Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Show us your apps!

Okay, so I'm slowly getting used to our iPhone. One thing I'm learning is that it seems to use an awfully lot of data. It's always wanting to update something or other. Same with iTunes, so I don't let it update on the laptop either. And because we are on a fairly expensive pay per use cellular data supply, I now don't even turn on data for the iPhone here at the park. I wait until we go into town for grocery shopping and let the free Walmart wi-fi download all of the updates. One of the mapping apps we use needed to do a 78 MB update!

If you don't keep track of these things, it adds up really quickly.

I know that there are thousands of "apps" available. Some free, and some you need to pay for. It would be a big job to search through them all to find the ones that are most useful, so I figured maybe you could tell us which apps you are using...and maybe other readers will learn about them as well.

First, let me tell you which ones we're already using. I was going to include links to them, but it's just as easy for you to google them because some of you will need the apple apps, and some will need the android ones. So, here are the ones we currently have...

TripIt - A good free travel planning app. Keeps track of all of your flights and flight numbers and confirmation codes. I'm impressed with the fact that when you book a flight and receive the confirmation email, it automatically updates right away. Very cool. Only thing I don't like so far is that it regularly asks you to update to the "pro" version, which of course costs money.

Checkout51 - Coupon savings for groceries. You have to send them copies of your grocery bills to prove that you bought an item they have listed. The list changes (a little bit) every week. They send you a cheque when your balance reaches $20. We started the middle of last summer, and we're up to $16 at this point. Most people would probably get to $20 a little quicker than us, since we're only here part time.

XE - Foreign currency exchange. We like to keep track of the fluctuations between the Canadian dollar and other currencies in the countries that we visit. Includes very cool graphs and price conversion. And you can make a list of the ones you want to watch. Currently, we watch the US dollar, the Mexican peso, and the Colombian peso. All of these fluctuations will affect what our travels cost next winter.

Maps.me - The best free mapping program I could find that works without the need to be online.

MotionX GPS - This is a paid app, but it's only $1.19. It's the best one we've found so far for keeping track of our hiking routes, distance, and altitude. Love it for when we're out hiking!

Flipp - A grocery shopping list app that makes a shopping list and highlights top deals that you're interested in, as well as showing which stores may have a sale on certain items that you're looking for. Still need some practice using this one.

Ultimate Campgrounds - Another paid app, at around $4.00. A huge listing of all public non commercial campsites in Canada and the U.S. Over 22,000 listings, including free and BLM camping areas.

Of course we have other handy apps that we use for banking, and things like that.

So...which apps are you using that you find handy, fun, or worthwhile to have? Please share.

A great deal today only on the highly rated Black and Decker weed whacker trimmer at Amazon.com...

Black & Decker 40V Max Lithium Weed Trimmer

And here in Canada, a great deal on the highly acclaimed blue ray DVD series "Human Planet"...

Human Planet: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] (You may see it come up at $49.99, but if you look at the right lower side of your screen you'll see it at CDN $19.99!)


12 comments:

  1. I like Feedly for keeping track of all the blogs I read. Every time you post a new story, I know about it.

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    1. Good to know, having said that we use Blogger so they come up there as well for us.

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  2. 78 MB update...that is crazy.
    Checkout51 sounds like one I would enjoy. Headed there right now.
    We use Gas Buddy all the time. Great for finding gas prices in an area.

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    1. Yep, totally crazy, this is why we will up date in town on a free wifi signal and not on our cellular one.

      We use Gas Buddy on the computer all the time as Kevin is working on our route for that particular day and then he will input the co-ordinates into the GPS for the spot with the cheapest gas and that has easy access for the motorhome.

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  3. i eliminated Google Maps and now have Waze. It works great in Mexico. I use it all the time now. Whats App is a good message app that is free. Easy messaging and in groups. Good for family and friends.

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    1. Kevin is having a look at Waze to see how it compares to Google Maps. As for messaging we find that Facebook works best for us in that department but thanks for the suggestion.

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  4. I'm using a navigation app Spyglass that supports different maps, depending on my current needs: google maps, apple maps, open street map and open cycle map. It's also very important that the app can read pre-downloaded maps when offline. Besides, it has many useful features for those people that are not very good at orienting. The app shows your current position on the map, can save waypoints and locations, for example, your car or your hotel location.
    https://itunes.apple.com/app/spyglass/id332639548?mt=8&at=11lLc7&ct=c

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion for Spyglass, Kevin will be looking into it. Yes, it is very important for the program to read the maps offline, that is why we like both of the mapping systems that he mentioned in the above post but we are always on the lookout for anything that might work better,.

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  5. We like Gas Buddy for fuel prices and State Lines which has info about each state that is useful to travelers (driving rules, etc.) irv2, Google Maps. Technomadia has a past blog about useful apps.

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    1. We use Gas Buddy but we use it on the computer when Kevin is planning our route. The States Lines one sound like it would be an interesting and helpful one. Thanks for the ideas!

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  6. Let's see ... fairly new to the smart world, but my go to app right now is RadarScope ... great way to track the storms we've been getting. Aside from that, I recently got the AllStays Truck app, recommended by a friend since we mostly use truck stops for our fill-ups.

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    1. I bet your RadarScope app has really been getting a workout this past little while. Hope you are staying safe and dry. That app would be a good one if you are connected to the internet, most of the time our iphone won't be connected unless we have a free wifi connection but it is still a good app to know, thanks Erin.

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