1. Hailo
Price: Free.
Phone: Apple, Android
Next time you stumble out of a nightclub
at2am, don’t stand on a corner waiting for a cab to pass by; whip out your
Hailo app and order one. Using GPS, nearby black cabs receive your request, and
you’ll be sent details of the first driver that accepts, with an estimated time
off arrival. You can even pay by card and Hailo will handle it. It’s London only
in the UK, but also works in several cities in other countries.
Hailo taxi app
2. Field Trip
Price: Free.
Phone: Android
Google’s Field Trip app runs in the
background, popping up nearby snippets from all sorts of interesting feeds,
including architectural and art interests, as well as music and live events.
It’s available only in the US, but UK users can download and install the APK
manually. It runs off feeds, which means there are plenty of UK pop-ups. It’s a
little inconsistent and fiddly, but with Google behind it, it has real
potential.
3. Skyscanner
Price: Free.
Phone: Apple, Android, Windows.
Tablet: Apple, Android, Windows 8
Skyscanner enjoys a reputation for finding
the keenest flight prices, and the app makes navigating them easy. It’s
intuitive, considering the wealth of information it manages, and we especially
love the Explore feature, which allows you to circle the globe finding prices
to virtually anywhere from your home airport.
4. TripIt
Price: Free.
Phone: Apple, AndroiD, Windows
Tablet: Apple, Android
“TripIt drags travelling kicking and
screaming into the 21st century,” states the website, and we have to
agree. Whenever you book a flight, hotel, rental car, restaurant or even a
concert online, just forward the confirmation email to TripIt (if you’re on
Gmail, you can set it up to auto-import, which is like black magic), and the
full itinerary is compiled in your TripIt account. Even if you book everything
separately, TripIt aggregates the details in the correct order, and stores it
across pretty much any device you own. If that sounds great, for an annual fee,
TripIt Pro can also alert you to delays and gate changes, point you to cheaper
flights, and track your frequent-flier points.
TripIt
5. Partly Cloudy
Price: $2.5.
Phone: Apple
It takes something special to stand out
from the throng of identikit weather apps, and Partly Cloudy’s clever
visualisations are exactly that. Its clock-face design is minimalist, but its
genius lies in its simplicity. The strip around the edge represents the
temperature and the blue blobs in the middle mean rain; for more precise
figures, just swing the arm around to any hour. With 12-hour, 24-hour and
seven-day views, and the ability to show any location in the world, it will
become your go-to weather app primarily because it gives a full forecast for
the day in a single, momentary glance.
6. Glympse
Price: Free.
Phone: Apple, Android, Windows
Glympse arrived on our radar earlier this
year when it partnered with Mercedes. It’s a simple app with a simple purpose:
to let others know where you are. When you set off from work, for example, tell
Glympse to send a link home and set it for an hour, during which the recipient
can monitor your location in any web browser. When the time is up, the link
stops working to eliminate any privacy concerns.
7. TomTom
Price: $46.5
Phone: Apple, Android
Tablet: Apple, Android
Such as expensive app is unusual, but when
it can make an appreciable difference to your journeys, with associated
benefits in fuel consumption, it’s hard to argue. We A-Listed the TomTom iPhone
app when it arrived because of its superb route-finding and excellent if pricey
as a $42 extra HD Traffic feature, and it’s now finally made its way to
Android. Bear in mind, though, that at present the iOS version is more
polished.
World-class
TomTom navigation, on your iPhone or iPad
8. Bus Checker
Price: $2.9.
Phone: Apple, Android.
Tablet: Apple, Android
Available in London and UK versions, this
neat app pulls in live information from the GPS receivers on every bus to tell
you exactly (well, roughly) when yours is due. It also locates all nearby
stops, lets you follow buses live on the map, and our favourite trick buzzes
your phone when you’re near your stop (especially for the dozing 4am night bus
crowd).
9. Nokia Transport
Price: Free.
Phone: Nokia Lumia
Launched quietly alongside the Lumia 610,
Nokia’s Transport app is now available to all Lumia owners. It’s the ultimate
all in one public transport app, covering bus, train, tram and underground
services. Its clever visuals clearly describe a route leg by leg, with map
links to help you out when you need to walk.
10. FlightTrack
Price: $4.5.
Phone: Apple, Android, Nokia Lumia
Tablet: Apple, Android
For a less full-on alternative to TripIt,
FlightTrack jettisons all the other gubbins to focus purely on the flights.
Track the live status of any flight, see how late it left its departure gate
and how much time it’s made up in the air, or just watch the live departure
boards on your phone so you can finish your pre-flight meal.
