If you are a fan of TripAdvisor’s collective travel advice site and the free travel guides, you are going to love the new TravelAdvisor App for the iPhone and the Palm Pre. Now you will have access to Trip Advisor’s huge database of travel tips, restaurant, hotel, and city reviews. The recently announced Apps are available in Apple’s App Store and in the Palm App Catalog. A version for Google’s Android OS is in the works and will be released soon.
- Get the TripAdvisor iPhone App from the App Store.
- Get the TripAdvisor Palm Pre App from the App Catalog
- TripAdvisor App for Android coming soon.
Below you will find some screenshots of the iPhone version of the TripAdvisor App.
TripAdvisor App Once installed in the Home screen.
The home screen for the TripAdvisor App is fairly simple and easy to use. You can perform a search by entering a query in the Search field or you can narrow your search by tapping on one of the categories:
- Hotels – Find a local stay or other hotels in TripAdvisor’s extensive database.
- Restaurants – Find local eats or other restaurants in TripAdvisor’s extensive database.
- Things to do – Find something to do in your current location or use the search feature to locate things to do in other areas. This is my favorite TripAdvisor feature!
- Flights – You can find flights using this query.
When searching you have two main options; the first which is Find, will allow you to enter the location manually. The second Near Me, uses your iPhone’s GPS to locate places around your current location.
So what do the results look like? If you’ve visited TripAdvisor before, you will feel right at home with this App. The colors, the layout, and even the fonts are all similar to the easy to use TripAdvisor website.
The search results above are based Things to see Near Me. You can see that the three tabbed navigation allows you to quickly switch from Things to see to Stay (hotels), and Eat (restaurants). So if you find a location to “seeâ€, you’ll be able to quickly find somewhere to stay and eat.
How about those extremely useful reviews on TripAdvisor?
Yup, those are there too…in detail. You can click through individual reviews and find out what real people are saying about the places, restaurants, and hotels you are researching. The best part of all this, aside from being at the palm of your hand, is that you can also contribute reviews using the App on your mobile phone. So if you had an amazing or not so amazing experience at a restaurant, hotel, or place of interest you can let the world know.
You will be able to rate several factors by tapping on the 1-5 scale for each, write a review, and whether or not you would recommend the place to a friend. Considering the influence that TripAdvisor’s reviews have on restaurants, hotels, and points of interest, this is a very powerful tool that business owners need to be aware of. You no longer have to wait until you get home to write the review…you can do it right then and there as it’s happening.
Really Cool Features
Map addresses for places based on your location and load directions using Google Maps automatically.
Ability to automatically dial the number for a place you are interested in.
Use Filters to narrow down searches. Filters are based on places being searched.
Overall I think that the TripAdvisor App for the iPhone complements the online experience on a computer browser. The App gives you access to TripAdvisors extensive database of hotel, restaurant, and places of interest reviews. It provides you with an easy way to add reviews to locations, call, and find directions to a specific location with a push of a button.
Know of other travel related Apps that should be featured here? Please post your recommendations below.
