Clever apps that make the most of your phone’s location features
Travelers used to need a guidebook, map, local newspaper, and much more just to cover the basics of getting around an unfamiliar city. Today, location-aware apps on the iPhone can not only replace all your city guides, they can do a better job of helping you interact with the world around you-whether you’re just in town for the weekend or you’ve lived there your whole life.
Find Nearby Friends
View where your friends are at a glance and see what each person is up to with Loopt.
Heading to an out-of-town conference? Among the most useful applications of location data on the iPhone is the ability to find nearby friends and coworkers. Although several applications can map your contacts (including Google’s recently launched Latitude), Loopt offers one of the more established networks. The free Loopt lets you share both status and location information with others. For example, when you land at the airport, you can log onto Loopt and let your contacts know you’ve arrived. Since Loopt not only updates within the app itself, but can also export your status updates to Twitter and Facebook, it’s an easy way to announce your location globally. Next you can see who else has arrived, and communicate directly with those people-to find the best way into the city, for example. Once you’re at the conference, you can use Loopt’s Mix feature to find and chat with other nearby attendees about one of the presentations, or just find a partner for lunch.
