Fathom's All-Time Best Travel Apps
Photo by Luke Pamer / Unsplash
In the past three editions of our 24 Best Travel Apps, we shared 72 apps that won't weigh down your carry-on but will lighten your mental travel load, metaphorically speaking.
But now we have to add limited storage data to our ever-growing list of weight/space restrictions. So after many heated debates at #FathomHQ, we've edited the list down to the ten absolutely essential apps you should never leave home without. May we suggest you put them all in a handy folder called Fathom Voyager?
And, yes, we did this just in time for the impending insanity of holiday travel. Happy wanderings!
FATHOM'S TOP TEN ALL-TIME FAVORITE TRAVEL APPS
In no particular order...
1. Uber
Category: Travel Tools
What's to love: A sleek car service booker that automatically charges your credit card on file. Uber feels like an on-demand private driver who texts you with a curb-side ETA.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
2. Google Maps
Category: Maps and Guides
What's to love: Maps, directions, and traffic reports from A to B (you can save without an internet connection). Don't leave home without it. Extra details for subway times, bus routes, and bike and pedestrian paths. For another excellent offline map option, we also love Maps.me.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
3. PackPoint
Category: Travel Planning
What's to love: Here's one for the OCD packer for whom no hand-written list will ever be good enough. You enter your trip details — length, date, activities (hiking, baby, photography, beach, work) — and the app prompts you with a list of what you'll need, which includes activity-specific items (tripod and memory cards for photography, VPN keyfob for work, handheld GPS for hiking), essentials, and toiletries. Save what you want and, voilà, you have a custom packing list. Another great one we love is Travel List.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
4. Google Translate
Category: Language
What's to love: The instant language translator is incredibly simple, convenient, reliable. When spelling gets arduous, utilize the text-to-speech component. Google also bought over Word Lens (a previous Fathom 24 Best Travel App) which now allows you to live-translate pictures of foreign text.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
5. WhatsApp
Category: Travel Tools
What's to love: Real-time mobile messaging without paying for SMS. Group chats when traveling en mass!
Download: iPhone, Google Play
6. Skype
Category: Travel Tools
What's to love: Crystal clear voice or video calls — wherever you are. And it won't cost you a thing, even when yakking internationally.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
7. Instagram
Category: Capture Your Travels
What's to love: A photo sharing site that lets you choose filters to transform the look and feel of your pics. It makes novices look like photo pros and everyday photos into dreamy snapshots.
Download: iTunes, GooglePlay
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8. Converter+
Category: Travel Tools
What's to Love: Just how fast are you driving along the autobahn if you're doing 120 kph? As for that spaghetti dinner, does weighing 63 kilos mean Sicily is good or bad for your waistline? And will a 500-square-meter room be roomy enough for your family? Such foreign conversion questions become a breeze with Converter+, a free app that calculates distance, weight, velocity, and temperature, among other travel arithmetic like currency conversions, tips, and mortgage (so you can buy and finance your new vacation home). Another sleek-looking convertor is Converted, but you'll also pay more at $5.99
Download: iTunes
9. HitList
Category: Travel Planning
What's to Love: You choose a destination, and they'll give you the best deals. Make your travels happen, today.
Download: iTunes, GooglePlay
10. LoungeBuddy
Category: At the Airport
What's to love: An encyclopedic and customizable directory of airport lounges around the world, with locations, hours, services, and ratings. Save a profile with details about your credit cards, elite status, and lounge memberships programs. When you enter a flight, Loungebuddy tells you which lounges you do and don't have access to. It even lists guest fees. If you are coming up empty, it sells access to many lounges. The app is pretty, if not as intuitive as it could be, but the feature set is great.
Download: iTunes, Google Play
STORAGE SPACE BE DAMNED!
Get them all: Fathom's 24 Best Travel Apps 2015