Tag: Navigational »

Anyone who’s ever been to Manhattan, let alone actually lives there, can tell you that getting around is something of a pain at times. Actually that’s not true. Getting around Manhattan is a nightmare most of the time. Between subway re-routes that aren’t even mentioned in their respective stations to obtuse maps, simply getting from Point A to Point B can require a stop over at Points X, Y, and Z. It gets even worse when you’re in a hurry.

With the ineptitude of the MTA in mind, I’ve compiled a list of apps that should help anyone, resident and tourist alike, find their way around with a bit less hassle.

iTrans NYC Subway
The App Store description claims that this is the “ultimate NYC transit app,” and they aren’t wrong. It’s not perfect because the MTA is rarely “on schedule,” but it’s about as close are you’re going to get. Predicted train arrival times, schedules, maps, location based navigation to nearby subway entrances, step-by-step directions for a planned trip, bus info, and real time train delay info when connected to WiFi will all make getting around beneath the city streets as painless as possible. Provided you don’t get elbowed in the face by one of those dancing panhandlers.

HopStop Transit Directions for iPhone
Now this is the app for serious trip planners. It covers virtually all possible transit routes ranging from cabs to buses to trains and beyond. It can call up schedules, maps (even viewable offline), ETAs, lists several possible routes, and even allows uses to set their preferences to avoid or stick to specific modes of transportation. Heck, it can even save recent searches to be called up later.

NYC Way
What makes this one so notable is that it’s essentially dozens of useful NYC-centric apps in one place. It can call up video from live traffic cams to plan ahead for a road trip. It can call up a bunch of info for various galleries, shopping hotspots, and more. It can search for parking and WiFi. Museums and various tourist attractions are on the list, too. It’s kind of the one-stop shop for any and all information you may need to plan a trip into the city; whether it’s for a few days or a couple of hours.

Central Park
A lot of people don’t realize it until they see it for themselves, but Central Park is big. So big, in fact, that it warrants its own app. This “insider’s guide” covers events (concerts, etc), notable locations to check out (did you know it has its own zoo?), and even helps you find a bathroom. It can guide you wherever you’d like to go using its GPS functions or even let you wander at your own pace while tossing up alerts every time you near a spot you want to check out.

Waze has been a fascinating example of the power of crowd sourcing since its inception in 2010. We've loved it ever since with its steady stream of updates keeping things fresh. Now comes one of the more ambitious updates.

Update 3.2 now provides Waze users with the means in which to keep track of real-time gas prices along their route, along with the ability to update prices themselves, where neccessary.

The new category search makes it simple to check things and at certain participating locations, it'll even be possible to receive exclusive in-app discounts on gasoline. Partnerships have already been arranged with Kum & Go, Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (Exxon and BP stations) and Vintners Distributers (Shell) locations.

One other major new feature is the addition of waypoints to coincide with the new categories, including gas stations, parking lots and car repair shops.

Waze has little competition given its free nature, but now there's all the more reason to check it out.

Waze is out now for both iPhone and iPad. It remains free.

There's a new competitor for the navigation app throne and its name is Don't Panic. Admittedly this is a new competitor for the UK crowd as it only currently works in the UK but it could be well worth a look for those from these fair shores.

Don't Panic promises to be precise in its turn by turn instructions as well as speedy with some impressive promises of being up to 100 times faster than its competitors. An intuitive search feature is easily and instantly accessible from any point within the app and the ability to find destinations via partial addresses and points of interests is possible along with other typical navigational features.

A constant internet connection isn't even needed as the maps are available offline presumably aiding the speed issue hugely with promises of no stuttering or image lag.

For the asking price, Don't Panic offers unlimited free updates for the app with iPhone users exclusively getting unlimited free updates on the maps that come with the app itself.

Don't Panic is available now for UK users and priced at £19.99.