101 iPhone Travel Tips, Tricks, Hacks and Apps: A Guide for Travellers, Digital Nomads, and iPhone Users

67 Pages·2015·1.7 MB·English

by  Ragg

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First Edition
Other Books by the Author
The Mobile Life: A Complete Guide to Traveling with Your iPhone and iPad.
Introduction
As someone who works remotely as a specialist in change, leadership, and
organisational development, I travel a lot. Some years I’ve made between 50 and
70 flights. With all the talk these days of people going ‘#iPadOnly’, I have often
wondered if I could take just my phone or tablet while traveling and work
exclusively with that device.
In order to answer this question for myself, I decided to dive fully into the digital
world. I packed an Android and Apple phone and tablet, downloaded more than
700 apps and set off on a ‘mobile only’ three-month journey through seven
countries.
The laptop stayed at home. If it seemed I couldn’t do a task on my phone or
tablet, I worked out how it could be done, rather than looking for a desktop
computer. I learned that most tasks can be completed on a tablet or phone. You
just have to know how. Macs and PCs can lull you into a false sense of security
– if you have either of them nearby, you won’t bother to learn these techniques.
This book and two others are the results of that trip and learning.
Having worked remotely from several countries and traveled extensively for
many years, I thought I knew a lot about travel and working on the road. I was
wrong. I learned a lot more in the process of that journey and since then about
both travel and technology.
Most importantly, I learned that the really savvy traveler (either on the road or in
life) realizes that there are always new things to learn.
In particular, seasoned travelers know that one small tip or adjustment to their
workflow can have a vast impact on the quality of their experience or the
outcomes they achieve. It might be a tip that helps them recover a lost or stolen
iPhone, get a great seat on the plane, save some time or money, finish their
work, or just make the whole travel process so much more stress-free and
enjoyable.
It’s why most people, when they first start traveling, tend to take everything but
the kitchen sink with them. As they gain more experience, they whittle that list
down to the things they most love and that work best for them. It’s why checking
out someone else’s travel gear is a guilty pleasure for many people – they get to
see what others consider to be the ‘best of the best’.
That’s what this book is about.
I want to introduce you to some of the ‘best of the best’ in relation to traveling
with your iPhone and iPad.
About this book
This book is a compilation of some of the best travel-and tech-related tips, tricks,
hacks, and workflows I’ve learned. It is iPhone focused, but most tips will apply
in exactly the same way to the iPad.
While you can find many iPhone tips and tricks online, this isn’t a collection of
random tips. This book is specifically designed for people who want to take their
iPhone use to another level in a travel and mobility context. That is, it’s for
people who want to use their mobile device as a mobile device.
So, for example, I don’t just say the iPhone has a great world clock (it does) or
that you can activate Airplane Mode to shut off the Wi-Fi connection (you can).
Instead, I prefer to tell you how to tweak the settings to get the most out of that
feature, or how (and more importantly, why) you can best use those features in a
travel or mobility context.
Where possible, I endeavour to go beyond the obvious. I’m aware most people
know about popular apps like Skype, so you won’t find a tip here about saving
on phone call charges by using Skype. I prefer to focus on some of the features
or applications of those services that you probably don’t know about and that
would be useful to you. My aim is to provide maximum value to the reader.
At the same time, I need to cater to a broad range of readers, so I include a few
tips that may be obvious to some. That said, however, you’ll be sure to discover
loads of tips and tricks that even the most experienced traveler or tech geek
won’t have known.
Also, because the iPhone operating system (iOS) is always being updated, you
may find that some of the menu settings described here are different by the time
you read this book. In most cases, though, the change will be cosmetic, and the
setting will just have moved to another menu. The concept or tip that I’m
describing will still be applicable.
In this book, the price of each app is included in the following format (free,
$2.99). This simply means that there is a free (usually feature-limited) version of
the app and also a premium version available for $2.99. Downloading the free
version will usually give a good feel for the app. Occasionally, after you
download a free version of the app, payment of an additional fee will unlock
other features within the app. In these cases there will be a reference to ‘in-app
purchases’.
You’ll need an Internet connection to view some of the links in this book,
including some of the travel tech gear. I set the links up this way so that I could
change the link to a better or newer resource if it became available.
Finally, a brief word about > these > arrows. In this book, I use them as a form
of shorthand to abbreviate a sequence of actions you can perform on your
iPhone. For example, the instruction “you can find this setting in Settings >
