My Top 5 iPhone Travel Apps
I finally broke down and switched to an iPhone. It’s not because I didn’t like my Nokia E-61, in fact, while those around me were going crazy over the iPhone, I held out and dutifully texted on my qwerty keyboard. The reason I switched to the iPhone was two-fold. Firstly, I wanted a multi-purpose device, one that could do all the same things as my Nokia but also take photos, play music, watch movies, and surf the web (more elegantly). The second reason was because there are a huge number of applications available for the iPhone that are simply not available on other platforms.
Over the last few days I’ve been evaluating applications in preparation for my busy travel schedule. Primarily I wanted to find applications that help me to make the most of my travels, such as taking photos, messaging, and location based services. Here are the five apps I think are must haves for any avid traveller (both leisure and business):
1. Night Camera is a camera application that allows you to take low-light photos. The reason I like this app is because I have always found taking photos at conferences and workshops a real pain. This app uses the iPhone accelerometer to stabilize the camera during low light conditions. The result is good quality photos without a flash.
2. Fring is an instant message app that combines your standard services like MSN, Yahoo, and ICQ with Skype so that you can use your WIFI connection to make free or cheap phone calls. To test the capabilities of Fring I had a conference call with my friend and fellow travel tech bloggers Phil Caines (in Vancouver) and Fabienne Rabiosi (in Australia). I connected to Fring using the WIFI connection in my office while Phil and Fabienne were both on Skype via desktops or laptops. The cost of the conference call? Free, all the way around.
3. Pano is a app that allow you to take panoramic photos using your iPhone. Given that the iPhone camera is only 2 MegaPixels, the fact that you can take multiple shots and seamlessly stitch them together without any extra software is pretty amazing. I was pleasently surprised with the quality of the panoramas that the software can create. When you combine Pano with Night Camera, you can take some amazing night panoramas.
4. Now that you’ve taken those amazing photos, you need to upload them somewhere so you can share them with your friends. I recommend you use Shozu, which is a photo uploading app that allows you to connect to and upload your photos to multiple social media sites including Facebook, Flickr, PhotoBucket, and Photoshop.com.
5. So you have arrived at your hotel and you’re desperate for a good cup of coffee, so where do you go? Well, check with AroundMe and you can find coffee shops, theatres, banks, and other common amenities, all within walking distance to your current location. The only drawback to AroundMe is that there seems to be limited support for cities outside of North America. Ofcourse, I’llbe able to test this as soon as I travel to Europe.
If you are a daring individual and feel comfortable with JailBreaking your iPhone, there is one other application that I would recommend you consider. First of all, I highly recommend you use QuickPwn to JailBreak your iPhone. I tried three other applications and QuickPwn is the only one that worked properly and without any issues. Once your iPhone is JailBroken you can install Cycorder, an application that allows you take video with your iPhone (something not natively supported). The quality of the video is actually quite good and comparable to the quality that you would get from a point and shoot camera. This is due to the use of MJPEG compression which apparently is the same compression technique used in the majority of point-and-shoot digital cameras. Thanks to the compression technique you can also watch the video immediately after recording it. If you want your friends to see what you are up to in real-time, you can also download Qik. Qik allows you to stream video directly from your phone via 3G or WIFI. Remember, this is not for the faint of heart so please consult with a geeky friend before you attempt to break your phone out of it’s manufacturer jail.
Thanks! You introduced me to apps I hadn’t seen before. The only one I’d question making the top five list is Around Me. I have it, but don’t feel compelled to use it. I’ll give it another shot…
Hey Stephen, tough to narrow down my favs, but here’s my brief list:
Twitterfon – a twitter app with retweeting, direct message threads, search and @replies. Nice.
iTalk – recording quality audio has never been easier. Get the files to your computer through the air with free iTalk Sync. Format is easy to drop into any audio editing suite. I’ve even produced podcasts with great quality with it.
Air Sharing – get those files from your computer, onto your phone so you can read them while travelling. I like to load pdfs, travel itineraries, ppt slide shows and word docs for on the go.
Wordpress – that’s right, I can create web pages right from my phone to my blogsite(s)
Vlingo – audio post to twitter and search google and googe maps. Pretty darned nifty and always impresses those who see it. Works just like you’d expect, speak your search into the phone – voila.
There are a few others I have but can’t really vouch for because I’ve yet to use them, including keynote remote which lets me use my phone as a presentation controller – something I do a lot of.
Nice idea for a post Stephen.
cheers,
I actually switched from PanoLab to Pano based on your twitter recommendation. I just loaded Twitterfon to try it out. I have been using twitterific but the interface is a little clunky for searching, replies, and messages. Thanks for the recommendations.
Great article. Fond it while checking google blog listings. Wish I’d read yours before I posted mine earlier tonight! I’ve read abotu these two photo apps before, and am going to research more of the best photo apps for iPhone. I’m a recent convert and love it as well.
Cheers –
EFD
Great article. I use an app ‘GPS Log’ to record all the places I’ve been when I travel as a bit of a travel diary, and also to easily revisit places again later.
Thanks Will, I’ll have to try the GPS Log app you mention. It sounds like it could be a useful way to tag interesting places as you move around.
Why not try Igoshi?
It's very simple – but will work for anyone anywhere when your language skills let you down.
http://www.standardease.co.uk/igoshi/ or straight from the Apple Appstore:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
Another great travel app is PACKING, chosen as one of National Geographic's best travel apps, and now on sale for only US$0.99. There is also a professional version, called PACKING PRO, which was itself chosen by both American Express and National Geographic as one of their top travel apps. Packing Pro, in addition to the basic packing functions that both apps share, has an Expert customized list generation tool, twice as many sample lists, a larger master catalog, and complete customization control over the look and feel of the device (layout, font & colors). Besides, how can anyone travel without first Packing!
