Apps Archives

Get the best route, every day, with real-time help from other drivers.

Waze app on your phone

I only recently discovered Waze and thought that it is just too great an app not to share, just in case there are others who have not come across it yet.

Nothing beats real people working together.

Imagine millions of drivers out on the road, working together towards a common goal: To outsmart heavy traffic and get them the best route to work and back, every day. Introducing Waze – the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app.

You can now join other drivers in your area who share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone time and fuel money on their daily commute.

Waze map open

Traffic is more than just red lines on the map.

You can now get alerted before you approach accidents, road hazards or traffic jams. It’s a personal heads-up from millions of other users.

Your friends are just around the corner.

See when your friends are also driving to your destination when you connect to Facebook. Coordinate everyone’s arrival times when you pick up or meet up with buddies. Now you’re effortlessly in sync while driving.

Save on fuel every time you fill up.

Navigate to the cheapest station on your route, all powered by community-shared fuel prices. By working together to report prices at the pumps, Waze drivers can always save some money.

Waze is all about contributing to the common good out on the road.

By connecting road users to one another, it creates local driving communities that work together to improve the quality of everyone’s daily commute. That might mean helping them avoid the frustration of sitting in traffic, notifying them about road hazards or the like, or shaving five minutes off of their regular commute by showing them new routes they never even knew about.

Waze app on google maps

So, how does it work?

After typing in their destination, users drive with the app open on their phone to passively contribute to traffic and other road data, but they can also take a more active role by sharing road reports on accidents or any other hazards along the way, helping to give other users in the area a heads-up.

In addition to the local drivers using the app, Waze is also home to an active community of online map editors who ensure that the data in their areas is as up to date as possible.

I know, super cool! You’re welcome.

Compiled by: Ista Van Zyl

Author: Du Plessis Janse van Rensburg

February may be famous for Valentine’s Day, but for travellers it’s also the month in which summer provides some of the most exquisite outdoors experiences. Many of these experiences may happen far off the beaten track, in new, unknown destinations.

Since many of our readers are probably involved in some sort of outdoor travel or activities, we’ve compiled a list of the top apps to take with on your outdoor explorations this February.

AllTrails

If you plan on doing any biking, hiking or other trail-related activity this month, AllTrails is definitely a must-have on your home screen.

The app is feature-rich in the sense that you’re able to find nearby biking or hiking trails, have a look at others’ rating of the said trail and, in some cases, look at videos and photos of the trail.

These features can be useful when you’re planning a trail run, walk or hike and you’re unfamiliar with the terrain and routes. Along with the many trails you also have the option of selecting a trail and, by using the GPS of your phone, track your progress live on the map, which eliminates the risk of getting lost.

AllTrails is available on both the Google Play and stores.

SAS Survival Guide

While adrenalin-inducing travel adventures are amazing, they do come with their own potential risks. Any number of accidents may occur on your adventure and, if the unthinkable should happen, you want to be sure to have a resource to assist you in addressing it.

The SAS Survival Guide app does just that, with in-depth guidelines for solving almost any emergency that might occur while on an outdoor excursion. It’s an essential rather than a nice-to-have.

The app claims to be the definitive guide for survival in the wild, in any climate, on land and sea. It definitely delivers, with everything from tailor-made lists for specific activities to recipes for food when you have to live off the land.

The SAS Survival Guide app is available in both Google Play and Apple App stores in two versions.The one is free and the other, with more extensive features, can be downloaded for R75.

Skymap

One of the most special things the outdoors has to offer is the huge expanse of stars in the night sky and, if you find yourself far away from the city light, watching the stars can be a magical experience.

The only problem is that you may not know where to find the constellations which can make stargazing a bore.That’s where Skymap comes in – it’s an app that refers to itself as a handheld planetarium which empowers the user to identify stars, planets, nebulae and any other interesting astrological occurrences.

The simplicity of the app is part of its appeal.You simply open the app, calibrate the gyroscope (this is very easy, it just sounds complicated) and point your phone to the sky to see where the constellations are.

Skymap is available on both the Google play and Apple App stores for free.

Google Translate

Imagine you’ve travelled to another country where its native tongue is totally unfamiliar to you? Although you might not find yourself on a trail in the bush, not being able to read signs can make you feel lost very quickly.

If you hate getting lost in unfamiliar surroundings, Google Translate is a lifesaver.

The idea behind the app is simple – when you come across as sign that is written in a language you don’t understand you simply whisk out your phone, open the app and point the camera at the sign, wait a moment and, voila!, the app will translate up to 37 languages into English.

Even though this is magical already, the app goes even further by also giving you the option of translating in real time if you have to ask a local a question. Just open the app, set the mode to conversation, set the input and output language, and merrily ask away – the app will translate whatever is being said into the local tongue and translate the local mother tongue into English!

Google Translate is a fee app available in both Google’s Play store and Apples App store.