10 Travel Apps For Your Next Vacation
by Nabewise
10 Travel Apps For Your Next Vacation
We like our vacations to be as seamless and stress-free as possible, so we took to our smart phones in search of the very best apps for traveling. We uncovered apps for planning, sightseeing, taking the best vacation photos and even an app to reduce jet lag. So go ahead, book that last-minute trip to St. John, no guidebook required.
More than an itinerary app, GateGuru gives you airport information based on your travel details, including the best restaurants in your terminal, gate changes and estimated security wait times. It’s perfect for frequent fliers who want to both maximize and streamline the often annoying experience of waiting in an airport.
If you’re all about getting the perfect shot on vacation, you also know the best camera is the one you have on you–your phone. This app “works the way a camera works,” giving you access to all of the settings of your phone’s camera, including ISO and shutter speed readings, so you can compose the best possible photos. 645 Pro also includes film modes that emulate classic film types, filters and a configurable timer for the perfect selfie. In addition to its rich features, the app gives you the option of saving photos in several formats, including TIFFs, for the highest possible image fidelity.
Not precisely a travel app, Wemo solves, once and for all, the eternal question: “Did I leave the curling iron/stove/TV on?” You’ll need to purchase a Wemo switch, a device that plugs into any outlet; but once you have that, you can turn appliances and lights off with your smart phone.
Entrain seeks to reduce the effects of jet lag, using schedules developed by researchers at the University of Michigan. The app tracks your regular exposure to light to determine your personal circadian rhythm, then provides a detailed schedule of light exposure for your destination in order to get you adjusted to the new time zone quickly.
Carousel is a photo organizing app that syncs automatically with your Dropbox account, eliminating one of the most tedious post-vacation tasks. The app also makes sharing high resolution images with other Carousel users simple and pain-free–perfect for swapping photos with your traveling companions.
Yahoo! Weather is a simple, pretty-to-look-at weather app, providing both quick forecasts and in-depth coverage. Want to get the perfect sunset shot on the beach? Yahoo! Weather gives accurate predictions of sunrises and sunsets, along with the current moon phase. And if you’re jetsetting across several countries and climates, the app lets you track the weather of 20 cities at a time, so you’re always prepared.
Essential for road trips, Waze crowdsources road information and conditions, so you always know about construction, accidents, and alternative routes. The app updates in real time, so as traffic changes, Waze automatically reroutes for the fastest travel times.
If you ever find yourself wondering where to eat in Amsterdam, Quintessentially can help. The app provides detailed recommendations for nightlife, dining and hotels across the world, and can even use geolocation to pinpoint where you are and the best spots nearby.
Wikitude is the ultimate discovery app; it enables you to simply hold up your phone and identify the sights around you. In addition, the app gives you a taste of the local conversation by visualizing nearby tweets–a helpful tool if you’re looking for things to do or people to meet.
Tripit is the itinerary app for simplicity seekers. Forward your travel confirmation emails to Tripit, and the app automatically creates your itinerary, no spreadsheet required. You can retrieve the itineraries offline, an essential feature when traveling abroad with spotty service, and the itineraries can be synced across all of your calendars.