fatalacorn

Okay, well i did a search on the marketplace last night for an app called AroundMe. It was an app i had when i was an iPhone user (yes i know.. sorry.. i've found the light though!) and it was the only app i truly missed.. the other apps i used frequently.. was already in the Android market (Flixster, Shazam, and a couple others)

Anyways, if you dont have this app already, DOWNLOAD it!

Basically what it does is, you can search by category.. for banks, gas stations, restaurants, recreation, etc.. and it will give you a list of all the closest places.. i.e. all the gas stations in a 5 mile radius.

OR

you can do a search.. say you were looking for a specific business.. for example.. Tire Kingdom, it would find the closest Tire Kingdom.. give you the option to show a map of the location via Google Maps, provide directions to the location, and a phone number for the business.. which you can just press and start dialing.


its a great tool, especially if you travel a lot, or if you just dont know your way around all that well.. i know most people use an app called "Where" .. but this one is far above and beyond that imo.

mpapazog

Nice tip. I just tried it out, but find that google places works a little better for me.

AZDroid

Thanks, I will check it out, Where is just OK, I usually use Places Directory by Google which is great.

fatalacorn

yeah i just tried Places Directory from Google, and they seem very similar, pretty much to the same thing. I was unaware of this app, but I will be sticking with AroundMe just because of my familiarity with the app from my iPhone days, its brighter and more user friendly imo... but that could be because i used it for so long previously

Places Directory is a great app as well.

KRCarlson

/agree

Places Directory Owns

BiGMERF

i had this on my iphone as well.. ill give it a peek

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RadYOacTiVe

Just DL'd places directory. Will give it a try.

alagala

On Android, there is an app AroundMe that behaves differently than its iPhone counterpart.

However, AroundMe for Android perfectly complements Google Places, showing visual, audio and descriptive information of what's around you.
For more details:
AroundMe for Android

AroundMe has also been briefly reviewed by the Flickr staff on their blog (since it makes use of the Flickr API):
Going mobile Flickr Blog

This app allows you to discover amazing places round the world via Flickr, YouTube, Wikipedia and more.

Designed for Google Android-powered devices, it is aimed at travelers and photo-enthusiasts alike.

Among other things, AroundMe displays the most interesting Flickr, Panoramio and YouTube photos and videos of places nearby your current location (or in any other locations you point your finger to!), giving you the walking or driving directions to reach each place.

AroundMe can be downloaded from the Android Market, in the Applications > Travel category.

shrink57

Nice app but seems to have issues draining battery as it continues to run in the background. I find "Where" and "Places" provide the same info.

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Currently hooked on GB (rooted, overclocked and deoxed). Tomorrow, who knows

alagala

Hi, Thanks for trying the AroundMe app!

I would like to correct a couple of points.

AroundMe does not drain the battery running in the background. When it is in the background, it stops reading from the GPS your current position and performing any other operations. So it just sits quietly until it is brought back to foreground for use.

The information is also substantially different from Places and Where. Let's take Places, for example. It does not display any YouTube videos or Wikipedia landmarks.

Generally speaking, the focus of AroundMe is different from Places (and Where), and it is complementary.

The concept is that people can enjoy exploring the world (not only around them, but also any other geographical locations they select) by "viewing" it through the eye and interesting audio/visual material of fellow travelers and photographers.

The integration to Wikipedia also helps to display points of interest that are worth visiting, due to their historical or cultural relevance.

Let's say that I find myself in a new city, Bangkok, and I would like to know what to see and where to go to spend a bit of my spare time. AroundMe could suggest me exactly this.

Or let's assume that I live in New York but I am traveling next week to Shanghai, in China. AroundMe can show me what's worth a visit in Shanghai. What can I see, with descriptive information. What other people before me have seen and have been fascinated with.

Therefore, as you see, the focus of AroundMe is very different from Places, because it presents wider information than the detailed listing of retailers, stores and businesses in my immediate vicinity.

-Andrea

Last edited by alagala; February 13th, 2010 at 06:29 PM. Reason: wrong spelling