Top 6 Free Apps To Use In Summer 2013
Many of us are at the peak of celebrating our summer. We’re outside a lot more whether it’s for those weekend road trips, travelling to another country, or just exploring new things in our area. No matter what your plans are this summer, there is an app for that.
Traveling
Waze
If you’re someone who loves road trips, Waze is a great app to use because it will show you real time happenings on the road. Waze can also act as your GPS when you input a destination and will continue to alert you as police, accidents, or traffic jams appear on your route. What sets Waze apart from generic GPS systems is that the alerts are posted by other Waze users in an attempt to outsmart traffic and provide the best route possible. People helping people, can it get better? Yes. Waze can also show you the nearest and cheapest gas stations coming up on your route, again posted by other Waze users.
Waze is free on the App Store, Google Play, and the Windows Store. Waze for Blackberry is a free beta version and does not include all of the features yet.
Flight Aware
If you’re a frequent flier or just someone who travels spontaneously, Flight Aware is the app for you. Flight Aware provides users live data, delays, navigation charts, and weather maps.
If you’re looking for a flight to hop on as soon as possible, use the live flight tracking feature to look up outgoing flights for today. Having the mobile version will also let you keep track of any changes regarding your flight, gate, or terminal changes. And what good is an app without social media integration? That’s right; you can even share your information on Facebook. Flight Aware works for both domestic and international flights.
Flight Aware is free and available across all smart phone devices.
Culture Shocker
TripLingo
Gone are the worries about looking like a complete tourist because you don’t fluently speak a certain language. That’s where TripLingo comes in. What makes this app unique is the “Slangslider” feature that gives you multiple ways to say certain phrases. Choose between formal, casual, slang, or even crazy ways to speak, which will have you speaking like the locals! And if you don’t know how to pronounce certain words, don’t fret because that’s where the audio examples step in to help. No more drawing attention to yourself because of your unusually formal, by the book way of speaking.
You can also create lists to separate phrases you already know from those you don’t, or use the flash cards to brush up on your knowledge. Speaking another language isn’t all you’ll need though, which is where the Culture section comes in to play. This shows you different etiquette, information, and such relating to the country’s culture, which is good because what’s offensive to them may not be to you.
TripLingo is free and available on the App Store and Google Play (not available on Windows or Blackberry).
Explorers
Foursquare
Check in and make the most of where you are. Leave tips, recommendations, or just use it as a way to tell your friends “look where I am!” Foursquare is more than just a way to check into places, you can use it as a means of finding nearby places to eat, shop, or enjoy nightlife hot spots.
Some businesses offer check-in specials and offers which can be redeemed in various ways. Depending on the business, some specials will need more than one check-in to redeem (loyal customer awards) while others will reward you for merely visiting and checking in. Since your friends can see where you’ve checked in, they are more inclined to check out the business as well. No matter what you’re looking for, a quick log in will show you what’s popular around where you are currently standing (or sitting).
Foursquare is free across all smart phone devices.
Yelp
Most of us know of or have used Yelp before, but on a desktop. The app version is just as good as the desktop, which we don’t see often enough. That being said, Yelp is another great way to look up places to eat, shop, get a manicure, or nightlife. The app version uses your current location to find the closest spots, or you can manually search as well. You can search up just about anything on Yelp and decide which places you’d like to visit based on the reviews themselves. Let your inner explorer go crazy as you try new places or revisit old ones.
Yelp is free across all smart phone devices.
Fitness
Nike Training Club
This is a great app for those trying to get into shape, but either don’t have time to go to the gym or just travel a lot. With the Nike Training Club, You can tailor your workouts to fit your level and needs and do it all in the comfort of your own home. The app provides a set session full of different workouts for you to do, and don’t worry if you don’t know what a proper push-up looks like – there’s a video to show you exactly how to do it. My favorite feature on the app is that you can choose workout sessions based on what you want to accomplish – lose weight, tone up, or to just get fit.
Nike Training Club is currently free and available on the App Store and Google Play.
No matter what you’re getting into this season, these apps are definitely one you’ll want to have readily available on your smartphone device. Best of all – they’re all free!
What’s your favorite app to use this season?
Source: MSM DesignZ, Inc. is a Westchester based NY web design firm specializing in social media, mobile apps, SEO, web and graphic design and much more.