No one can doubt that the iPhone has become an indispensable travel companion. It certainly has for me. Whether I am traveling throughout Europe, hiking on long wilderness treks, or exploring the fascinating Souks of Marrakesh, there is an app for that!
Besides some of the standard iPhone apps such as Mail and Weather, below are a few of the apps I have found to be incredibly helpful while traveling:
Skype (free) – Skype has changed the way a lot of people communicate and makes communicating so much easier while traveling. Nowadays, finding a free wifi hotspot is pretty easy to do and being able to fire up Skype and make cheap (or free) calls an extremely attractive option in lieu of expensive roaming charges. If I could only take one app with me, this would be it.
1Password ($4.99) – this handy password app stores all your logins and syncs back to your Mac when you connect it to your Mac via wifi (if you buy the desktop app). The passwords are encrypted via a pin and a master password so you can securely travel with your important logins. This has been a life-saver for me on a couple of occasions when needing to make some bank transfers on an extended trip.
Shazam/SoundHound (free) – discovering new music is one of the great joys of traveling. Listening to the music at home that you heard in a local taxi helps you relive the fond memories of your trip. With either of these apps, you can quickly identify the song and buy it when you are back home. Whenever possible though, try to buy the music locally to support local tourism!
MultiConvert (free) – this one does what it says – it converts a multitude of metrics such as length, mass, speed, temperature, and even shoe sizes! There is a bit too much choice here for me, but that’s the beauty – when traveling you never know what you’ll need.
Aardvark (free) – this is a very useful app to get answers to questions quickly. It has helped me find things to do in a city and provided me with additional information about cultural questions that arose while traveling.
Currency (free) – there are a lot of apps that convert currencies for you. Some are free while others are not. I have found Currency to be useful because it is easy to change one currency and see the adjusted rates of all your favorite currencies. This is handy when traveling through several countries and keeping an eye out on several exchange rates at once. Best of all it is free and simply does the job.
Kayak (free) – Kayak.com is the first website I visit when researching a flight. The Kayak iPhone app gives you the same searching power at your wayfaring fingertips. I have used this app a couple times while considering domestic flights on a trip.
WeatherPro ($3.99) – Like with currencies, there are lots of free weather apps, including the standard Weather app on the iPhone. I like WeatherPro because I have found the forecasts to be more accurate and the additional granularity of information. The only things missing in my opinion are sunset and sunrise times, which can differ significantly depending on where you are traveling.
Honorable Mentions – Facebook, Tweetdeck, Qype, AroundMe, WikiMe, Yelp
With over 90,000 apps in the iTunes store, there are sure to be other gems I haven’t found yet. What apps do you find useful while traveling?
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