Lonely Planet on iPhone
Posted September 19, 2009 – 3:39 pm in: Interaction Design, Mobile
Lonely Planet guides are now available for iPhone users. The price for the application is £0.59 which includes a free San Francisco guide. The price for the Lonely Planet iPhone guide is £8.99 comparing with the price of the book at Amazon UK which is £6.49… The clear advantage of the iPhone version is the ability to pin point your location and show you relevant nearby points of interest. It is also worth mentioning that the city maps are stored locally on the phone which means that users do not have to worry about roaming charges when taking the guide abroad. Is it still probably easier to read about the history of a place by reading the book rather than on screen which seems as the main weakness of this guide. The majority of the content is arranged in a traditional chapter format and is not affected by your location which is disappointing. It is a definitely great tool when you are looking for the nearest place for live music. Places can be added as favorites which is useful. One clear missing feature is sorting places by opening hours. If you are looking to visit a museum on a day when it is closed, the guide should allow you to filter this out.
