Whether you’re crossing the border or staying closer to home, these eight summer apps for the iPhone will make your vacation cooler, safer and more fun.
Must-have summer apps for your iPhone
1. HolidayBieb
The VakantieBieb opens its digital doors every summer. Until August 31, 2020 you can read e-books for free, even if you don’t have a subscription with the library. For the first time this year you can also listen to e-books: ideal for when you prefer not to read, but do like to listen.
The Holiday Library’s range of books is divided into titles for adults and young people, about 25 copies for both groups. All genres are covered, from thrillers to chick lit and novels to non-fiction. After you’ve downloaded the app, all you need to do is sign in to start reading (or listening).
2. KWF Sun Advice
In the past decade, the number of people with skin cancer has more than doubled. In the Netherlands, skin cancer is even the most common form of the disease. To help protect you against this misery, the KWF has developed an app in collaboration with Buienradar, among others: Zonadvies.
KWF Zonadvies gives you personal advice to protect your skin against the harmful influence of the sun. The app takes into account three factors: your skin type, the current sun strength and your location. The app then provides tailor-made advice to reduce the risk of skin cancer.
3. Tikkie
You can also enjoy a great holiday in your own country, for example by regularly going out on a terrace with friends. You can of course split the bill with friends with Tikkie, the extremely popular payment app from ABN Amro.
After someone has paid the bill, he/she simply shares a payment request via Tikkie, after which the other table guests repay their part of the bill with iDeal. Thanks to Tikkie Check, which was recently introduced, you can now pay completely contactless in the catering industry. You no longer have to wait for the receipt.
4. Bathing water
During the heat, nothing is more refreshing than a cool, cold dip in the water. The Netherlands is a water country, so there are plenty of lakes and places to refresh yourself, but not all waters are equally safe. With Swimming Water you can quickly and easily check whether the water in your area is clean.
The app, which was developed by Rijkswaterstaat, provides information about all official outdoor swimming spots in our country. Not only do you see when the last check has taken place, Swimming Water also shows which facilities are available, such as toilets. The app will work until October of this year.
5. Duolingo
Do you think it’s too hot to throw yourself into a big pill while relaxing, but do you want to spend your time along the waterside useful? Then try Duolingo, a beautiful and accessible app for learning new languages.
Duolingo mainly excels in simplicity. The app links pictures to sounds so that you gradually learn to master Spanish, French or, for example, Cantonese. Duolingo is a so-called freemium-app: to unlock all functions you have to pull the wallet.
6. Google Maps
You probably already use Google Maps to get from A to B, but the navigation app is more than that. Google’s map service is also an ideal local guide. Maps knows better than anyone which attractions, sights and recreational opportunities are in your area.
In addition, the app immediately tells you how busy it is there at the moment. This way you can consider whether it is wise to look for the crowds. Google Maps is of course basically a navigation app, so with a few taps you can navigate directly to your destination. All in all, Maps is one of the most versatile summer apps.
7. Pack point
Many people like going on a trip, but not preparing. Packpoint is an ideal packing app that compiles a personal packing list based on your trip. The app takes into account your travel duration, destination, planned activities and the weather there.
This makes Packpoint useful both in the Netherlands and across the border. In the app itself you can keep track of which things you have already packed. It is also possible to share your packing list with fellow travelers, so that one person takes the tent, for example, and the other takes care of the cooking utensils.
8. Travel app
More and more countries are opening their borders to tourism, but the coronavirus is still among us. As a result, the situation can change quickly. The best way to stay informed about local travel advice abroad is the Travel App of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This should therefore not be missing in this summer apps overview.
The Travel App indicates, among other things, which (corona) measures currently apply locally, whether it is wise to travel to the country and which regions it is better to avoid completely. All contact details of Dutch embassies are also included in Reisapp, so that you can always fall back on the government.
More summer tips
What a heat, huh? These days are not only hard on your body temperature: your iPhone can also suffer from the heat. Therefore, read the article below to prevent an overheated iPhone. Your Apple smartphone is not built for these temperatures and if it regularly gets too hot, you can run into problems.