We’ve compiled a list of the best iPhone apps for road trips that cover all aspects of hitting the open road and making the most of your time on the open road.
Planning a road trip may take a lot of work since many moving parts exist.
When you go on a road trip, you risk encountering unanticipated challenges, such as being lost, becoming bored due to a lack of activities, running out of gas, and other similar situations.
It is a terrific way to ease some of the worries of being on the road if you prepare yourself by downloading the best iPhone apps for road trips, making the process less stressful.
Best iPhone Apps for Road Trips
1. GasBuddy
During a road trip, the fuel cost might consume a significant portion of your budget, but using GasBuddy can help you save some money.
More than 150,000 gas stations across the United States and Canada are in the app’s data collection for accurate fuel prices.
The program also notifies you of the recent input, allowing you to determine whether the information is no longer accurate.
It is useful for affordable petrol and gas stations (and parking), which can be challenging while traveling in unfamiliar regions.
You can download these best iPhone apps for road trips for free on an iOS device. While using it, be a responsible traveler and report any interesting gas prices you see along the way.
2. Roadside America
One of the most fun aspects of a road trip is stopping at the various eccentric and kitschy roadside attractions in the United States.
Using the Roadside America app, you can locate the most peculiar places worth detouring, such as the large sculpture of a cartoon mouse holding a cheese platter in Plain, Wisconsin — where else? — or the decidedly odd larger-than-life-sized three-way electrical plug that rests on a lawn in Philadelphia.
Both of these examples can be seen in the Roadside America app. The app includes a variety of photo opportunities in addition to museums, murals, tours, and odd restaurants.
Roadside America has a download price of $2.99, and you can purchase more content within the app. It’s exclusively available on Apple’s iOS platform.
3. iExit Interstate
With all the exit signs flying by at 70 miles per hour, choosing where to pull over for snacks for a road trip, a drive-through cappuccino, or a public restroom cannot be easy.
However, one of the best iPhone apps for road trips, iExit Interstate Exit Guide, removes the element of guesswork from the situation.
The application will provide information regarding the upcoming exits on your route, including what you can find and what services are available there, such as restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and even hospitals.
It displays Yelp reviews for local businesses and gets fuel prices from the OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) database.
4. HotelTonight
Even if your stops are planned, you might need to pull over for the night due to unforeseen circumstances.
After all, driving is exhausting, and taking a nap when you least expect it can save your life. You can count on HotelTonight to provide suitable lodging in a time crunch.
The app can provide day-of bargains on rooms that have yet to be sold. Because it has a user-friendly interface, you may book a room at a discounted rate in minutes.
There are well over a thousand properties to select from, and they are located worldwide, ranging from Mexico City to Jakarta (in case you happen to take your road trip globally).
5. Airbnb
Airbnb is the way to go if you prefer to travel with less hotel hopping and more unique accommodations, such as sleeping in a secluded A-frame cabin, a yurt, or a private guest house in the garden of someone’s home.
You may search for properties (there are more than 600,000 in the United States alone) on a map using the Airbnb app and read reviews before making a reservation, which you can do in advance or at the very last minute.
The app provides vacation houses and experiences; for example, if you want to stop in a city and experience it as a local would, you may do so by participating in a pottery class or a guided walking tour, which are both examples in the best iPhone apps for road trips.
6. The Dyrt
The Dyrt is a free app that helps you find a tent, RV, and cabin site across the United States.
If sleeping beneath the stars is more your style, you should download this app as soon as possible.
More than one million users have signed up for this app, making it the most popular camping application on iOS (although it is also available for Android).
Because these individuals post reviews, images, and recommendations, you get real information on campgrounds and an integrated community, making camping during a road trip particularly enjoyable and safe.
You can even make reservations for specific campsites directly on The Dyrt itself.
The software is free, but you can purchase the premium package for $34.99 annually.
This version enables users to search for camping spots and organize trips even when not online, which is useful for more isolated areas.
7. Spotify
What is a road trip without the ideal music to listen to while driving? You can locate even the most obscure tunes on Spotify, which has a database of over 80 million tracks.
This means you may use it to build a soundtrack consisting of nostalgic singalongs, recent hit songs, or music peculiar to a certain location.
You can entertain yourself with podcasts when you’re sick of listening to old Taylor Swift songs and other similar artists.
When traveling by car, one of the best ways to pass the time is by watching a documentary series like Serial, a perennial favorite.
With these amazing features, people consider it among the best iPhone apps for road trips when they want to listen to music.
Downloading and listening to Spotify is free; however, listening while streaming can quickly use up your mobile data plan due to the frequent interruptions from advertisements.
A premium membership, which costs $9.99 per month, is a better choice you can purchase.
It has no advertisements, and you may download songs to listen to while you are not online. Both Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android can download the Spotify app.
8. Blink
When you want to take a road trip, one of the primary concerns that people have is whether or not they will adequately protect their homes.
You may monitor your home directly using your smartphone when you install Blink’s reasonably priced smart home security cameras and systems.
The program supports many operating systems and has a straightforward configuration procedure, making it possible to command a whole network of Blink cameras with only one piece of software.
With the Blink Home Monitor app, you can check in on what’s happening at home whenever you want, anywhere in the world.
