Localscope is a slick and complete tool for finding and getting to your destination
There are plenty of apps that find restaurants, hospitals and other things near you using the iPhone's GPS. Localscope, a US$1.99 app, is the most complete and easy to use solution I've seen.
Localscope easily lets you find destinations using Google or Bing, Foursquare, Twitter and Wikimapia. You don't have to re-enter your search terms, just slide from one search engine to another. One side benefit was that in my area of Southern Arizona, Google had far more information than Bing. The app makes it easy to compare search results.
You can also search using your contacts or recent searches. Results can be viewed as a list, on a map, or using augmented reality, which is basically a live camera view with the direction of destinations superimposed on the screen. Phone numbers of destinations are provided, as well as websites for more info. A really nice feature is integration with both TomTom and Navigon apps. When you find a location, a tap on a button sends the data to those apps. Another tap, and you are navigating with turn-by-turn directions. I also like the ability to save a location to your address book or share a location via email, SMS, Twitter or Facebook.
Using the app was a pleasure, with the GUI nicely designed and easy to use. I really liked the specificity of catagories, like Barber, Gym and Ice Cream. Most apps don't drill down that far. Localscope is not US-centric, so it can be used anywhere. Integration with Navigon worked just fine for me. Localscope launched the Navigon app, and pushing one button started the route.
There are certainly a lot of free apps that do what Localscope does; for example, I have always liked Around Me. On the other hand, Localscope adds a lot of nice features, is ad free, utilizes multiple search engines, and integrates with two of the best-selling nav apps. I think Localscope is worthy of serious consideration. The app requires iOS 4.0 or greater.
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There are plenty of apps that find restaurants, hospitals and other things near you using the iPhone's GPS. Localscope, a US$1.99 app, is...
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Just downloaded. Looks nice. The categories are a bit awkward, making me wonder if the developer's first language is not English.
The categories are as follows (and what they could be changed to for consistency/clarity sake)
Movie -Movies
Ice-cream - Ice Cream
Restaurant - Restaurants
Bank - Banks
Cafe - Cafes
Gas Station - Gas Stations
Golf
Jobs
Hotel - Hotel
Parking
Pharmacy - Pharmacies
Shopping
Taxi - Taxis
Gym - Gyms
Spa - Spas
Train - Trains (Trains & Subways?)
Ferry -Ferries
Airport - Airports
Camping
Park -Parks
Bus -Buses
Hospital -Hospitals
Library - Libraries
Club - Club (Nightlife?)
Beach - Beaches
Police
Ambulance - aren't these the same?
Emergency - aren't these the same?
Auto mechanic - Automotive
School - Schools
Laundry
Barber - Barbers & Beauty
Pub -Pubs (Nightlife?)
Post Office - Post Offices
Hostel - Hostels
Thanks for your feedback. Our tests indicate that in some of the search engines provide more results when the singular form is used instead of the plural. While Google would probably give similar results for "restaurant" and "restaurants" other engines might not. Hence the choice of terms. You could of course delete these and enter the ones that work for you. Even the icons will automatically appear for all the plural phrases that you enter!
February 25 2011 at 4:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAlso has a beautiful icon! :)
February 25 2011 at 1:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyFor Ms. Choudhury:
Would it be possible to add a preference setting in Localscope to always open maps in a particular app (e.g. Google Maps, Tom Tom, Navigon)? I imagine that 99% of the time that I click "map", it would be to get directions, and I'll be pushing the "Navigon" button. Would be a nice bit of convenience to not have to do that each time, if at all possible.
Great feedback! Added your suggestion to our issue tracker. Expect to see it implemented in a future version of Localscope :)
February 25 2011 at 1:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyJust purchased this based on the TUAW review. Haven't done much with it yet, but HOLY COW I love the Navigon integration.
I've always wished there was a way to set default apps in iOS, so any links to maps in other apps would open in Navigon. It's awesome that Localscope has this functionality built in.
*Well* worth the two bucks, IMO.
Thank you! Glad you like Localscope so much.
Please do keep sending us your suggestions and feedback.
Too bad it wasn't reviewed a week ago when it was free.
February 25 2011 at 8:51 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI love the little sounds it makes, all the little clicks and whistles :-)
V Nice app
Thank you for the lovely mention, Mel. Glad you like Localscope's interface.
We did go niche with the search terms like Barber, Gym, Ice-cream to show users that you could really find anything using Localscope. Localscope also lets you type & search for anything that you want to search for, even if it is not in the list. Meaning you can type in "Chinese restaurant" and you will find more niche results!
Localscope remembers the last 10 custom searches that you perform and you can add any of your searches permanently to the list by simply swiping and 'staring' the term. Terms can be removed from the list as easily, and the list orders itself based on recency of use. In essence automatically personalizing the users' search screen over time and use.
We are listening to our customers and working towards adding more choice of services to search in and a lot more app integrations for navigation and social sharing.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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