Would you like to feel more secure the next time you’re on the road? Do you want to be sure that you’ve mapped out a good driving route? What if you’re traveling alone and want your spouse or loved ones to know where you are relative to your destination? And if something unexpected does happen, is your smartphone set up for a passerby or even a first responder to call an emergency contact person for you?
One of the advantages of living in our digital world is the availability of features and apps that can help make our road trips smoother, more secure and easier to plan. Here are five apps we recommend you try out for your next trip. Some come pre-installed on your phone, and others are free third-party apps you can download to your smartphone.
Google Maps or your iPhone’s native Maps app. These apps are extremely helpful when you’re planning a trip, especially to somewhere you’ve never been before. Type in your destination and look at the possible routes you can take. Then let the app give you spoken directions to guide you step-by-step as you drive.
If you miss a turn, no worries, your maps app will automatically reroute you. If your trip is a long one you can also use the app to look for gas stations and hotels along the way. And should the urge for a refreshing beverage strike? “Hey Siri – find a Starbucks near me!”
Another popular app for getting directions is the Waze app, free to download to your smartphone.
Sigalert – We love our Maps app but for those times when we know where we’re going and just want to check out the area freeways we rely on Sigalert. With Sigalert you get a quick “big picture” look at the freeways you plan to use. The app uses colors to show you whether the freeway traffic is moving at normal speeds, or slower than usual, or really jammed up. If we are planning a trip into Sacramento and we see that I-80 is orange-to-red (red = really jammed up!), we’ll take the 113 freeway into Woodland and then hop onto I-5 to get to Sacramento. The Sigalert app is free and available to download from the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android phones).
Life 360 – In our iPhone & iPad classes for seniors we always mention the Life 360 app. If I (Jacci) am driving out of town, Jay can look at Life 360 to see that I’m moving successfully along toward my destination. This is a good and safe way we can keep in touch when one of us is driving and cannot call or text to check in. Life 360 is free, easy to set up and available at the App Store and Google Play.
Emergency Contact – Before you travel, set up your smartphone to be used in an emergency situation. Enter your emergency contact person and other critical information a first responder might need to know. This information can be accessed even from a locked smartphone screen. Smartphones vary in terms of the available features and apps for setting up your ICE (in case of emergency) information, but all of today’s smartphones have this technology built in. If you are unsure about how your phone’s emergency features work ask someone knowledgeable and trustworthy to help you get set up.
Weather –With smartphone in hand it takes only a couple of seconds to check on weather conditions at your destination and along the way. iPhones have the Weather app while Android phones have a weather “widget” (mini-app) that you can place right on your home screen. It’s always worth checking the weather when heading out of town, and weather apps are built into all of today’s smartphones.
These are the top five basic apps we recommend for driving around or out of town. Check out the vast field of fun and useful apps for longer trips and even international travel. And if you have favorite travel apps you’d like us to include next time, please let us know.
May your next trip be easy and safe – Happy Trails!
