Travel Apps for the Summer

So the summer is well and truly upon us, with Britain being basked in the sun and people heading for the nearest pool. If you’re looking to escape the house for a little bit, then there are plenty of Windows apps willing to help you in your adventure. You’ve just got to know where to find them, which is where we come in!

Meet ½ Way (Windows 8.1)

If you’ve been meaning to meet up with one of your housemates over the summer, but you both live quite far from each other, this app might be for you. Meet ½ Way is true to its name and will find the halfway point between two locations. You can choose a contact from the People app, which will automatically put their listed address into the relevant box. But surely you can find the halfway point just using a map and a ruler? Well, the app calculates the halfway point using roads and motorways. So say I want to find the halfway point between me in London and my mate who lives down in Exeter, I just put the locations in…

It even works for international journeys!

It then calculates the driving route and gives you the option to find local places such as coffee shops and cinemas. Or you can meet each other on the side of the road, whatever’s best for you…

Once you’ve made your decision, you can share your choice of location with a friend via e-mail with just the press of a button.

The Friar Tuck Cafe. Sounds scenic!

And it’s as simple as that! With the use of this app arguments over where to meet are a thing of the past.

Bing Translator- Windows Phone

One of the biggest issues when you’re abroad is the language barrier. Obviously the best way to overcome this is to learn the language, but when you’ve got a degree to do this isn’t always an option! One way of dealing with unknown warnings and strange signs to use the Bing Translate app. This app translates text and speech into a language of your choice in a variety of methods. For example you can type text in using the keyboard, but you can also use your phone camera to translate text! Yep, all you have to do is point your phone at a sign and the app will translate it in front of your eyes.

Give it a second...

Ta-dah!

While the translation at times may seem a bit basic, it’s a lot quicker and easier to use this than to dig out your dictionary and translate each word! You can download language packs for offline use as well, meaning you don’t have to use up your data for each sign you see. You can also you’re your favourite translations for future use, which is great if you need to read the same signs everyday. So with the Bing Translator app you can sidestep that language barrier and spend more time seeing the sights!

Skyscanner- Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone

If you’re still itching to get out of the country this summer but think that it will be too expensive, think again! Skyscanner, the flights comparison website, has apps on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone. Let’s say that you want to escape the country for the first week of September and you don’t care where you go. You’re a free spirit and you want to see the world! So you select “Everywhere” on the starting page and find out what’s in store…

So many choices!

So you’re presented with a whole number of countries and their lowest prices. The countries are listed in price brackets, for an easy choice. You fancy going to Germany, so you give that a press…

Even more choice!

And you’re presented with which airport you want to go to and their individual lowest prices. You are a student after all, so you select the lowest price and…

Voila! All your potential flights are listed in front of you, ready for you to select. It even shows the airline you’d be flying on and the times of flying. 

 

The Skyscanner app can of course be used for when you have definite plans. However, when you want to fly somewhere on a whim, it really helps whittle down your possible choices. It’s also available on Windows Phone, with a very similar layout, if you need to find flights on the move.

So there we have it! 3 apps on Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone which can help you out this summer. Using these apps will help you save time and money and who knows, they might even help you find the holiday of your dreams!