service-station directory is consistently among the highest-rated travel apps. The tool uses GPS to map nearby stations and frequently updates standard prices with user-submitted data. You can also search by fuel grade or brand, and bookmark your favorite local locations for everyday fill-ups." For iPhone. $1.00.

"When 'I Spy' has lost its appeal half on hour into the drive, enlist RoadTripBingo to entertain your junior crew through even the dullest stretches of highway. There are thousands of 25-square grids to play, with targets both ordinary (a hotel) and more obscure (a cactus). Even kids too young to grasp the game will get a kick out of tapping the icons and shaking the screen clear." -- Budget Travel magazine. For Android $1.00, iPhone $2.00.

"What better place to stretch your legs than at the home of the World's Biggest Rubber Band Ball? Roadside America's app pinpoints wacky pit stops from coast to coast in six separate regional editions with real-time GPS suggestions for a worthy detour near you. Buy only the area you need, or upgrade for access to all 6,000 oddities." -- Budget Travel magazine. For iPhone $3.00 per region or $6.00 for all six regions.

"How do you remember a great bottle of wine that you tried in Burgundy last summer? Or the perfect little sandal-maker in Positano? Just take a picture - or text or audio note - and upload it to Evernote, a service accessible from your phone or any Web-connected computer." You can search your notes by tags, text or words you've embedded in images. The app is free or $45.00 per year for the premium version. It runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Palm WebOS, Windows Mobile.

Similiar to Wikitude, Google Goggles "uses your phone's camera to annotate the world around you - but it goes a step further." For example, you can take a picture of foreign-language text (a street sign, perhaps?) and it will translate it for you. You can take a picture of a wine label and get connected to product information. And similar to Yelp, it will provide information about restaurants and additional points of interest. The app is free and runs on Android.

If you are traveling with your canine friend, this app is for you. T+L calls it the "canine equivalent of Yelp, allowing you to search for dog-friendly restaurants, hotels, and stores, along with dog parks and running routes in U.S. cities." The app is free and runs on iPhone/iPod Touch.

This app will "track your route using GPS, lets you record your travels on the go through text, pictures, and video and share them with friends and family on social networks." The cost is $0.99 and runs on Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Conde Nast Traveler's new etiquette app for international travel. Free. For select BlackBerry devices. Covers a wide range of topics from what to and what not to wear, hand gestures, small talk ... " this app provides the local intel that every savvy traveler needs."

Why use Oanda out of all the online currency converters? Well, according to Budget Travel magazine, "... Oanda stands above ... for its reliability and depth of data. To calculate exchanges between more than 190 currencies, the app pulls from interbank market rates -- what banks use when trading money. For even greater accuracy, the app also adjusts results to reflect the specific transaction type (credit card or cash) you select. For Android, BlackBerry, iPad and iPhone. Free.

Budget Travel magazine says that "(c)lothing size is unreliable from label to label - and country to country. Now men and women can shop with confidence by using ... Convert Clothes. When you roll a dial to pick your U.S. size in four categories (clothes, shoes, pants and bra), the app's simple interface spits out the corresponding numbers for eight countries, including Japan and France, Whether anything will actually fit is another story." For Android, iPad, iPhone. Free.

From Budget Travel magazine: "Traveling can seem like one long equation, from figuring out temperature .... to assessing how much gas is left in your tank ... Conversion-catchall Convertbot does the math for you. Spin a wheel to select one of 22 categories - time, speed, even data download size - then type in the amount. The app instantly converts the figure into the desired unit of measure. You'll never go over the baggage limit in a foreign country again." For iPad, iPhone. $2.00.

This is Travel + Leisure's favorite way to look up airfares, hotel rooms and car rentals. The cost of this app is free, or $1.99 for the Pro version; and it runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Windows Mobile.

This packing app "allows you to choose from a selection of templates ... that include ideas for clothing, gadgets, and toiletries, plus helpful to-do lists ... or you can create your own list and use the template for future trips." It costs $0.99 or $2.99 for the version with the most packing categories. It runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Siri is a voice-activated app that functions as a personal assistant and that will perform online tasks for you (such as searching and purchasing theatre tickets or locating that romantic restaurant you desire and making the reservation. This app is free and runs on iPhone/iPod Touch.

Tellme is Travel + Leisure's runner-up to Siri. It is free and runs on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile.

