Travel Apps

Before traveling it is worth thinking about adding some apps to your iPhone or iPad. You can download maps apps, language apps, apps with reviews and suggestions and also travel books. While in Tokyo, Gary gives some suggestions of the types of apps to look for and add to your devices before leaving home.

You can also watch this video at YouTube (but with ads).

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today I'm in Tokyo and and I'm traveling so I wanted to talk about Apps.
On today's episode I'm traveling and I want to talk about Travel Apps. Before I go on a trip I usually load up my iPhone and iPad with all sorts of different apps.
For instance the first thing I do is to make sure I have all the apps for the different airlines I'm flying. Sometimes you can even get a boarding pass on your iPhone. But even when you can't usually there are things like Notifications where you can get notified of gate changes and it is definitely worth having all the apps for all of those airlines.
When I think about travel I also think about local travel. I make sure I have travel apps for things like the local subway system. I look for the official app. There are usually a ton of different free apps in the store so I try to find the official ones. The official ones are really good like the one here for Tokyo of the one say for Paris will give you the way to get from point A to point B and tell you exactly how much the fare is.
I also think about other apps like for taxis. Sometimes you can get apps that will hail a taxi for you or at least tell you where it is more likely to get one.
I also look for apps for other forms of transportation. Sometimes cities have public bicycle systems and you can get an app to show you where to get one and you can even pay through the app.
I think about maps too. Now your iPhone and iPad come with the Apple Maps app and it is pretty good except that I usually also like to have the Goggle Maps app too. Between the two of them you usually can find things a lot easier. Sometimes something is on one map and isn't on the other. I also look for other local maps. Sometimes there are some free apps, sometimes from the city itself, that will give you some good information.
Then there is some general tourist apps that you can usually get. Sometimes these aren't very good. A lot of times they are free and just have public domain information. But more information is always better. These apps don't take up much space so I usually load up a whole bunch of them and put them in an app folder on my iPhone.
Another thing I do is use iBooks and the Kindle app to load up a few travel books for the area I am going to. Having travel books on your electronic devices means that you don't have to carry around a heavy book with you and you can have them on your iPad and also on your iPhone so you can read them on your iPad and then when you are out and about and you want to remember something you can go and look at it on your iPhone as well.
I also look at dedicated travel apps, like say the Trip Advisor App or Yelp. These will help you find good restaurants and tourist attractions and museums. All sorts of things. They are filled with reviews that give you lots of useful tips.
Of course if the country you are traveling to doesn't use the same language that you do it is also useful to download a few language apps. There are some free ones out there for just about every area that gives you some useful sayings and the great thing about an app, say over looking at a book, is the fact that you can have pronunciations. Usually there are spoken pronunciations and you can simply learn how to say thank you and please and yes and no. Things like that.
So that is what I do to load up my iPhone and iPad with different apps. I hope you found this useful.
Until next time this is Gary with MacMost.com.

Comments: 5 Responses to “Travel Apps”

Larry

10 years ago

Won't travel without
worldmate - allows for input of all flight, hotel, meetings, etc.
google maps - can us as a gps for car or walking
google translate or "Translator"
and of course all my frequent flyer mileage, hotel, car rental,etc as well as one you missed about free wifi - I use Free Wifi Finder
and of course trip advisor and city guides.

Linda Lyn

Thank you Gary
Good to know about those things may be one day would be handy.

Janice Eunice

Thank you for these useful travel apps. I am traveling to Kyoto, Japan in the fall and I am nervous about my first international trip. From Osaka we need to get the train to Kyoto. I will get the google maps, and the travel books. My question is can I use my Ipad mini in Japan? I love your newsletters, and videos, they are very helpful and informative. Janice

Gary Rosenzweig

Do you an iPad with only Wifi? Or one that also has a mobile data connection (like through AT&T, Verizon, etc)? If the first, then there is no difference between being in your country or any other. You just need to connect to a Wifi network as you would anywhere. If you mean a mobile data connection, then you need to check with your carrier and ask them if there is a data plan that covers Japan. Of course, you could also use it in wifi-only mode and connect to a wifi network (hotel, coffee shop, etc).

bob weber

Very helpful.

Comments Closed.

Travel Apps

Comments: 5 Responses to “Travel Apps”

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