Friday, January 6, 2012

My Top Five New York Travel Apps

These guys were invaluable for vacationing in the city. They may seem sort of obvious, but they were so useful, I have to mention them here.


Yelp - need a place to eat that is nearby, delicious, and in your price range? Check Yelp! The reviews even help you with what to order.


Google Maps - map a location and hit the "public transportation" icon. The app will tell you which trains to take and what time the next one will arrive.


Instagram - Still the best app for sharing your vacation snaps, complete with geotagging and uploads to facebook and twitter.


Museum apps - The MoMA mobile site has the audio tour built in so you can listen on your phone. It must be relatively new, because one of the guards told me to get off my phone when I was just listening to the tour. Also, that guy was dumb. I would have thought that holding my phone upside-down, away from my mouth, and not talking would have tipped him off.

The AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) has an interactive app with a museum map. It even senses which floor you are on in the museum and can tell you the fastest way to get to some of the more popular exhibits. There was also a special app for the "Beyond Earth" exhibit with an interactive game where you scan certain icons and see 3D images in "augmented reality."


Foursquare - I earned so many badges on this trip. Foursquare is fun, but it is also really useful for cataloguing where you have been on your trip when you get home and try to remember it all. It is also ideal for sharing what you are up to online (when you choose to, I have that option turned off unless I specifically tell it to share).

Any other favorite travel apps?

1 comment:

  1. Love the blog, by the way! Long time reader, first time commenter! Only reason I’m chiming in now is I’ve been doing a lot of travelling in the last year and have found apps like these absolutely priceless (which is ironic because a lot of them are free)…everything from Instagram for my photos to TripIt for my travel logistics, there is just an app for every aspect, and I love it. Another favorite has been the TV Everywhere app from DISH. I first learned about the app through my job with them, and decided to just check it out in case a customer had a question about it but I fell in love with it. Not just for watching TV on my lunch break (which I do) but mainly for use when I travel…it really makes killing time between flights a breeze. Basically as long as I have a 3G or wifi connection I can pull live or recorded TV off my home receiver and watch it on my ipad or smartphone. I absolutely love it, and have recommended it to several people…my brother actually cancelled his service with DirecTV since they didn’t have anything like this and joined DISH specifically so he could get this app.

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