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Trail Guide South Africa
This free Trail Guide application is suitable for anyone who wants to go outdoors, whether it is for hiking, cycling, or trail running on some of South Africa’s best scenic routes.
Users can choose trails according to length, duration, difficulty and scenery. Users can also look up accommodation, restaurants and gear stores.
Features include an overview of trail descriptions; distance and navigation from current location to the start of a trail; location of trails in close proximity; GPS tracks of trails and facilities on the trail.
Users can also look up points of interest, fees, emergency contacts, equipment lists and the three-day weather forecast for a specific trail.
TripIt: Trip planner
TripIt allows users to organise their travel plans from one place.
Users forward travel confirmation (hotel, airline, car rental, and restaurant) emails to plans@tripit.com and TripIt will automatically create a detailed, daily itinerary for every trip.
The itinerary is accessible from any device, anytime, even offline.
Directions and maps are available for each destination. Trip plans can be synced with Google Calendar or Outlook. Plans can be added or edited manually from the app, or from tripit.com.
Users can share trip plans via email or social media. The app is available to download for free, but a “pro” or premium version without advertising is available at R14.18.
Tuluntulu: Movies and more
A uniquely African app, Tuluntulu allows people on the continent, and the diaspora, to view their favourite home-grown content on a mobile phone.
Specially designed for mobile devices that operate in low bandwidth territories, Tuluntulu currently affords users free access to 17 TV channels and 10 radio stations.
The app is free to download [on either Android and iOS], and the content is free too. There are no subscription fees because the solution, and the content it streams, are supported by advertising.
It took finweek a couple of seconds to download and install the app, which is really easy to use.
Channels feature sport, fashion, news, Nollywood movies, music, series, documentaries, gaming and technology. Entertainment aside, Tuluntulu also has education and other content channels for kids, which in itself makes it worthwhile.
Small wonder the app is raking in awards. Recent wins include the AppsAfrica’s Best Africa App, while Tuluntulu was elected one of the top 50 start-ups in the world by Unilever Foundry 50. – Mandy de Waal
PriceCheck: Price comparison
PriceCheck is a free price comparison app. Users can compare products across different categories and stores.
If you’ve found a product you like in-store and want to know where to find it cheaper, simply use the in-app barcode scanner to access prices, expert reviews, store and location information.
Zomato: Restaurant finder
Zomato allows users to find places to eat. Users can browse through updated menus, pictures, and user reviews.
A map feature, directions and contact numbers are also available. The Zomato Collections function allows users to search for restaurants via categories such as Newly Opened, Romantic and Top restaurants in a city.
They can also search for restaurants by cuisine, location and names. The app also shows restaurants with offers and discounts.
Users can provide feedback by sharing their reviews, load filtered photos and check in at restaurants and tag their friends. The app is free to download in over 150 cities across selected countries, including SA.
Sygic: GPS navigation and maps
This app is an offline turn-by-turn GPS navigation app. Navigation and maps are installed on the mobile device’s SD card so there is no need for an internet connection when navigating.
Map and app updates are released for free every three months. A premium version is also available.
This article originally appeared in the 17 December edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
