APPS TO WATCH
Waze: If you live in a large Asian city, you are no stranger to sitting in heavy traffic, especially during rush hour, regretting the route you took. Waze is an app that strives to solve this very problem: it creates an alternate route that is less congested and will get you to your final destination as quickly as possible. After the user has typed in a specific address, the app works by collecting traffic and other road data, ultimately sharing this information with users to show them less crowded, more efficient routes to take.
Spending Tracker: When it comes to keeping track of money, managing expenses and income can be a tricky business. Luckily, there are financial trackers such as Spending Tracker which are designed to help you categorise unnecessary splurges, everyday necessities and more. By paying US$3, or about 100 baht (the app also has a “lite” version), users can manage multiple bank accounts simultaneously. They can also export their expenses at the end of the month into an easy-to-navigate financial report. Gone are the days of worrying where your money disappears every month — apps like Spending Tracker will help you make smarter life decisions.
FoodPanda: We’ve all gone through days when the idea of spending two hours cooking a meal at home sounds positively dreary. Apps like FoodPanda help relieve that drudgery. FoodPanda is an online takeaway food service with delivery options serving 450 cities across three continents. The Berlin-based company connects restaurants to customers by providing app users with a wide variety of foods to choose from. Users can pay for their food digitally or with cash at their door.
Grab: Life can be a lot easier if you don’t have to wait on the road in the sweltering heat, trying to hire a taxi or motorbike. Malaysia-headquartered Grab offers taxi, car and bike services. The Grab app is used in six countries in Asia including Thailand, and allows users to hire a ride at almost any location. Through the app, users can track where they are, get around the city quickly, and make quick and secure payments with cash or digitally. There are features to ensure security, including a “Share your Ride” tool, which allows users to share their ride information with friends and family.
AccuWeather: The weather is always a very unpredictable thing. Luckily, there are many apps like AccuWeather that predict weather patterns, temperature and give users a general sense of what their day will be like, without any nasty surprises. AccuWeather provides weather conditions in different parts of the region, with detailed maps and multiple-day forecasts.
The Fifth Collection: Gone are the days of going to a clothing store and sifting through racks trying to find the perfect outfit. As the world goes digital, clothing stores and brands are moving online too. The Fifth Collection is an online, vintage clothing store that was founded in 2014. Users can browse collections of clothing, shoes, bags, accessories and more, all filtered by price, size, condition, colour and designer. Finding the perfect outfit just got a whole lot easier.