Having recently moved to London, I downloaded Citymapper, which was the best piece of advice anyone had given me.
At first I was sceptical at its tagline ‘making cities usable’. Since I already had Google maps, I wondered why I needed Citymapper. What could it possible provide that Google didn’t?
A lot, as it turned out. There’s a reason Citymapper has won numerous awards, including being listed in Apple’s Apps of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and the Best Overall Mobile App from the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association’s Mobile World Congress last year.
Simple to use, Citymapper provides you with a list of all your transport options to get from A to B. This includes all forms of public transport routes, walking, bikes, cabs and ubers. It lists combinations of these transport methods, with how long each option will take and even how many calories you will burn should you choose to walk or ride a bike.
One of the more clever apps around, Citymapper uses real-time service updates to calculate your best options and will tell you exactly what time each form of transport is arriving at each connection on your journey.
Available for 27 cities so far, the app is nothing short of a lifesaver, with most users who rate it five stars calling it the best app they’ve ever used and saying, “If I could only have one app on my phone, this would be it.”
Featuring ‘get me home’ and ‘get me to work’ functions, the app also has a sense of humour and will occasionally throw in an option that may be slightly challenging to choose, such as a jetpack or time travel. It’s good to see the developers are looking towards the future though!
RRP: Free – available for download from the Apple App Store and Google play.
Find out more at Citymapper.
