The Best Travel Apps To Hit The Mobile World and How To Find Them
Smart travelers use mobile applications to take away many of the travel burdens. Rush hour delays, traffic jams, and construction haunt road travel. Security checkpoints, early check-ins, and lost or damaged baggage aggravate air travel. Using a few terrific travel-aid applications for mobile devices can bypass traffic, reduce airport wait times, and generally make traveling less worrisome.
PackingPro
How many times have you gone on a trip and found an hour after you arrived that you forgot something? PackingPro is an inexpensive app that helps avoid those times. For only $2.99, you get unlimited customizable packing lists, avoidance of duplicate items, categories and even a to-do list that can be tailored to the user. Never wonder if you locked the window or watered the plants. Save money by not having to buy nylons or socks that you left behind.
This application even lets you email your packing list to others for comparison or revision or just for fun.
User reviews are admittedly mixed, but the developers have already resolved several issues noted in the reviews, and more patches are en route. For the money, it’s a must-have mobile application that out-thinks in the basic directories more than any other list-making application.
PackingPro is compatible with iPhone and iPad and can be found in the AppStore.
Navigon
Nagion’s nhancements and updates stage this navigational app above the crowd. While $25 may seem like a lot of money for navigation when some apps are under $5 or even free, Navigon is definitely worth it. The app boasts text-to-speech capabilities, real-time traffic updates, travel distances, speed limits, arrival times and even border crossings informaiton.
Entertainment displays include restaurants, hotels, shopping centers, and more. Overhead, distance or street, the color display lets you choose your view
Regionally based, Navigon areas can be downloaded directly from your iPhone, Windows Phone/PDA, or Android phone. Find your download at Navigon US.
TripIt
This free application provides itinerary functions that can update in moments. New plans, change of plans or canceled plans, it matters not. Email confirmations and changes, access your account, and your schedule is adjusted.
The app is operational whether you are online, offline, or in airplane mode, a feature that many other apps don’t offer.
TripIt is fully compatible with the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. Choose your device and navigate to the download center. The iPhone application is also available directly from the iTunes AppStore.
An alternate choice might be WorldMate Gold for $14.95. However, the reviews on this app are decidedly just off from mixed. It has great potential even for a price, but until the developers finish fixing glitches, crashes and outright failures, it’s not worth the money. Put it on your watch list, though. When everything is running smoothly, its features and options could well make it a travel app leader.
BePut
Whether this app is used for fun or for emergencies, it’s quite cool and at $0.99, it’s quite affordable as well. Send or receive exact driving instructions and never get lost again.
BePut notes the user’s location at a push of a button and can map exact driving directions to that spot. Email or text the information to the receiver. Since it can be used for keeping friends and family informed or for directing emergency services, this is an absolute must-have for any traveler. At $0.99, it’s easily affordable.
Download BePut for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad at the iTunes AppStore.
SitOrSquat
How many times have you desperately wished you could find a restroom? With SitOrSquat, you will never have to guess again.
This free application can locate the nearest restroom virtually anywhere in the world. For the price, it cannot be beat!
Users have noted, however, a few hash marks in the downside column: it tends to dislike multi-tasking, and there is no account creation available for a ‘favorites’ list. The developers are working on a multiple platform fix for the locking glitch, though. It’s still worth having—especially considering the cost of dry cleaning or car detailing.
For SMS/text users, simply send a text message to DOTCOM, and the nearest restroom location will be sent back to you.
Iphone and iPod Touch users can find their downloads in the iTunes AppStore. Blackberry users can download at the Blackberry apps site.
Car Care & Roadside Emergencies
This $0.99 app provides minor repair information. Flat tires, battery jump procedures, and fluid leaks are a few of the emergency-type data sheets included. It even provides a checklist for pre-trip inspections to help determine the vehicle’s condition before starting out or at any time along the way.
Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch, download from the iTunes AppStore.
About the Author
JC Ryan is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them understand which online colleges and online courses they can choose from to reach their goals, including earning an online bachelor’s or master’s degree, or even an online PhD.
