A collection of five more apps that every Android user should consider installing before they travel.
Smartphones have become the map and compass of the twentieth century, allowing us to navigate strange and distant lands in ways hereto unimaginable. Early last month I mentioned 5 apps that Android users in particular should have installed while traveling, and here, once again, I’ll mention five more.
Taking a trip is already stressful enough as it is, and these apps, like the ones before, will help make your life on the road much easier.
1. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is probably the best flight search app out there. It allows you to compare over 600 budget and scheduled airlines on more than 700,000 routes around the world in a matter of seconds.
If you’re travel dates are flexible you can compare fare prices by departure and return date to get the cheapest price.
If you’re travelling with other r just want to keep friends and family updates you can share your flight details with a single button tap.
Available in over 23 languages Skyscanner combines all your flight options in on easy to use app.
2. Where
Where is a free Android travel app that helps you find the best nearby places to “eat, drink and play.”
The app will show you recommended restaurants, bars, stores, and more with just a few taps. It even gives you access to special offers and discounts at local businesses to help you save a buck or two.
Active users can save their favorite places and share them with connected family and friends, taking the guesswork out of future travel plans.
The only downside is that right now it’s limited to US cities so if you plan on leaving the country it won’t do you much good.
3. Wikitude
Wikitude is one of the more fun Android travel apps to have installed. Wikitude works along the line of Google Goggles in that it “enhances” the world around you by showing you what the Web has to say about a given place or thing.
Find events, tweets, Wikipedia articles, ATMs, restaurants, user reviews, and much more about the world around you, or explore and identify nearby places and objects.
Simply hold up your smartphone’s camera and explore your surroundings. Wikitude will overlay the camera’s display and the objects you look at with additional online interactive content and information.
Browse through content from the likes of Wikipedia,Youtube, Twitter, Flickr, Last.fm, Panoramio, and much more.
But it doesn’t stop there. Hungry? Type in a search query like “Thai food,” hold p your phone, and it’ll show you all the Thai food restaurants around you. It also has mobile coupons that can score you a deal on your meal.
4. Google Earth
Google Earth is one Google’s beloved pet project apps that lives up to their “Do no evil” credo. Google Earth puts the world in the palm of your hand, allowing you to zoom from the heavens up above to a tiny street intersection in Fargo, North Dakota.
“Use Google Earth to fly around the planet with the swipe of a finger,” it says, and that pretty well sums it up.
Google Earth will make it pretty hard to get lost while travelling ever again. You can use voice search to find cities, streets, places, and businesses. Maps are broken down into selectable layers that include roads, borders, places, photos and more.
Not content with 2D? Google Earth for mobile lets view imagery, terrain, and buildings from your surroundings in 3D
5. WiFi Finder
Internet access is always a must no matter where you are in the world, but international data plans aren’t always affordable. Sure 3G might be okay for apps and low data consumption tasks, but once you get into Web browsing the costs go up exponentially, especially if you upload or download photos.
Thus, for many Wi-Fi is a critical resource to have while travelling, and Wi-Fi Finder is a must-have Android app to have while travelling.
Wi-Fi Finder lets you search and scan the area for free public Wi-FI hotspots anywhere in the world! You can filter results by location (cafe, hotel, etc.) or provider type to narrow down a place that best suits your tastes (a cafe is much more comfortable than a random hotel lobby).
The apps features a handy radar map that shows the location of the Wi-Fi hotspots. By selecting a spot it will then show you details like the number to call the location, directions to it, or an option to add to your list of favorites. You can share your favorite Wi-Fi hotspots via email, Facebook, and Twitter.
…
What are some of your favorite Android apps for trips and travel? Tell me in the comments section below.
Stay tuned.
I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
