The three “p” s of travel (pennies, passport, pants) just gained an un-alliterative
fourth: travel apps. Pre-load your phone with these before boarding your flight
Paper Camera
Price: from $1.99
OS: Android, iOS
Rating: 4/5 stars
Paper
Camera
Travel rule number one: Do try not to be a
super touristy snapper. But if you must shoot the Eiffel or the London Eye, at
least tweak your pics. There are loads of apps for this, but Paper Camera fires
out dramatic snaps with ease and the graphic-style filters work well with
landscapes.
Jetset: A Game for Airports
Price: $0.99
OS: iOS
Ratings: 4/5 stars
Jetset:
A Game for Airports
As airport security, you vet hordes of
passengers, stripping them of banned items. But it's smarter than that,
recognizing if you're actually in an airport and rewarding you for it. It was
written by a man who came up with the idea while in an airport security queue.
Foursquare
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows
Ratings: 4/5 stars
Foursquare
The original location sharing app,
Foursquare hasn't quite realized its dream of giving discounts everywhere you
check-in. It hasn't stopped Facebook from borrowing the idea, either. But it
has built up a huge database of user recommendations, which makes it vital on
holiday.
Hostelworld
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS
Ratings: 5/5 stars
Hostelworld
Don't be put off by the word ‘hostel': yes,
this app will find you a 20-bed dorm for peanuts, but it'll also serve up
affordable private rooms. Over two million user-written reviews make it easy to
sort the bad from the good. Found a nice place? Book your room - or 20-bed dorm
- in-app.
Strava Run
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS
Ratings: 4/5 stars
Strava
Run
On holiday, you're often heard boasting to
your fellow hikers: “I must have walked a fifty kilometers today - all
uphill!" Well - not really. GPS tracking app Strava says you only walked
7km, and your elevation gain was only 200m. Still, it'll show you a map of your
gentle amble and store it online.
Polyglot
Price: $0.99
OS: Windows
Ratings: 5/5 stars
Polyglot
Not so many years ago, we were marveling at
speech-to-text and instant translation, and predicting Star Trek
Tricorder-esque powers for phones. How right we were - this app will shift your
language into 30 others and then talk it back at you, all before the waiter
disappears.
Maverick
Price: Free
OS: Android
Ratings: 5/5 stars
Maverick
- It's a GPS map server that uses data from various map providers
If you're hiking and biking your way across
Europe, then Maverick is here to help. It's a GPS map server that uses data
from various map providers. Make waypoints and trails, and share them via email
or social networks. Want more detail? The? 275 Pro app has Ordnance Survey
maps.
Skyscanner - All Flights!
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS, Windows
Ratings: 4/5 stars
Skyscanner
- All Flights!
This app from the popular price-comparison
site Skyscanner returns hundreds of flight prices. You can also share flight
details with friends and family via Facebook and Twitter definitely not
recommended if you have a stalker.
FlightTrack
Price: $4.99
OS: Android, iOS, Windows, BlackBerry
Ratings: 4/5 stars
FlightTrack
FlightTrack can be struck dumb by certain
flights - although this may be due to a reliance on updates from airlines and
airports - but most of the time, it delivers invaluable at-a- glance flight
info straight to your smartphone. Also syncs with SeatGuru and, with a $5
upgrade, Triplt.
TripAdvisor
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS, Windows
Ratings: 5/5 stars
TripAdvisor
What do we like? Feeling smug. When do we
like it? Well, most of the time. How do we do it? By being forewarned about
travel essentials such as hotels and restaurants by Trip Advisor, which has the
biggest user review database on the planet. The WP7 app looks great.
TripIt
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows
Ratings: 5/5 stars
TripIt
Packing your suitcase was fine, but now
you're sitting on a carry-on case trying to close it as reams of e-tickets, car
hire and hotel reservations spill out. Triplt bundles it together for you -
forward booking emails to your account and they'll pop up in the app. Works
spookily well.
WhatsApp
Price: Free
OS: Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows
Ratings: 5/5 stars
WhatsApp
An experience shared is an experience...
what? Hello? You're breaking up. Dodgy mobile networks and crazy roaming rates
can make staying in touch a nightmare while abroad. Step forward WhatsApp,
whose multi-platform instant messaging makes touching base a breeze.
