Over the river and through the woods, to everyone’s house you go. The holiday season arrived and plenty of traveling will take place over the next several weeks. From Thanksgiving to the new year, people are out and moving. There are several ways to make the travel season more comfortable, safe, and informed by combining iPhone with ProClip’s customized dashboard mounts and keeping the right apps on your devices.
Taking a closer look at helpful travel companion apps is a great way to ensure fun and informed holiday travel. This is the third installment of travel app round ups and the first and second are still archived on the blog. Below are some excellent apps for the upcoming travel season.
For the kids
Keep those little guys entertained and quiet. Nothing is worse than a screaming kid in the back seat for your seven hour trip to the in-laws. Children prefer interactive apps that keep their attention. Make sure to place your precious iPad in a case before shoving it into accident prone tiny hands.
Start with a great, interactive e-book by Loud Crowd, the makers of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Just like the Charlie Brown you remember, these apps are complete miniature replicas of the stories and film adaptations. Users can do things like decorate Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree or play with Snoopy and Woodstock. To help reading comprehension, the narrated words are highlighted as the stories progress. Helping with travel, the apps are self contained and do not need a data connection to operate.
Color It Kids is a digital coloring book with more than 120 illustrations from around the world. Included with the scenes are information pages about the items pictured. With 52 colors, there should be more than enough ways to keep kids entertained for a while. The images are saved automatically and there is an option to share masterpieces via email, Facebook or Twitter. With the right touch, make grandma proud by creating some artwork on the way.
If the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is a household favorite, let your children explore the backside of the excitement. Creating their own balloon or watching behind the scenes preparation may be geared toward older children, but a great way for on the go entertainment. Even short video clips of the original animated short films include legacy Macy’s balloons. Then, on Thanksgiving, follow the action step by step through the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2013 app.
Travel apps
Undoubtedly, someone on your trip will have the world’s smallest bladder. Instead of guessing where to stop or waiting for the next restroom, Charmin has you covered. A leader in the toilet paper industry, provides the Sit or Squat app, showing nearby public restroom locations and whether they are clean or unclean based on user ratings. Download this one to make educated decisions about where to stop along the way.
While grandma is always the best cook, sometimes the fruitcake dessert is not what everyone had in mind. If you need to find a place for a real meal, check out Urbanspoon, which lists local restaurants or shops to hit the spot. The holidays are crowded with people enjoying a meal, so use the app to make a reservation before braving the weather. Much like Yelp, Urbanspoon includes reviews from users, but also newspapers and bloggers.
Capture all of the precious holiday moments and make photo collages to share via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or email. Diptic offers 179 layouts for different moods. Populate the layouts with images from the camera roll or connected social media accounts. Additionally, 14 filters help customize, along with brightness, contrast, hue, and color saturation. Pan, zoom, rotate, or mirror features make sure the picture is exact, then add captions with customizable fonts, style, color, and size.
Hopefully, some of these apps will help along the way. At the least, they can be a conversation starter for your less technically inclined family members. Have a happy Thanksgiving from the ProClip USA team!
