Well I guess everything is relative, but I really like these three apps. The first one is called Living Earth and it is a world clock and weather app. I first saw a card with a download code at Starbucks, so I downloaded it for free. Below are some screen shots. You can add cities to a list and when you click on it the earth will spin and show you where that city is on the Earth. One of the coolest things is that you can choose different maps. They have sunlight/clouds, temperature, wind, humidity, average temperatures, etc. You can also spin the map of the Earth and zoom in anywhere. I especially like the dark side of the Earth where it shows the lights emitting from the various cities and metropolitan areas.
If you are an Anthony Bourdain fan and more importantly a fan of his show The Layover, you will really enjoy this app. It is free and full of really neat stuff. There are city guides for every city Anthony visited from each episode. You choose which city you want to download and then the information is on your ipad/iphone so you shouldn't need an internet connection to access the information.
Each city that you download has all kinds of information and maps. Every city guide shows all the places that Anthony visited and talked about in the show. I'm also partial to the Layover, because that's the name that I was going to call my blog.
The last app that is truly worth downloading right now, is Tripit. Tripit is a free service but there is also a subscription that you can pay for to get more benefits, Tripit Pro. I am the cheapest person when it comes to paying for extra online/subscription services but this one is worth the extra. I used tripit for 2 years before I paid for Tripit Pro. Basically, tripit organizes all of your travel plans. You forward all those email confirmations to tripit that you get for your flight itinerary, hotel reservations, car rental, airport transportation, or anything. So whatever plans you add are automatically organized for you and you can approve or edit the plans on their website. Then everything gets transferred to the app on your iphone or ipad. The Tripit Pro version adds flight alerts where they send you messages to tell you the flight status, the gate, and even the baggage carousel. The service is so good that you get updates before people at the airport even know.
