Product Review
Review by: Gary Miller, Alaskan Apple Users Group Member
App: France, Country Guide App for iPhone and iPod touch
Authors: 13
Company: Lonely Planet
Web: www.lonelyplanet.com
Contact: 510 250 6400
Price: $9.99
Pros: easy to navigate, topics helpful, covers all of country, can be used offline Cons: none
Product Rating: 4/5 Impressive!
by Gary Miller, Alaskan Apple Users Group Member
Conflict of interest disclosure: Lonely Planet provided a free copy of France, Country Guide App for iPhone and iPod touch for the purposes of the review.
Like many, I love using my iPad to carry along on trips to save me lugging heavy books, but up until now, most eBooks were not ready for prime time, lacked much substance; well, the newly released France, Country Guide App for iPhone and iPod touch answers our mutual concerns with a whopping 400 mb download from the Apple iTunes store for only $ 9.99. And it’s offline ready, meaning, you don’t have to use your internet connection to use the book. great.
Lonely Planet is a company that integrates color, multiple authors with different takes on France, and yields a pretty comprehensive app, where I would like additional information are in their suggested itineraries, is more mapping of where/what/who interactively, but maps are used often, and pins on then show where you’re going, great for me who hasn’t been back to France in 40 years, so it was useful to my eyes. Links are used, and organization is good.
Maps are plentiful, and the flags used show what they are writing about, because of the GPS capability of using your iPhone or iPad, helpful. Some of my favorite parts of the App / book, Browse by Region, for example Around Paris, then it shows an Overview of that area including history, some sights that are linked to more info, like Chartres – the link shows Things to Do ( that includes places to stay; I’d prefer to see a separate heading for this), Overview, Information, Getting There and Away ( meaning transportation).
I love that this App / Book, is all offline available, meaning no internet is necessary, just like a regular book, yet you don’t have to lug it around, and when you are where internet is, you can enjoy active links in the book. Is it worth 10 bucks, yes, is it the most detailed book on France, No. But it delivers enough to keep a visitor happy, be able to find what you want and get there, links your gps device to guide you. I’d recommend it.
Requirements: iOS 4.3 or later, compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad