There’s a helpful article from the NY Times Wirecutter site. I’m a Tech Expert. Here’s How I Prep My Devices for an International Trip. January will make 20 years since Steve Jobs showed us a gadget that has changed our lives.
Posted by
Freedonia
19510 posts
Yesterday, Apple announced the new foldable Iphone Duo. It will run one dollar under $2K.
Steve Jobs must be laughing all the way to the bank in the sky.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9579 posts
Steve Jobs must be laughing all the way to the bank in the sky.
As I tell people, I own a lot of Apple stock, but I own none of their products. I appreciate when people buy Apple products.
But one point maybe glossed over in the article, yes, load the apps you need, but, if like me, I have a couple dozen travel apps on my phone for rail companies, rideshares, hotels, etc. I really do not use them much except for travel, and after some frustrating experiences, I now go through a ritual where I open up each one I may need, verify login information, make sure updates have rolled through, and verify any personal or payment info. Nothing more frustrating than trying to buy a ticket and you can't get into your account, or the credit card has expired.
Posted by
Bay Area SF & Uppsala Sweden 🇸🇪
2119 posts
Nothing more frustrating than trying to buy a ticket and you can't get
into your account, or the credit card has expired.
Agreed, and usually it's something simple like an expired credit car for Lyft, just as I'm getting ready to book a trip to an airport! Wow, a couple dozen apps. (I have the info loaded on each country in Notes, I'm going to research my trip anyway, then I download necessary apps before a trip.) I suspect you travel much more than I do, hahaha.
Posted by
West Michigan
877 posts
Philip, thanks for the article. It was excellent, covers a lot of things, and very informative.
For phone calls, I'd add Google Voice to the list, it works very well and is free. And for esim providers, frequent travelers might consider the Pay As You Go (PAYGO) esims that could save a lot of money by covering multiple countries and their balance never expiring.
For apps, I counted 16 travel apps I use, mostly train or bus apps, and weather apps. And my essential American Airlines app.
Everyone has their favorite mapping app, I like Organic Maps, a free app where you download any maps you need in advance, so no internet is needed.
I also have 9 "communication" apps. Bcengi and Roamless esims, Proton secure email, and free VPN, Tmobile, Textnow (free texting), UltraMobile (my spare, backup account), and Zoom.
Regarding updating apps, yes, that's a great idea to do in advance. I'm an Android guy, and I have it set to not automatically update apps (for a few reasons). And unused apps get "put to sleep" after a month or so of not being used. That all means that if I check for app updates, the unused ones won't show any updates. So I have to open all my travel apps once, and THEN check for updates.
As for checking a traveler's phone at immigration, good advice in the article, given the current political climate. I wonder if an immigration cop might check email? I have an email app on my homepage. No issue for me at all, but if someone does a lot of emailing about criticizing the current regime, might be good to delete some emails?
Anyway, great article, thanks...
Posted by
🌲🌲🌲
13088 posts
Ha ha, of course I had to count up my own travel apps. I finally stopped at 30+. But in my defense, I keep all the apps if there is any chance I will return, so I don't have to search for them again. I put them in folders, so I have a folder for Germany, one for Scotland, one for England, Norway and so on.
It makes it easier to keep track. And it also makes it easier to update them when I head to that country again.
Posted by
Maryland, USA
177 posts
I now go through a ritual where I open up each one I may need, verify login information, make sure updates have rolled through, and verify any personal or payment info.
Great advice. Thanks for that.
Posted by
Northwest Arkansas
1267 posts
This is a pretty good article and some insightful posts.
One additional thought regarding apps. I keep a Travel folder that I load local apps into before my trip. In additional to logging in pre-trip I also log into the web version of theses sights on my PC. I do most my planning at my PC, so I can get specific on trains, metro routes, etc. long before I reach my destination. When I leave a city I delete no longer needed apps from my folder to declutter. When I add the app back for my next trip all of my login information is restored along with the app.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
10083 posts
Wow, I guess I keep it simple. The only apps I use are one for maps, TripIt, and an airline (although TripIt does a better job for speed of updates), WhatsApp, and the Trenitalia app. I see Google Translate is there, too, if I ever need it. I check the weather fairly often, but that’s an app I use at home, also.
I need to check with T-Mobile if there’s a less expensive option in their plans for the international data while traveling.
Posted by
🌲🌲🌲
13088 posts
Jean, a lot depends on the countries you go to. For example, England, Scotland, and Germany all have quite a few different transportation options and quite a few different train lines, and even transportation cards. You need to download a lot of different apps for each of those countries. Hence my 30+ apps, lol!
Posted by
Virginia
1517 posts
I like to keep it simple as well and keep the apps on the device slimmed down. There are only 10 travel apps on my device and I do tend to delete the ones that are not getting used regularly. United, Amtrak, LNER and Avanti stay, then I curate the travel apps based on upcoming trip plans