Do you have a great idea for a travel app and feel absolutely thrilled about it? That’s wonderful! We are not here to spoil your excitement, but to provide you with some guidelines along the tricky path of app development. We do not know what the main feature or specialty of your app is, but we do know what users expect to see in a travel app and what will make your app even better. Here are some of the features that proved to be essential and valued by users: Creating Trip Itineraries Planning a trip is usually quite stressful especially if it involves multiple stops or a whole bunch of places to visit. And when the plan is generated automatically by the app, the user is relieved of most of the responsibilities. You get a plan and you follow it. Easy peasy. Well, it’s easy for the user, but is it easy for the developer to implement this feature in the app? One way to do that is to use an API that collects information from a variety of sources to create an itinerary. For example, AwardWallet has an Email Parsing API that knows how to extract information from users’ emails and turn it into usable data. So all the details the user gets from an airplane ticket will be built into the itinerary. Moreover, if the flight is canceled or delayed, the API will also get that information using external sources. Typically the user itineraries look like this: Built-in Maps It’s hard to imagine a traveler not using a map in a new city. So, instead of switching between different apps in search of the most accurate and detailed map, it’s better to have a reliable map inside your travel app. And we cannot overstate too much the importance of maps being accurate and reliable because a map that will lead you in the wrong direction is worse than no map at all. Also, it goes without saying that such a feature requires the use of geolocation. The best map API is provided by Google Maps, but there are others worth trying, such as OpenStreetMap API. Reviews and ratings Only the bravest people book a hotel or a restaurant without reading the reviews first. We might not completely trust them, but they are good enough to get a general impression. And it’s even better when we can see the pictures. So, it makes an app really attractive when it gives its users access to reviews and ratings. It will help in making the right decisions or figuring out what’s best for them. One of the best APIs to offer that feature is TripAdvisor’s Content API. In-app Translator Traveling comes along with the necessity to communicate with people who speak languages different from the ones you are familiar with. Although English has become quite universal, you can’t expect everybody to speak it, especially if you find yourself in smaller towns or remote villages. That’s why enabling your app to understand different languages (both written and spoken) might give it a head start. SYSTRAN Translate API can help you with this particular feature.
