Kick-Ass Apps for GeoExpats

Kick-Ass Apps for GeoExpats

All too many apps seem to come and go with the season, making it difficult to stay on top of the latest breakthroughs. But in such a well-connected city, with smartphones and tablets in so many bags, pockets and hands, certain app developers have gone out of their way to make their mobile applications indispensable.

 

After hours of research and days of field testing, the following list compares our top ten apps for Hong Kong expats (not including GeoClicks app, and listed in no particular order). J Plus Corp founder and award winning app developer, Keith Rumjahn, helps us break down the pros and cons of each. 

 

 

Open Rice

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: The Open Rice app is packed with practical information, including an advanced search feature that allows you to find restaurants serving a particular dish you might be craving. If you feel like eating in a certain landmark they have a search option for that as well. If you just want to find a decent restaurant somewhere nearby, you can search for that too.

 

Hong Kong has an endless supply of great restaurants and practically all of them are listed on Open Rice. This comprehensive database, plus all the other useful info one can glean from a simple search, makes the Open Rice app one of the most indispensable apps on our list.

 

For a free app Open Rice puts a lot of power in your hands. Whether you have to impress clients, go the extra mile for visiting family members, wow a date, or treat good friends to a great meal, Open Rice has made it their duty to make sure no one goes hungry.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: The app packs a lot of features and is very useful. Creative use of geo-location to find nearby restaurants. Although it's useful, it's not essentially user-friendly and lacks the look and feel of a quality app.

 

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Hong Kong Movie

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: If you’re a movie buff this app will streamline your life.

 

The opening page of the Hong Kong Movie interface includes all movies currently showing in Hong Kong’s theatres. Click on a movie and you get a synopsis, director’s name, cast, rating, film length, a link to watch the trailer, a link to user comments, and a link to check show times at all HK theatres over the next four days.

 

Wow, right?

 

Hong Kong Movie also includes a section to check out all the movies that are on their way to Hong Kong theatres as well as see the current top ten. Join the community to leave your own film reviews.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: Very well desgined user interface and allows you to quickly scan through movies, pick your seats and buy a ticket all from within the app. The swip view of current movies and the movie reviews is really nice. Only downside is that the reviews are mainly in Chinese and the app icon needs improvement.

 

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Discover Hong Kong

FREE; Download it here (iPhone and Android)

 

GeoExpat says: We’ll go out on a limb and claim that this is easily the best city guide in the world. Even if you’re not a tourist it’s worth downloading just to check out.

 

In case you’re curious AR stands for Augmented Reality, which is live interaction between a real world environment and a digital interface. In the case of Discover Hong Kong, this app becomes your pocket sized personal guide highlighting historic buildings and districts, shops and restaurants, and even suggests upcoming events you might enjoy.

 

This app isn't exactly the easiest to use, but it's free! Nothing is easier than that!

 

Keith Rumjahn says: Ambitious idea using Augmented Reality. The app has some really powerful tech behind the AR and is quite amazing when it is working. However, the user interface is difficult to navigate and provides little guidance on how to actually use it. Overall, it's too difficult to use.

 

 

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TuneIn Radio Pro

$7.70 but also has a FREE (non-pro) option; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: TuneIn Radio is quite possibly the coolest, most useful app ever invented. If you don’t have it you’re probably due for a major life upgrade: get TuneIn Radio (even the free version is mind-blowing).

 

Not only can you listen to local radio stations, you can listen to radio stations from around the world (over 70,000) including music listed by genre, news, sports, talk shows, and even radio in a wide variety of languages.

 

Search for a specific song or artist and TuneIn will give you a huge list of stations from around the world that are playing what you want to hear. TuneIn will even make recommendations based on your previous choices.

 

This app is on another level and really elevates radio broadcasting along with it—returning radio to relevance in today’s digital age.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: A very well designed and executed app. I was able to listen to a local radio (903) within two taps once I opened the app. It's fast and responsive, the streaming doesn't require a long buffering like some other apps. The designers paid attention to the details and it really shows. A great app, highly recommended.

 

 

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Hong Kong Taxi Translator

$7.70; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: The Hong Kong Taxi Translator helps turn your destination into something any Hong Kong taxi driver will understand. Converting English addresses into written and phonetic Chinese, the Hong Kong Taxi Translator contains thousands of streets, buildings and landmarks, which means you’ll never be taken for a loop again.

