AroundMe is a great anytime you are out around town and need to find the nearest, well, anything! Just open the app and you land on this screen:
You have many options to find exactly what you are looking for including Banks, Bars, Coffee, Gas Stations, Hospitals, Hotels, Movie Theatres, Parking Pharmacies, Pubs, Restaurants, Supermarkets and Taxis…. even the nearest Apple store which is a little unnecessary but probably just a nod from the cult members developers to the Apple team.
The iPhone uses GPS to determine your location, and will tell you how far away you are from the business by the nearest yard. From my apartment, I tried to find the nearest coffee shop:
What comes up first is the shop right next my CTA stop: Beans and Bagels. For Google AdSense fans, sometimes you get an ad show up in the top position, but it is not always well targeted (but almost always annoyingly intrusive). The distance of 605 yards is totally accurate, at least according to my pedometer, as I walk to Beans and Bagels and the train stop daily. When you touch through the destination you want:
You can see company info including address and phone number. If you tap the phone number you automatically dial the business, or “show on map” or “show route” shows you exactly how to get there using the iPhone’s built in Google Maps function. You can email the info about the establishment for you to retrieve later, or hit the plus sign on the top right to add it to your favorites.
The app isn’t always 100% accurate, for instance when I choose movie theaters the movie theater down the street does not appear in the results. But for the most part it does a very good job. It is FREE, so it should be a must have for all iPhone users. It is very much like the Yelp app, without all of the reviews, but I find it to be more accurate at determining your location. So I give it an 8/10, and really recommend it.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
One of my favorite apps mate… nice review indeed…
Great review mike, I’m downloading it right now
Thanks guys glad you like it!
Wish it could be tailored to eliminate some categories (pubs??), and to add other categories or chains (e.g. Starbucks) to the main menu bar.
Hey, thanks for the review. I saw this over where I usually get my iPhone app reviews, and they liked it as well. I love how you say because its free its a must buy…don’t you realize my iPhone has a LIMITED capacity?!?!