Smartphone Apps for Travelers
By Rick Steves
Smartphone applications (apps) are revolutionizing the way that people plan their lives — and their European trips.
Smartphone apps can be useful both before you leave on your trip and while you're traveling. Many (but not all) smartphones work in Europe, but those that do can incur outrageously high data roaming fees if you're not careful. And, while a few apps are entirely self-contained on your smartphone, most access the Internet to download information. If your smartphone is accessing a Wi-Fi signal, this is no problem, but if you're roaming on an international data network, it can be hugely expensive. To be sure you understand your options, read Travel Smarter with a Smartphone.
In addition to the useful built-in apps that come standard on most smartphones (such as an alarm clock, compass, calculator, and so on), the following apps can enhance your trip. All of these are available on the iPhone (or iPod Touch) through the Apple App Store, and many of them are also available for Android and BlackBerry platforms. I've noted whether they're free or must be paid for, and whether they're self-contained — after the initial download of the app and associated content — or must access the Internet to download the latest information (so potentially less useful in Europe). While it's possible to download these apps over any Wi-Fi network, plan ahead and try to download the ones you want while you're still at home.
Trip-Planning and Information
Rick Steves Audio Europe (free, self-contained) has 200 radio interviews and 29 audio walking tours of Europe's top sights, organized by destination for easy browsing. Download the playlists that interest you before your trip, then listen to them as you travel.
Apple's iBooks, Amazon's Kindle, Sony's Nook, and other ebook readers (free apps, but pay content, self-contained) allow you to download and read guidebooks, novels, and much more.
Ebook Apps (pay, self-contained), offered by various travel publishers — including Lonely Planet, Frommer's, and Rick Steves — are guidebooks in app format. These are similar to an ebook but don't require an ereader, allowing them to be more customized (and, in many cases, easier to navigate).
TripAdvisor's app (free, Internet) gives you access to millions of user reviews of restaurants, hotels, and sights (though TripAdvisor ratings should be taken with a grain of salt). Yelp is arguably even better, since most reviews are from locals rather than travelers — though in Europe, Yelp only covers London and Paris (so far).
Orbitz, Priceline, Booking.com, Expedia's TripAssist, Travelocity, and other travel-booking apps (free, Internet) allow you to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, and more.
TripIt (free, Internet; other travel organizers available) is a clever app that saves all of your trip details in one convenient place; just forward reservation emails to your TripIt account, and it automatically adds them to your itinerary.
Navigation and Transportation
Google Maps (free, Internet), one of many handy route-finding apps, uses GPS to identify your current location and downloads step-by-step driving or walking instructions to your destination. Google Earth includes the same maps, as well as 3-D models of landscapes and buildings.
Various GPS apps (pay, Internet) work the same as your car's GPS system, but the ones with European maps can be prohibitively expensive. Also, GPS gobbles valuable bandwidth, which can be extremely expensive if you're data roaming.
DB Navigator (free, Internet), German Rail's comprehensive train timetables, includes connections for all of continental Europe. For the UK, try thetrainline (free) or UK Train Times (pay).
Various subway map apps for the London Tube, Paris Métro, and others (pay, self-contained) have detailed, digital plans of public transit networks that save you from having to unfold an unwieldy map on a busy platform. The free, self-contained MetrO is a handy route-planner for public transit in dozens of European cities, but does not have maps.
Skyscanner (free, Internet) helps you search a wide variety of European budget airlines to find the cheapest connection between any two points.
When using Kayak (free, Internet, other flight trackers available), plug in your flight details, and this app will keep track of whether your flight is on time — and, for the folks back home, will even allow them to track your plane's progress on a map.
Practicalities
Google Translate (free, Internet), a remarkable app, lets you type in a foreign language (or you can have someone speak clearly into your smartphone) and you'll get an immediate translation. You can also say or type a sentence in English, then a computer voice actually says the translation (or hold up the screen to show someone the written translated message).
Lonely Planet Audio Phrasebooks and other phrase book apps (pay, self-contained) are digital phrase books that allow you to simply press a button to hear the phrase you're struggling to pronounce.
With Word Lens (pay, Internet), you can aim your smartphone's camera at a sign in a foreign language, and it'll instantly translate it for you (currently only available in Spanish).
Measures (pay, self-contained) converts various European units (metric measurements, clothing sizes, even currency) to familiar American ones.
Oanda Currency Converter or XE Currency (free, Internet) instantly tells you today's exchange rate.
The Weather Channel, AccuWeather, and other weather apps (free, Internet) help you better plan your day.
mPassport (pay, self-contained) are city-specific apps that direct you to English-speaking doctors and hospitals, as well as local names for prescription medications.
All-in Notes, Microsoft OneNote, and other note-taking apps (pay, self-contained) let you combine photos, recorded sounds, and written notes to keep a multimedia journal of your trip.
Keeping in Touch
Using Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking apps (free, Internet), you can post descriptions and photos of your trip while keeping track of what your friends are up to back home.
Skype or Fring apps (free, Internet) use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol — see here) over a Wi-Fi signal to allow you to make free calls to fellow users' computers and smartphones, and cheap calls to other phones.
New York Times, ESPN ScoreCenter, and other news/information readers (free, Internet) help you keep track of news and scores back home.
DropBox (free, Internet) saves files from your computer in an online account, which you can access from anywhere on your smartphone or a computer.
Using SnapShot Postcard and other postcard apps (pay, Internet), you can snap a photo with your phone and turn it into a custom postcard, which will be printed and sent via snail-mail to anywhere you want. Various digital postcard apps (including fCards) will let you email your postcard instead.
Updated for 2011. For lots more tips, check out our best-selling Europe Through the Back Door travel skills guidebook.