This blog post was updated on October 25, 2018.
When visiting a new city, do you ever wonder what apps the locals use to get around? Here’s a look at four apps that I use most often when moving around London. All are available to download for free.
Addison Lee
Addison Lee is London’s largest “minicab” company with a fleet of more than 3,500 cars. The term “minicab” refers to private hire cars with drivers only available on a pre-booked basis (for safety sake NEVER hail a minicab on the street like you would a normal cab!). The company has a handy booking app allows customers to create personalised profiles with favorite addresses and to select which category of vehicle they prefer, from six-seaters to executive saloons and hybrids. Among the updated apps most convenient features of thie app is its “take me home” function, enabling folks to book a car in two taps. The app shows live tracking along with “the dynamic pick-up time updates in real-time right through the booking process” and provides a completely transparent fare system, showing the actual price from pick-up to drop-off, with no “surge-pricing” when demand is high. The Addison Lee app is free to download at the App Store and Google Play and is available for Blackberry, Nokia and Windows Phone as well). For details go to addisonlee.com.
Bus London App
Aside from Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps and a few other “essentials”, I probably use this app more than just about any other. In a nutshell, Bus London App helps you make sense of London’s myriad busses with live updates and location and route info to get you on the right bus in the right direction with a good idea of how long you’ll be on it. The maps are great too! The app is free to download at the App Store and Google Play and is available for Blackberry and Windows Phone too. Visit the app maker’s website at mxapps.co.uk.
Tube Map App
With more than two million downloads and counting, this app featuring an easy-to-view map of the London Underground system is a hit, and it’s easy to see why. Having a quick click view of a Tube map is often vital to manoeuvring through this sprawling city with minimal confusion. The app offers live travel updates access to other maps and more helpful features. It’s free to download at the App Store and Google Play and is available for Blackberry and Windows Phone too. Check out bappz.com for more about this app and its makers.
Uber London
Yep, the same Uber app you know (and presumably love) in North America works here in London with three choices for on-demand rides: Uber X, Exec, Lux, and Taxi (though, to the best of my knowledge no London cabbies have yet to sign up to use the app). The app works best the more centrally located you are but it’s never a bad idea to have a look if you’re slightly farther afield, especially with the “faster and cheaper” Uber X option. Uber is free to download at the App Store and Google Play. Find out more at uber.com/cities/london.
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