The application provides a high-definition (HD) view of your residence on your mobile device, allowing you to monitor and safeguard your property even while you are hundreds of miles away.
9. Skyroam
When you are on a road trip to an area with a poor internet connection, it might not be easy to maintain your connection with the outside world.
Utilize Skyroam, one of the best iPhone apps for road trips, using a portable global WiFi hotspot and power bank to stay connected no matter where you are.
When you are out and about, you can continue to take advantage of safe and limitless access without worrying about changing your SIM card or paying excessive roaming fees.
The SkyRoam Solis app allows you to manage your SkyRoam hotspot account, monitor your data consumption, and view the status of your Internet connection.
You will also have access to more advanced features, such as intelligent troubleshooting, comprehensive product information, and the ability to connect to the internet in less time.
10. Yelp
Yelp is one of the most popular crowd-sourced business review apps. It features over 100 million ratings for companies worldwide.
Yelp is your local reference for finding the best spot to eat, drink, shop, and more.
Whether you are looking for a coffee shop close to you or a salon that is open at the time, Yelp can help you find just what you are looking for.
Use the app to look for the most highly rated restaurants, businesses, and services in the immediate vicinity.
You can narrow your search results by filtering them based on rating, neighborhood, price, distance, and what’s open right now.
Use the millions of reviews from knowledgeable locals to obtain the recommendation best suited to your needs.
11. Komoot
For your next bike, hike, or trip, you can easily turn it into an exciting adventure by using Komoot, one of the best iPhone apps for road trips.
Use the community’s suggestions and knowledge to gain motivation for your upcoming journey, and then put your ideas into action with the user-friendly route planner.
The application will provide you with the optimal path for the sport of your choice. For instance, you will get well-paved asphalt singletracks for your mountain bikes.
Still, you will have access to tranquil cycling lanes and natural trail networks for your road cycles.
You can plan every aspect of your journey thanks to the easy availability of helpful information such as the terrain, difficulty level, distance, and elevation profile.
12. Headout
Planning a trip at the last minute can be challenging, particularly if you are traveling into uncharted territory.
You can browse and book the most incredible tours, activities, events, and local experiences in town with Headout, an on-demand mobile marketplace.
These tours, activities, events, and local experiences are all accessible for 24 hours.
You may discover a wide variety of activities with just one tap, all of which have been created to cater to the requirements of spur-of-the-moment tourists and locals.
You can book a wide variety of once-in-a-lifetime adventures through Headout, including but not limited to things like helicopter tours, tickets to shows on Broadway, rides in hot air balloons, cruises on Dream World, tickets to Universal Studios, tickets to avoid the line at the Eiffel Tower, and countless other remarkable experiences that will make your trip unforgettable.
13. PlugShare
Electric vehicles are becoming more widespread, which is fantastic news for anyone who wants to travel in a manner that is less harmful to the environment.
Since most electric vehicles can travel between 100 and 300 miles before you need to charge them again, finding charging stations can be challenging.
PlugShare asserts that it is the world’s most popular charging station locator. It accurately lists 610,000 charging stations throughout North America, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Users give ratings and reviews of the charging stations, which helps electric vehicle owners choose the stations that are the best, quickest, and most reliable.
People recommend Plugshare as one of the best iPhone apps for charging electric gadgets on road trips.
14. Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is quickly recognized as one of the most useful and widely used apps for planning road trips.
Within the app, you can plan your trip by adding as many as seven waypoints for free or as many as 150 with a Roadtrippers Plus subscription.
Working together with other people, such as friends or family, makes it possible to find the most interesting stops along your path.
You may be interested in seeing national parks or oddball sights. You may be interested in spending the night in a hotel that’s either well-known or less well-known.
The app provides information on lodging, attractions, places to go outside, activities, restaurants, shopping, petrol, and more, not only in the United States but also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries.
You don’t have to pay anything to download the app, but if you want access to all the other features, you’ll need to pay the $29.99 one-time fee to upgrade to the premium version. It is downloadable for use on both iOS and Android.
15. Google Maps
Google Maps is the most reliable navigation program and one of the best iPhone apps for road trips available in the marketplace today.
This is why one should include anyone who plans to travel by car in their toolkit.
According to the findings of one survey, it is more popular than any other navigation app by a factor of six.
It can generate the very best directions, considering distance, road conditions, and traffic patterns, which are reasons it has such a large following.
This dominance may be due to its data’s comprehensiveness and attention to detail.
You can choose from various routes, and Google Maps will accurately estimate the length of time it will take you to reach point A to point B.
In addition, you can design multiple waypoints along your journey, such as a stop for coffee in the middle of the morning or a highly-rated hotel for the night.
16. Waze
According to the same survey that identified Google Maps as the most popular navigation app, that same survey identified Waze as the most popular navigation app in second place.
Using the app, you can navigate new towns and streets unfamiliar to you like a seasoned local.
It provides real-time updates that assist you in avoiding things like traffic jams and construction, among other things.
It may be more proactive than Google Maps in changing up a route when problems develop, and because of this, users of Waze should be prepared for their drive to be windier.
Because nobody wants to waste hours stuck in traffic rather than going to new places, the fact that Waze compiles information from other motorists to improve the overall quality of the driving experience is a tremendous boon.
The application may be downloaded for free on both iOS and Android.