We at Roverly believe that smartphones can enrich your travel experience, rather than detract you from your surroundings. Once you’ve found the perfect phone or tablet for travel, and once you’ve chosen what type of service you would like, here are a few tips for getting the most out of your phone or tablet while traveling.
- Return to to Step 1: Find a mobile / cell phone or smartphone that’s best for traveling
- Return to Step 2: Compare cellular and data service providers
Wi-Fi Internet vs. data service
Depending on the Internet coverage of the places you are visiting, it is possible that your hotel, a local bar or cafe, an Internet cafe, or another venue will have wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) available, either for free or at a much cheaper cost than data service can compete with.
These are the places you should use data-hungry services such as using your Internet browser, uploading larger pictures to social media pages, downloading maps, and searching for new apps. You can also cache or save web pages that have more images or are larger pages to download, and then open them later when you need the information.
Save your data service for data-light communication activities, such as sending and receiving email from your email server, sending low-resolution images, and use offline applications and maps.
Battery life
Did you spend your battery looking at pictures on the bus, and now don’t know which way to go from the bus station to your hotel? There are some basic tips for reducing the battery consumption of your smartphone, mobile phone, or tablet. There are also many devices that can be used to charge your phone or tablet on-the-go, such as car chargers, solar-powered chargers, and USB chargers.
- Read our article on optimizing the battery life of your iPhone
- Read our article on optimizing the batterly life of your Android smartphone
Cache web pages
You can visit web pages from your phone or tablet’s web browser, and cache them to view them later when you are offline. These can be done by opening various pages in various tabs, by opening pages in the same window and then shuffling forward and backwards across pages, or by opening pages in various web browsers on your phone or tablet. It should be noted, however, that not all smartphone and tablet operating systems are created equal in this respect.
“Offline” apps
There are many applications available for download onto your smartphone or tablet that can be useful while “offline”. At Roverly, we are constantly on the look out for travel-supportive applications to review, and we are currently compiling a list of helpful applications. In the meantime it’s a good idea to find offline translators, offline maps, offline city guides, offline note apps, offline e-books, offline bookmarking tools, offline news, offline currency converters, offline public transit maps, and many more to come!
Don’t forget that offline apps still use your battery life though.