A guest post from one of our readers who wanted to share a small overview of the apps he used on his last trip. Can I write my own personal review? 🙂
Greetings to life-trip.ru readers! I have long wanted to share the mobile applications that I constantly use when traveling. This blog already has one overview and at one time I was extremely surprised to find almost no coincidences in it with my list. After that, I decided to supplement it someday. The time has come)
Why isn't the round number so beloved by the media in the headline? It's simple: for each trip, the set of applications is different and for each style of travel it is even more different..
I must say right away that these applications were used while traveling in South America, Southeast Asia and Europe. Everywhere there are special applications that work very well in this region, but I decided not to include them in the list, but to limit myself only to universal programs.
When selecting applications, I relied on harsh life principles:
- Offline access to information and functionality. In most cases, you will have Wi-Fi only in the evening at the hotel, and even then if you are not tired.
- Free / freemium model. After the application has helped you out of a difficult situation a couple of times, you yourself will want to buy it. And buying a pig in a poke for 300 rubles is not ice. I used the vast majority of applications for free at first, and then paid for the full version.
- «All in one» You do not need to download maps and dictionaries by hand and put them in the right folder. Convenience and fewer errors in use.
I advise you to take these points into account when choosing applications for yourself..
All screenshots are on the application pages in the market, so I don't see any point in loading an article with them. All links are for free versions.
Android apps for travelers
Currency rates
The best I've found for MULTIPLE currencies.
Add the necessary world currencies, as a standard - rubles, dollars, euros and the currency of the country of travel, the program, when connected to Wi-Fi, updates the data at the rate and you can read.
For example, in some countries, despite the national currency, they like to sell everything for dollars. You can calculate right on the spot how to pay more profitably - in dollars or local currency. It's the same story when choosing to pay with a dollar card or local cash. Or, when budgeting for a trip, it is much easier to keep records in one currency rather than different ones..
Weather forecast
Likewise - the most convenient and detailed weather forecast for showing the weather in several places at once. You can drive in as many cities as you need, and there are very small towns unknown to other services. A bit illogical interface, but in a couple of days I got used to it. Updates via WiFi, then shows all data offline. There is current weather, daily and weekly schedule. Also, data for all activities - precipitation, snow, pressure, wind strength and direction.
Offline dictionary
There are about 50 dictionaries available in both directions (English-Russian and Russian-English). Free, you can turn off ads for money.
GPS Test and GPS Status
Cool things that show time, altitude, number of satellites in sight, speed, length of daylight hours, compass and other goodies. Used for pictures in style “I'm at an altitude of 4600 and I'm not going to stop”
OsmAnd
Offline maps. Points, routes, names - everything is there. The interface is a little complicated, but a lot can be forgiven for the detail of maps. You can search by the name of an unknown guest house and find exactly it. There is a full-fledged navigator functionality. Limit - 10 cards in free mode.
EBookDroid
PDF reader for travel guides. Convenient flipping, visual display of files (chapters of the guide), support for chapters, highlighting and copying text, document search.
HostelWorld and Booking.com
For hotel reservations on the go. Moreover, I advise you to look in two at once, since sometimes there are very cheap promotions in the booking, and hostelworld is a little snuffed up.
TripAdvisor
Somehow it didn't work for me, but in Europe there are a lot of establishments with an approximate indication of the average check. There are applications tailored for a specific city, so they work mainly in megacities or tourist places. I always compare in it reviews of hotels in Europe.
Skyscanner and Aviasales
I don't know why, but they always have slightly different ticket prices. Accordingly, it is beneficial to search in both systems. Both applications are user-friendly and fast. I'm not very familiar with the details, but it feels like these are the largest systems in Russia..
AirAsia (or the app of another low-cost airline in the region)
AirAsia is phasing out paper boarding and tickets. Now check-in can take place online from your phone, and you will be given a boarding check in the form of a check. Conveniently, what is already there. Plus, they write in the application about flight transfers and delays. It's not a fact that there is the same application for a local low-cost airline, but it's worth looking if you have more than one local flight. In addition, if there is an action in the style “Fly away where for $ 1”, then tickets for it fly off in a matter of minutes, and here you can quickly buy tickets without leaving the application.
Several mini applications about the country
Read at your leisure. Basically, most of these applications are educational projects, but some are made with love, and there are generally developed at the state level..
Usefulness - a clear and simple description of the country, history, food, local customs. Naturally, all this is in the guidebook, but there it is smeared over large articles, but here it is very succinct and bright.
Rest
Choose the rest of the applications based on your hobbies. For example, in Argentina there are several excellent guides on the wine topic (restaurants, wineries, tastings, etc.), while in Rome there are a couple of museum applications that beautifully show what museum is currently on display and how many (tens) euros it costs. And applications for surfers and skiers are generally above the roof. Simple search algorithm: “activity name” in the country / city.
Good luck with your travels!
Blog reader, Pavel Kogan pavelkogan.ru