The Travelocity app is free and runs on Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

By Expedia, TripAssist is free and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

T+L states that the mobile version of Tripit is "by far the most useful travel planning and management service online (as it) accesses flight, hotel, restaurant, and any other information you've entered into the 'My Trips' section of the site." This app is free. It runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Worldmate allows you to forward your travel confirmations to its app after which it will automatically update online profiles, keep track of flight delays and gate changes, as well as offering a number of other helpful travel features. It is free, or $14.99 for the Gold version (that provides faster updates). It runs on BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

Aloqa allows you to search local directories internationally. It does this by linking to Yelp, and searches based upon your real-time location. Unlike Yelp, it is as strong on the international front as it is in the U.S. It is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch, Windows Mobile, and Java-enabled phones.

One of Travel + Leisure's runners-up to HopStop. AnyStop is free and runs on Android.

Considered a runner-up by T+L to UpNext, Google Maps is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

HopStop (mentioned elsewhere on this LibGuide as a web site) maps routes with directions for subways, rail, bus service, taxis, and walking (and in combination of transportation modes) for over 15 cities in the U.S. and Europe. This app is free and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

MetrO is another runner-up to HopStop and is free and runs on BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows Mobile.

T+L considers Navigon the easiest to use of the full GPS navigation apps. It includes text-to-speech directions with real-time traffic updates and features points of interest along your route. Additionally, it gives you the ability to set anyone in your address book as a destination and offers 3-D views that include road signs. The cost is $79.99 (to get some of the above special features will cost you an additional $24.99) and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Windows Mobile.

This app, similar in function to the others in this list, costs $1.99 and runs on iPad.

TomTom is a well-established name in GPS systems and now offers an app. It offers 28 separately sold packages for regions on every continents save Antarctica (who knows, if tourism there keeps developing, we may see that continent included at some point!). T+L considers TomTom ideal for international travelers. The cost is $39.99 - $99.99, and runs on iPhone/iPod Touch.

This app "takes street-view maps to a head-spinning new level by offering you an 'augmented reality' view of your surroundings. Just point your phone's camera at the scene around you and it annotates your screen with clickable information about restaurants, subway stops, and even historical facts." This app is free and runs on Android, iPhone and Symbian.

Yelp utilizes your phone's GPS to give you a list of local businesses in a multitude of categories. A special feature of the app is that you get user ratings and reviews. The app boasts over 11 million reviews for destinations in the U.S., both urban and rural. This app is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch and Palm WebOS.

As Budget Travel magazine states, "It was only a matter of time before Google took its ubiquitous map technology to the next level with a full-fledged GPS service. Google Maps Navigation bundles all the best features of its popular mapping site -- such as satellite, street views, and traffic -- with voice search, step-by-step audio directions, and speedy rerouting options after a wrong turn." For Android. Free.

Boingo provides unlimited Wi-Fi access "to thousands of partnering Wi-Fi hot spots in more than 70 countries around the globe." It is free, plus $7.95 per month service charge, and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPod Touch, Nokia, Symbian, Windows Mobile.

"JiWire's Wi-Fi Finder online database gives you mapped listings of the nearest free and paid Wi-Fi areas in your vicinity. Click on an icon to find out how much the network costs and how to get there." The cost of the app is free and it runs on Android, iPhone/iPod Touch.

An alternative to Skype, LineZ runs on Android and iPhone and allows for unlimited international calls for $14.95 a month.

A good way to save money on phone calls, since Skype sends calls over Wi-Fi (because you don't have to use your phone's roaming service). Calls to other Skype users are free, with reduced rates (around 23 cents per minute from Europe, or less) to regular phones. The cost of the app is free and it runs on Android, BlackBerry (Verizon), iPhone/iPod Touch.

This app "helps you turn out vacation photos you can be proud of - without hauling around a bulky camera bag." It does this by providing a variety of filters, effects, and overlays through the app. For iPhone and iPad, $1.

This is a photo-processing app that "lets you apply classic effects to images ... with just a few clicks and finger swipes. Some of the iconic camera looks include 1962 (high-contrast black-and-white), Instant (looks like a Polaroid shot, complete with borders), and Helga (faded colors from a trendy square-format camera)." The cost is $1.99-$2.99 and it runs on iPad and iPhone.

This app gives your phone photos a vintage look (1970s-era Instamatic). The app comes with a choice of six virtual lenses, eight films and six flashes "to transform your images with a grainy, faded aesthetic that makes for distinctive Facebook updates and multimedia messages or e-mails right from your phone." The app costs $1.99 and runs on iPhone.

