Smart phones are a part of every day life for us all but have you ever wondered how your smartphone could enhance your travel? (And we don’t mean posting pics of your legs on the beach on Facebook!) Travelling with Kids has scoured the Internet to give you five of our favourites that will add ease, navigation, sleep and language to your adventures!
CityMapper 
CityMapper is what you would describe as the superior version of Google maps providing more detailed route information; accurate destination plotting and precise journey time estimates that all make travelling an unfamiliar city easier. It’s a free app and has approximately 30 countries worth of data available so far. Best for: international travellers and capital cities and using public transport to get around.
There’s nothing worse than not being able to work out the local currency, especially when you’re half way through bidding for a sarong on Kuta Beach! XE Currency Exchange hosts all your currency exchange information making sure your data is live-to-the-minute and you don’t overpay on a single thing!
Especially awesome for when flying with kids this app gives you the inside edge on every seat on every plane. When you’re booking tickets online and have the choice to choose your seats Seat Guru will tell you which seats are larger, have bassinets, nearer the bathrooms or in the more quiet parts of the plane. Invaluable knowledge right?! And to think we are lead to believe ‘all seats are equal!’
Saving travellers everywhere from receiving the wrong style of coffee or heading to the bus rather than the train station Google translate is your own pocket interpreter. Simply speak into your phone (or write) and your words will be decoded to your language of choice. It’s not perfect (I wouldn’t be using it for official proceedings!) but it will certainly solve many local language riddles!
Entrain
This app is almost so clever it’s hard to believe but once you know about it you’ll never fly long haul without it! Straight from the University of Michigan Entrain takes your travel dates and destination and dispenses advice on how to adapt your circadian cycle in advance by optimizing lighting levels throughout your day. Entrain is nicely complemented by JetLag Genie, which helps you alter your sleeping times before setting off.
What’s your apps you can’t live without when travelling – tell us below!
