Regardless of how other smartphones are selling, with more than 14% of the world-wide market, and more than 25% of the US market, Apple’s iPhone is a major force in the cellular smartphone market.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in June, stated that Apple’s App Store has served more than 5 billion downloads since its inception two years ago, and that the App Store has more than 225,000 third-party applications available.
Of course, as any iPhone user knows, for every useful, fun, or “neat” app, there are probably more than 10 apps which are at best, not particularly good.
I’ve tried more than 200 iPhone apps so far. Here, are my top ten travel apps. I’ve purchased each one of these apps for myself, and have personally used them while traveling. Of course, their usefulness to you depends on your travel habits, and destinations.
If you’ve read my September column, Does TripIt live up to its promise? you know I’m a fan of TripIt, and a regular user of the product. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I use the companion TripIt app (Free) on my iPhone.
The TripIt app doesn’t let you edit your itineraries, or the other information you store at TripIt via your computer, but you have complete access to the information, including both your itineraries and other data such as your point tracker, if you have a “pro” account. It also gives you full support for other “pro” features which can be extremely helpful, such as flight alerts and alternate flight options.
TravelTracker Pro ($8.99) is both a great stand-alone app, and a marvelous complement to TripIt. The app is an all-inclusive personal travel assistant. It will store all essential information for your trips, including every kind of reservation or scheduled event imaginable. TravelTracker even includes live flight status by FlightStats, and can display live flight map tracking for US flights.
TravelTracker Pro is fully integrated with TripIt. You can download your TripIt itineraries directly into this app, and upload itinerary edits back to TripIt.
This is the best itinerary app I’ve found for any mobile device.
FlightTrack Pro ($9.99) is the ultimate flight tracking app for the iPhone. With this app you can get push alerts, real-time flight itinerary updates, automatic synching, and zoomable maps that work offline.
FlightTrack Pro pulls in your flight reservations directly from TripIt, to eliminate time consuming flight information re-entry. It even has full international flight coverage with 1,400 airlines. Not only is this app great for your own flights, it’s perfect for keeping track of flights you plan to meet at the airport to pick up passengers, and/or know that loved ones have landed safely.
iFly Pro ($6.99) rounds out my air travel app needs. I’ve tried several airport apps on my iPhone, and this one is the best, covering 600 commercial airports world-wide.
iFly Pro gives you terminal maps, US airport status, a list of the airports’ restaurants, cafes and stores with terminal locations, Wifi coverage, terminal services (ATMs, business centers, etc.), ground transportation information, and more.
Food is certainly an important part of any trip, and finding good food, at any price, isn’t easy. Zagat’s restaurant guides have been the premier guides for home and travel for many years.
Zagat To Go ($9.99) brings the online Zagat guides to your iPhone, and takes the guides several steps further. Though its integration with the iPhone’s GPS capability, you can use this app to find nearby restaurants, and via Google maps, get directions to the restaurant of your choice.
My other travel foodie app is OpenTable (Free). OpenTable is an app which facilitates making restaurant reservations across the world. I use it often in most of the major cities in the US.
It’s also useful for international travelers and currently includes locations in 17 countries. Last fall, I used this app to make a dinner reservation in Paris, for example.
Metro Paris Subway ($0.99) is an invaluable app for touring in Paris. I used it daily during my 2 weeks in Paris last year.
The app includes maps of the Paris Metro (subway), RER (rail), and bus routes. It shows the different lines and stations, and can locate nearby stations.
The best part is its ability to create a route from your starting station to your destination, including transfer information.
New York City Subway ($0.99) is an app made by the same company which created the Metro Paris Subway app. For NYC travelers this app has the same features (subway only, no train or bus information) and will prove an invaluable aid in getting around the city quickly and efficiently.
Even though I’m a regular traveler to New York, I continue to use this app to ensure I’m correctly navigating the complex New York City subway system.
ATCCurrency ($0.99) is simply the best currency converter app I’ve found for the iPhone.
The app automatically retrieves daily exchange rates for 190+ of the world’s currencies. It’s accurate and extremely easy to use.
This app is absolutely invaluable while shopping, for those who wish to know what they’re actually paying.
Here’s an app to use to have a little fun while traveling and to keep in touch with family and friends.
Postcard (Free) enables you to e-mail postcards from around the world which you make with you iPhone’s camera and the app’s neat picture frames. You can insert your own message in the postcards too.
One caveat is unless you want to share these postcards with the world on the web, make sure you turn off sharing in preferences.
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