 

Whether or not it’s worth the full US dollar will depend on how often you use it. For people new to HK, and those who visit regularly, this will be a handy little app to have in your arsenal.

 

Keith Rumajhan says: Does its job. Nothing fancy here, a very simple deisgn with a very clear purpose. I wish they could add more functionality like a recently used list or being able to play the sound instead of just text. Overall, it does what it sets out to do quite well.

 

 

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Hong Kong Air Pollution

FREE; Download it here (iPhone and Android)

 

GeoExpat says: A static map dotted with oversized smileys (most are actually frowns, and quite a few are crying) make this app one of the most useless on this list.

 

We’ve decided to keep it because air pollution information is important, and infrequent reminders that our health is under constant attack might drive us to try and make some sort of difference.

 

The app does provide the Air Pollution Index at each of HK’s various monitoring stations, and includes a handy link to the API website (where you can find more discouraging info about HK’s air pollution levels).

 

Hey, HK Guv! Why are there no monitoring stations on HK’s Southside?

 

Keith Rumjahn says: Simple and effective app. However, I cringe when I see that an app  hasn't been updated for over two years. That being said, it works and I do like how simple it is.

 

 

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MyObservatory

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: All manner of information is laid out in a very user friendly interface. MyObservatory will alert you of any impending typhoons or on-going severe storms, and will track a storms progress as well. The app also provides weather info on other major cities, UV index, 7-day forecast, and rainfall distribution for Hong Kong.

 

Check the Observatory blog to get a bigger, up-to-date picture on weather in the region.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: It does a good job with push notification: it notifies you about typhoon 8 and rain warnings but doesn't overwhelm you with alerts. Packed with features such as real time data and a great interface.

 

 

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Google Translate

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: This formidable app translates some 64 languages turning you into a virtual polyglot cyborg. Google will translate scanned text using your phone’s camera (on Android 2.3 and above), and will translate short voice recordings, enabling you to have full on cyborg conversations with mainland tourists who don’t speak English (unfortunately, we can get traditional characters out of the Translate app but we can’t get spoken Cantonese yet).

 

So there is no Cantonese... we’re betting that Google will churn it out in the next few months. In the meantime you can practise your stroke order and sketch characters on your touch screen to unlock the true meaning of the mysterious cooked-food-market-menu (this is all assuming you’re not already a native speaker).

 

Keith Rumjahn says: It's simple and clean, like all Google products. I like the voice integration and the fast response time.

 

 

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Enjoy Hiking

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: Enjoy Hiking is damn near too big for its own good. But that’s mostly because Hong Kong has so many great trails.

 

Review the trail you plan to hike from the comfort of your home, and your home’s wifi (if you have wifi at home) because downloading each map takes time and patience. If you’re on a limited data plan this app will help put you well over your monthly limit.

 

On the bright side, even the most obscure trails become accessible to the lay-weekend hiker and walk-enthusiast, all thanks to Enjoy Hiking.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: Surprisingly nice. The app has a very simple goal: to introduce all the trails available in Hong Kong. It provides a clear and straight-forward way to discover and learn about trails. I especially like how they integrated mapping features to help hikers find the trail.

 

 

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CitybusNWFB

FREE; Download it for iPhone and Android

 

GeoExpat says: Through the use of the CitybusNWFB app, you can now find the nearest bus stop, and the shortest bus route to your intended destination. “Point to Point” search is a great way to find alternative routes to those you already use, and to find numbers and transfer stops for places you haven’t yet visited.

 

The app also includes a geo-alarm function so that you can comfortably doze knowing your alarm will ring one stop before where you aim to alight. More than that though, the app is amazingly well-rounded—just as helpful for people new to the bus system as it is for regular commuters.

 

Keith Rumjahn says: This app is packed with features: bus routes nearby, bus routes by time, journey tracker, etc. The problem is that there's too many features and it's not easy to use. The placement of the buttons are not intuitive and I often find myself searching and thinking about how to progress. If they redeisgned the app to make it easier to use, I'm sure it'll be a very useful app.

 

 

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Which apps do you use on a daily basis? Which are you willing to pay for? Which apps have given you nothing but grief?

 

After installing and testing a huge number of amazing apps we’re curious what we've missed. Drop a line on this thread if you think we’ve overlooked anything important.