by Philip Lop

Created on: September 26, 2010

Like all the best cities in the world, New York has a host of fabulous attractions to suit every type of traveller. Unsurprisingly, there are now also a host of different apps that you can download to your cell phone to help you get the most out of the city. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a tourist or a resident. Here’s a rundown on some of the best apps for getting a bigger bite out of the Big Apple and the best thing is that they’re all free!

◊  NYC Way (MyCityWay)

NYC Way boasts that it is the only New York app that’s endorsed by the mayor of the city, and it’s not hard to see why. NYC Way is effectively 60 apps in one, with a host of informative tools to help you explore the city. The range of information contained here is enormous, from information about zoos and museums, to listings of property for sale and even details of the city’s most wanted criminals. The interface is clean, bright and simple to use. The only risk here is that the app is *so* addictive, you might spend all your time browsing through your phone and not actually get out to see the city at all!

◊  MoMa (The Museum of Modern Art)

A visit to New York wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Museum of Modern Art, but unless you’re an avid follower of trends, you might find yourself slightly over-awed by what you find. With the MoMa app you can download (and even listen to) a detailed range of information and tutorials about the exhibitions and paintings. If you swot up the night before, you might even be able to impress your fellow travellers with a host of insightful observations…

◊  NYTimes The Scoop NYC (The New York Time Company)

A subsidiary of the leading city newspaper, The Scoop lists recommendations from restaurants, bars and events from the editorial team. You can also use the app to give you directions to the nearest recommendations using the GPS locator built into your iPhone. The layout is really simple, uncluttered and easy to navigate and some of the content works without an internet connection too.

◊  AMNH Explorer (The American Museum of Natural History)

This is another great free app that helps you get more out of one of the city’s greatest attractions. Use the GPS locator in your handset to identify your exact location in the museum and access information about and directions to the nearest exhibits. The app comes with built-in guided tours, or allows you to customise and store your own tour prior to visiting, based on the exhibits you most want to see.

◊  iParks NY (Ring Bear)

New York City has some great open spaces, and with iParks you can get the absolute most out of them. iParks helps parents find playgrounds and outdoor spaces to amuse their children whilst in the city but also helps adults without children find the best places to chill out and enjoy a quiet coffee. You can search by facility or activity and find details of events taking place whilst you’re in the city. Much of the content is available offline too, so you can plan your time when you don’t have an Internet connection.

◊  NYC Subway KICKMap Lite (KICK Design Inc)

The New York Subway is one of the quickest and easiest ways to get around the city, but if you’re not familiar with it, you’ll need some help finding stations and planning your route. This app helps you do just that. This app is the only one that shows the complete extent of the Subway network and helps you quickly identify where trains stop and where they don’t. It also features a detailed overview of night services and a link to service alerts.

Sources:

www.apple.com/itunes

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