Mobile > Mobile Data > OFF”, means to tap on the ‘Settings’ button on your
device. On the next screen, tap the ‘Mobile’ icon, then ‘Mobile Data’. And on
the following screen, switch the slider to ‘OFF’.
About The Mobile Life book
I’ve written another book!
My other book, The Mobile Life – A Complete Guide to Traveling with Your
iPhone or iPad is a little different to this one. That book is around 90,000 words
long (about five times the size of this book) and covers everything you’d want to
know about traveling with an iPhone or iPad. It is also designed to be useful for
people thinking of going ‘#iPadOnly’ or ‘#iPhoneOnly’ and not just for people
traveling for business or going on a holiday. That is, it’s also designed for people
who are contemplating using their mobile device as a primary computer.
If you only want to buy one book, I’d recommend that one. Even though some of
the content is common to both books, there are enough differences between the
two that you can quite safely purchase them both.
(Some of the duplication is very deliberate. I want you to have the information
that increases the security of your identity, data, and finances and minimises the
risk of you losing or damaging your iPhone. Plus, there’s heaps of cool tricks
and gear that I’m itching to share!)
Let me explain some of the differences.
The Mobile Life is a comprehensive manual for traveling with your iPhone. If
you want a step-by-step list of instructions on what to do if your iPhone is stolen,
or how to find the best external battery for your iPhone, it’s in that book. Look
there if you want to know how to find the best free Wi-Fi and how to
troubleshoot it if you have any issues. The Mobile Life also covers more esoteric
issues, like why prepaid SIM cards aren’t always the best option for travelers,
and it includes loads of resources and websites that can enhance your travels.
Next are the app reviews. This book doesn’t focus so much on travel apps.
(You’ll find around 50 travel related apps and online services discussed in this
book.) The Mobile Life has scores of app reviews and explanations on how to get
the most out of them.
The Mobile Life also has loads of travel tech gadgets for iPhone and iPad
travelers. My ‘inner geek’ had a blast learning about all the tech gadgets you can
use with your iPhone and iPad to take your productivity to another level. Many
of these gadgets I’d never seen before. You can find them in the book’s store
(www.traveltechstore.com), and I discuss the pick of the crop in The Mobile
Life.
Finally, there are many topics in The Mobile Life that I touch upon either briefly
or not at all in this book. These include insurance, printing, power, backup,
VoIP, an in-depth guide to everything Wi-Fi related, entertainment, translation,
accommodation, food, a very detailed coverage of everything pertaining to
airports, and much more.
If I sound excited about The Mobile Life, it’s because I am! It was a work of
love, being a unique combination of two of the things I enjoy the most: travel
and technology. And that said, I’m super proud of this book, as well. There are a
lot of power iPhone travel tips in this book that I think you’ll really enjoy.
In conclusion, 101 iPhone Travel Tips, Tricks, Hacks and Apps is not a cut-down
or summary version of The Mobile Life. There are a lot of tips in this book that
aren’t in The Mobile Life, because this book is focused more on tips, tricks, and
hacks. The two books work together well and complement each other.
You can find a full description, extracts, and Table of Contents for The Mobile
Life book at (www.themobilelifebook.com).
I hope that explains the difference.
Finally, because of the limited size of the Kindle preview, I have posted a few
more of the iPhone travel tips from this book at The Mobile Life blog
(www.themobile.life/blog).
I’m really excited to share everything I’ve learned with you.
Let’s get started!
101 iPhone Travel Tips, Tricks, Hacks &
Apps
1. Put Google to work for you
These Google tips work best if you use the official Google iPhone app, but you
can also apply them in a Google search using other web browser apps like
Safari.
If you do use the Google app, you can make your requests by voice, just like you
do with Siri. While you’re there, you might try asking Siri if she likes Google.
Here are some of the many travel-related actions (with examples) that Google
will perform for you:
Convert a currency. (Use either the currency symbols or words.)
Example: 1 AUD in USD. This gives the exchange rate for 1
Australian dollar in US dollars. If you want to convert a specific
amount, for example, to work out the cost of your flight in your home
currency, enter it in the same way: 843 USD in AUD.
Find out a flight status. Enter the flight number, for example QF5.
Convert units. 10kg in pounds. 7 kilometers in miles.
Time. What time is it in Sydney?
Weather. What is the weather today? What is the weather in Paris?
Temperature. 48 degrees in Fahrenheit.
Weight. 2kg in grams.
Distance. What is the distance between Melbourne and Sydney? How
far is it to Singapore? 878.3 km in miles.
Sunrise / Sunset. Sunrise in Taipei.
Questions. How old is Bono? When is Easter? Dialing code for
Taipei. Google will pick what it believes to be the most accurate
answer and return that with a website link. Google is pretty good at
answering factual questions.
BONUS TIP: While you can’t do this from a mobile device, it’s a pretty nifty
trick to use on a desktop computer. In a Google search box type: Set a timer for
[NUMBER] minutes.