This app allows you to take a photo on your iPhone and turn it into a virtual postcard complete with the right-side text section. You can post to Facebook or Twitter or send via e-mail. The premium version of the app allows for some basic editing and text and font options. The cost is free to $2.99 and it runs on iPad and iPhone.

This is a blog, rather than an app, that focuses on travel photography.

This app translates phrases into 52 languages. You can also download text-to-speech voices for 16 languages. This app is considered best for the business traveler on an expense account, and it is noted that you need to be online to work the app -- so be aware of racking up roaming charges. The cost is free - $0.99 and runs on iPhone/iPod Touch.

With Jibbigo you can speak an English phrase into you iPhone and receive back a translation (currently, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Iraqi Arabic). One thing that places Jibbigo above other translation apps is that you don't need a potentially costly data connection. The cost of the app is $24.99-$27.99 and it runs on iPhone.

"Get text or voice versions of travel phrases in 44 languages (from Afrikaans and Icelandic to Korean and Mandarin). Phrases are divided into categories, including directions, business, emergencies, and banks." Considered best for immersion travelers ("and tutorials on how to flirt and insult in local parlance"). The cost of $9.99 and runs on iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch.

The interactive app version of Lonely Planet's phrasebooks allow access to over 600 key travel phrases. They come to you via text (with phonetic spelling) or via audio. The app covers 10 major languages. The cost is $9.99 and runs on Android and iPhone.

This app helps you decide what to order at a restaurant by providing you with (user-generated) photos and reviews of dishes for restaurants in your immediate area. The cost is free and the app runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

The Michelin app costs $18.99 and runs on iPhone.

OpenTable is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm and Windows Mobile.

Let's say you have the craving to eat at a food-truck ... yes, there is now a app for that. RoadStoves helps you by giving you an up-to-the-minute list of the nearest "gourmet food trucks - along with directions to wherever they happen to be located." This service at present is available for only Los Angeles, but RoadStoves is working to add more cities. The app is $0.99 and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Urban Spoon is free and runs on Android, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Mentioned elsewhere in this LibGuide, Zagat is considered by T+L as one of the best for locating restaurants (but also is helpful in locating hotels, shopping and nightlife). Over 60 U.S. and 30 international cities are included. You can get the average price for a meal, Zagat's famous numerical ratings for food, service and decor; and you can also search using filters such as "open late" and "trendy." The app is $9.99 and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Palm, Symbian.

As the name implies, this app allows you to see what a cruise ship REALLY looks like by connecting you to video feeds of over 100 cruise ships. Cruise Cam also includes cameras at 150 ports of call. The cost is $1.99 and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

T+L considers this app "an essential part of your digital first-aid kit." It helps located doctors, hopitals, pharmacies and dentists, and will also schedule appointments in 20 cities around the world (currently including London, Paris, Madrid, Nairobi, Quito, Beijing, and Hong Kong). The app will also translate medication names. The app is free and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

While perhaps not the most dignified name for an app, this one does serve an important (and basic) function -- it helps in locating restrooms. It does this by using GPS location, address, intersection, or zip code; and even includes user ratings and reviews! The app is free and runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

"For detailed information on what to give everyone from concierges and waiters to ski instructors and tour-guides in 108 countries and regions" ... there is Tipping Tips. A particularly helpful feature is that it advises you what to give based upon the standards of your destination and level of service received. Also, if you are dining in a group, the app can help breakdown the bill. The cost of the app is $0.99 and runs on iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch.

Use this app for hour-by-hour weather forecasts. WeatherBug also provides live camera feeds from 1,600 locations around the U.S. With certain devices, you can take advantage of other features (for example, on BlackBerry you can upload forecasts to your calendar). The cost is free to $0.99, or $4.99 for enhanced updates and maps. The app runs on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Palm WebOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile.

"Loaded with detailed data for 20 theme parks in the U.S. and U.K. ... (this) app can direct you to just about any property: the nearest restroom, a decent restaurant, or a favorite roller coaster. You can even check on a ride's height and weight requirements ..." For iPhone and iPad, $5.

With this app "you can enter your locations, skin type, and sunblock formula, and the app will use current weather conditions and a UV index to alert you when it's time to reapply." For iPhone and iPad, $Free.