Apps for Rome

I was looking at the "press and reviews" section of Elizabeth Minchilli's blog and ran across this 2012 article from the Huffington Post: Top Apps for Rome.  The three apps it picks for food include Minchilli's Eat Rome (which I bought), Katie Parla's Rome (which I also just bought), and an Italian one covering all of Italy: Cibando, which is free.  The last one also has a website, cibando.com where we can search for restaurants in Rome and narrow them down by price but not by neighborhood.   It also gives the Trip Advisor ranking.  For the Italian interface  go to cibando.com/it.  I'm not sold on it but it will make me practice my Italian.

The ones listed for transport require an internet connection which we won't have on the streets of Rome.  There aren't any Starbucks to dip into when we need wifi to check the bus schedule so we'll have to plan trips with Google Maps in the apartment before we go out.  I wonder if there will ever be a time (within our lifetime) when we can use our cellphones abroad like we do at home --  I remember when we used to incur "roaming" charges when we went to California so perhaps there is hope...Maybe globalization of AT&T and Verizon.

There is another review of Rome apps at Top 10 Travel Apps but the reviewer is British and can use her iPhone on the streets, where she can find what is nearby and when the next bus arrives.  Top 10 also chooses Eat Rome and Katie Parla's Rome.  The free ones are
Triposo Rome Travel Guide, which you can use offline
Guida Verde Rome Touring
Ulmon Rome Travel Guide and Offline City Map, where it says "Search by name, browse by category or discover nearby places using your device’s GPS -- even without an internet connection."  How's that??
Rome Pocket Guide, which is free but has a lot of in-app purchases for their tours, like $5.99 for the coliseum (how free is that?).

SWG City Guide - Rome, this one appears to be for business men and includes continual updates in Eventi, Nightlife, Happy Hour e Promozioni.  But they do love the colors from Leone Limentani on their facebook page.

The ones you have to pay for are a guide to the Leonardo da Vinci airport (can it be that difficult to navigate?), one on the Rome Metro (but they only have 2 lines!), and a Rome Shopping Guide (does it include coupons?).  3 not worth investigating.

Then there are these that I ran across and will have to test out (I better make more room on my iPhone).
Hidden Rome which shows some unusual sites but then you have to pay $2.99 for 60 additional ones.  I guess nothing is really free.

Rome Map and Walks - Full Version for $4.99 includes 16 walks with turn-by-turn directions that you can use offline.  I sort of feel that using ready-made walks destroys the fun of planning your own but the app developer has other apps for Rome that sound interesting like Roman Gelaterias, Top 10 Food Markets (I can just use MarketsofRome instead) and Rome Local Food (they don't mean "local" in the foodie sense) or MyCityCuisine.  I wonder if there is a public library that lends apps.

The Spanish Steps Apartment collected a page of Rome apps (67) on Pinterest.   How about Mangia?  An Italian Menu Decoder with 1800 entries for $4.99?  Or David Downie's Food Wine Rome, although it looks like Downie would be better for Paris where he has lived in the Marais for 25 years and conducts tours including "a leisurely walk down the atmospheric alleys of the Saint-Paul neighborhood".  Ah, Paris!

Then there are some free apps for a couple of neighborhoods in Rome: Testaccio and Aventino.  These link to the Italian app store so perhaps I'll test some from there.  Maybe even an offline Vatican Museum...