5 Apps for NYC tourists

While it's not an App, you can always hit Diaroogle.com instead of SitOrSquat.

When I first moved to NYC it saved me a few times...

This article really should have had five good and five bad. And while iTrans is great, it only includes NYC subway lines.

Now a combination of iTrans and CityTransit... there's a great way to make sure you've got everything covered. I wish I had known about CityTransit (or remembered to get it) while I was in New York this summer, would have helped me a lot.

Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed lately that (on the articles I read the comments on) TUAW readers are not happy with the current content on this site. It seems to be either poorly assembled, poorly edited (this is both images and article content), or perhaps worse, poorly researched.

This article is proof because it displays two out of the three problems. It is poorly assembled because it lists five apps, but poor ones and it fails in research because this could have been a positive article had the author simply done enough research into finding better apps to review.

Is this really the standard that TUAW is being held to? Has the news really been so slow lately that we are reduced to seeing articles about what the TUAW office spaces look like? We're promised follow-ups and nothing is delivered... yes, I'm still waiting to hear that update that was released about the iPhone SMS security issue. I don't care if it has been fixed or not, if you promise and update, write the thing.

It kind of saddens me to think that I come to this site for news and get a load of crap along with it. This might sound harsh (I know worse has been said), but what's another Mac news site? I might need to look elsewhere for a while.


Richard

have you ever made an app? no. probably not. neither have i. i, however, know the makers of sit or squat and i have never had a problem with that app. the fact that it's funded by charmin, well...how the hell do you think people make money? get a clue dumbass.

the sit or squat app will locate toilets that people, like you, have rated. YOU go out and if you've had a memorable bathroom experience, YOU rate it. the folks at sit or squat also have a program for people who love to rate and will pay you to go out to take picts and rate bathrooms.

sit or squat is based on community. be a lover, not a fighter.

Instead of 4 lousy apps and 1 good one, it would certainly be much more useful to suggest 5 good apps for the NYC tourist.

"Did you know that Virgin Records closed? They didn't."

I laughed so hard.

I'm not too happy about the way you've started to display the RSS feeds, where nothing but the headline shows up. Not only that, but when I click on said headline, it just takes me to tuaw.com!!! I just thought I'd mention it and see if anyone else has this issue.

Just found an app called New York Art, for details about galleries and museums in the city. It uses GPS to find nearby events, it's pretty useful.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=322195848&mt=8

And CityTransit, the Official NYC Maps app: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284444600

The KICK Map is NOT horrible! The Day/Night button flips between service available during the day, and that available at night. For example, look at the 34th Street-Herald Square station in Day mode, and you'll see B, D, F, and V lines on 6th Avenue, and N, Q, R, and W lines on Broadway. Switch to Night mode, and the B, R, V, and W lines disappear! With the exception of the Bay Ridge portion of the R line, they don't run at all during late nights (generally between Midnight and 6 AM) so they don't need to be displayed on the map. This is an attempt by KICK to represent a system that operates 24 hours a day as a system that operates 24 hours a day.

As for Exit Strategy, I have one word to describe this project: INCOMPLETE. It's good if your travel is entirely within Manhattan, but who does that anymore? Nobody who travels from a New York airport, that's for sure. The two stations that connect with the AirTrain to JFK Airport, Sutphin/Archer and Howard Beach? NOT in Exit Strategy!

App Store commenters support the claim that Exit Strategy is incomplete.
"A lot of stations are missing," writes tutanQnsVlg.
"I was surprised the whole system…isn't included," says Brian/NYC.
"Looking for an exit on the F line past a certain point yields nothing, and the same for the Q," says Atmoosh.
"It doesn't show anything in Queens past Roosevelt Avenue," says cloudthirteen.
"Please change the title to 'Partial Exit Strategy of a Portion of the Subway System,'" writes ErikSax.
"Yesterday when taking the R train, the program showed only one exit at City Hall, which I knew was wrong," says ScrabbleNut.
"I wanted to check on the exits at the Flatbush [Avenue] stop on the 2 line…and found that it covered the line only until Franklin Avenue," says Beach Friend.

Let's say you wanted to travel from Fresh Pond Road (M) to Union Square (L) on a Saturday afternoon. Would the app tell you to board the 4th or the 6th car of the M train for the transfer to the L at Wyckoff Avenue?

My guess is that Exit Strategy has no data for that part of NYC, but I know for a fact the M train doesn't run more than 4 cars on weekends.

It behooves me that one would write an article entitled "Five Apps for NYC Tourists" when 80% of the apps on the list ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE USER. This is potentially one of the most useless articles on TUAW. Perhaps you should have considered writing an article on five apps that I would ACTUALLY USE if I were to visit NYC. Like the comments, I recently visited NYC and recommend iTrans, Exit Strategy, Google Maps, and (briefly) Frommers' guide. The built in Maps is great for public transit and if you actually want to know what's going on in the city, grab a TimeOut NY. It's written on paper (I know, so last century...).