Packing: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
Packing Pro: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
Another great travel app is PACKING, chosen as one of National Geographic's best travel apps, and now on sale for only US$0.99. There is also a professional version, called PACKING PRO, which was itself chosen by both American Express and National Geographic as one of their top travel apps. Packing Pro, in addition to the basic packing functions that both apps share, has an Expert customized list generation tool, twice as many sample lists, a larger master catalog, and complete customization control over the look and feel of the device (layout, font & colors). Besides, how can anyone travel without first Packing!
Packing: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
Packing Pro: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/…
I rented an iPhone from iPhoneTrip.com for my trip to Egypt, and it was awesome! I had UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS everywhere for free. Can you imagine????? I was able to tether it with my laptop, and use GPS. They have all kinds of apps for travelers, and they helped me pick the ones I needed. I highly recommend this iPhone rental service!
I've never heard of this site before. Looks like an interesting service. I'm a little surprised their checkout page (i.e. credit card input page) is not secured though. That would be an immediate turn-off for me.
I rented an iPhone from iPhoneTrip.com for my trip to Egypt, and it was awesome! I had UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS everywhere for free. Can you imagine????? I was able to tether it with my laptop, and use GPS. They have all kinds of apps for travelers, and they helped me pick the ones I needed. I highly recommend this iPhone rental service!
I've never heard of this site before. Looks like an interesting service. I'm a little surprised their checkout page (i.e. credit card input page) is not secured though. That would be an immediate turn-off for me.
iDistress is another good one if you are ever in trouble. It has the ability to send out a text&email with your location (via GPS) and also picks the local emergency number for you.
iDistress is another good one if you are ever in trouble. It has the ability to send out a text&email with your location (via GPS) and also picks the local emergency number for you.
Good Post, I love the night photo app, also a bing fan of next flight. which cost a few bucks but well worth the money.
Here is a good article on five more travel apps if you think your readers would be interested.
http://www.hoteltattler.com/content/top-five-ip…
Good Post, I love the night photo app, also a bing fan of next flight. which cost a few bucks but well worth the money.
Here is a good article on five more travel apps if you think your readers would be interested.
http://www.hoteltattler.com/content/top-five-ip…
Great article ! I thought your readers might be interested to know about LocoTrivia, the world's first location based trivia game. When you launch LocoTrivia, you will be asked trivia questions about the world around you. It is a great way to learn about a new city.
Participate ! If you have a great idea for a trivia question, you can add it to LocoTrivia.
Great article ! I thought your readers might be interested to know about LocoTrivia, the world's first location based trivia game. When you launch LocoTrivia, you will be asked trivia questions about the world around you. It is a great way to learn about a new city.
Participate ! If you have a great idea for a trivia question, you can add it to LocoTrivia.
Influence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others. A power that can affect, persuade and cause changes to someone or something. In order to influence people, you first need to discover what is already influencing them. What makes them tick? What do they care about? We need some leverage to work with when we’re trying to change how people think and behave.
http://www.onlineuniversalwork.com
*** From the Developer of Packing & Packing Pro***
I just wanted to let everyone know that a MAJOR new upgrade has just been released on the App Store. Both Packing (now ver.7.0) and Packing Pro (now ver.4.0) have been given a MAJOR FACELIFT, with new artwork, layout and icons. I've also reorganized and simplified the home and info pages, and improved the general look and work-flow of the entire app. Come see what you're missing!
Packing (US$0.99), iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/packing-to-do-sa…
Packing Pro (US$2.99), iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/packing-pro/id31226…
website: http://www.quinnscape.com
I have some really good apps reviewed on my blog and advice for traveling with an iphone. My blog provides news and analysis on the latest web and mobile travel apps.
http://azitravel.com/blog/
Taige
FastMall because of the check in and turn by turn directions at shopping malls. Shake your iphone and find the bathroom? Awesome. http://www.FastMall.com
Top 5 Travel Apps for 2010 . Never mind that I can watch my three-year-old unravel a real roll at least twice a day.
Fring is one of the best applications for iPhone. While you were in travel or drinking coffee you can enjoy chatting through this application.
Hello Stephen,
As you are talking about AroundMe, I thought you might be interested in an augmented reality travel app called Tuscany+: it was developed for travelers around Tuscany, in Italy.
You find all info you need here:
http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscan…
If you have a chance to test it, it would be great to read your opinion.
Ciao ciao
Barbara
Voglio Vivere Così Social Media Team
Hi There,
I travel around the World at least once month from Wellington, New Zealand and am constantly prone to delayed or cancelled flights and my business contacts and family are constantly trying to understand when I am landing so that they can reach me.
I have therefore created World Flights, an iPhone application that gives live departures and arrivals information for any flights at any given airport around the World. You can find an overview of the application.
There is also a draw to win an ipad everytime a milestone of 10,000 download is reached on the AppStore.
Cheers,
Patrice
Thank for the list – AroundMe is great.
This one is good: hotelpepper.com
I for one am looking forward to more mobile webapps like this one because native mobile apps are restricted to certain smartphones (ie developed for iphone only etc) and sites that have a mobile app that can be used in a browser (but feels like a native app) it’s better for more people to get access across different mobile platforms
Great list. Pano is surely a good app to have when traveling, especially if you do not want to carry a bulky camera. I used that app along with the city guide “25 things to do in Amsterdam” by Rainbow Riders (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id409760132?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4) and Skype when I had a vacation in Amsterdam. These apps made my trip convenient. Thanks for this list.