Settling into a remote and digital nomad lifestyle is something that many of us would like to pursue, especially with the current circumstances of the world today. As digital nomads who have settled into a fully remote working lifestyle, we want to give you an overview of the best apps for digital nomads to work and travel better. These digital nomad apps are exactly the ones we use when we actively travel and work on the go. At the same time, we also use these digital nomad apps on a regular basis when we’re at our “home base.”
Even if travel hasn’t fully resumed, it’s not a bad idea to be ready when the time comes. These digital nomad apps can especially make you aware of the issues you might run into as a nomad and how to fight them. Without further ado, here are some of the best digital nomad apps to work and travel better.
Digital Nomad Apps to Work Better On the Go
Duet - For an instant 2nd screen
If you travel with a tablet and wish you had a second screen, this one is for you.
Duet lets you transform an iPad or an Android tablet into a second monitor, latency free and with the same native retina resolution of the device.
This is one of those apps for digital nomads that will make you reconsider owning a tablet. Even though we use our iPad for many things such as offline Netflix, mobile photo editing or music apps, it has made working so much easier for us with a second screen.
TripMode - For when you have a limited mobile data allowance
Some countries come with free wifi and unlimited data plans. Some just don’t. For the latter, TripMode allows you to monitor how much data you tether from your phone to your laptop when your allowance is limited. Yes, you can now prevent that unwanted iCloud sync to use all of your gigabytes, truly the best of the apps for digital nomads who have limited data allowance.
Speedify - For when internet sucks
While it’s also a VPN, Speedify is already worth purchasing for its channel bonding technology: it will merge two connections into a steady, reliable one. You won’t drop off in the middle of a call or an important file transfer if one of your connections fail. This digital nomad app lets you combine two or more connections such as wifi and tethered phone, two wifi hotspots and a wired connections or even two phones with different carriers for extreme remote settings.
Time Buddy - To setup online meeting and convert time zones
Quickly converting timezones is a skill you learn over time. Before you master this, Time Buddy is an app that makes life easier when it comes to visualize time zones and schedule meetings with different people across the globe. It’s available on both Apple and Android.
Workfrom - When in need of work friendly cafés
While we mostly work from home or an apartment rental, we occasionally find ourselves at cafés for an hour or two with our laptops.
In order to find these places, an app like Workfrom can be really useful, given that it’s being used in your area. It’s one of the best apps for digital nomads when looking for a good place to work in.
Some metropolitan areas have an abundance of cafés where it’s ok to bring your laptop (Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei, Paris or Seoul for instance). In other places, it might be more complicated to find a hidden gem and an app like Workfrom could come in handy and make your life easier.
PLANNING TO WORK IN A CAFE?
• DISCOVER THE BEST ITEMS TO WORK BETTER ON THE GO •
The Must-Have Travel Apps for Digital Nomads
Google Maps
If we could only have 3 apps for digital nomads on our phone, Google Maps would certainly be one of them. While you may already know it as a GPS app, it’s a goldmine of information to discover new places such as parks, restaurants, sights, parking and more! It really makes life easier!
We use it based on user ratings to find new spots when we can’t ask locals directly. The two best features: we can save offline maps and create our own maps and lists to share with others.
It is also a safety app as you are less likely to get scammed or harassed by showing that you know where you are going, be it on the street or in a cab.
XE Currency
Travelling often means having to deal with different currencies. One of the best apps for digital nomads to know that the airport conversion rate sucks is by having a conversion app such as XE Currency. You can instantly view up to 5 currencies for free. It’s a quick and easy way to have an idea of the relative value of goods and services in a new country.
Uber / Grab - Transportation on demand
When public transport is unreliable, non-existent or not convenient, transportation apps for digital nomads are the way to go. They have certain advantages compared to regular cabs, especially when travelling or living somewhere new.
- Communication: The app does the translation for you, there is no need to worry about communicating with the driver and struggle with the destination or the payment. It doesn’t mean that you can’t be friendly and maybe leave a tip. A smile, a “hello” and “thank you” goes a long way!
- Safety: Payment is usually handled by credit card or app balance and the amount is known in advance. The GPS shows you exactly where you go, which you can cross check with another navigation app if you want. The mutual rating system also lessens the risk of incidents. In short, you are more likely to have a pleasant ride.
- Cost and features: Ride hailing apps are often (but not always) cheaper and more flexible than traditional cabs. They sometimes offer different options of vehicles according to your needs or even shared rides. Typically, you’ll need a car from the airport but a motorbike taxi (where available) will be enough to get around afterwards, given that you are a solo traveler. These apps also have additional features such as re-routing or adding multiple stops.
Depending on the country you are in, these transportation apps will be different. In Europe and the US, it would be Uber, while South East Asia is mostly using Grab, (or Go-Jek). Some countries don’t allow ride hailing apps at all, other than the official registered taxis. Of course, countries with a developed public transport system rely way less on ride hailing apps.
Other Useful Apps for Digital Nomads
Alfred Camera - Never too careful
Alfred Camera is a free surveillance camera app. We originally used it to monitor cats while we were away, but realized it could be helpful to keep an apartment rental or a hotel room safe. You simply need a spare phone plugged and connected to wifi to act as a free home security camera. One of those apps for digital nomads that you didn’t know you needed for that added security!
Tripcoin / Splitwise - Tracking expenses made easy
By living somewhere new, you want to make sure you don’t live beyond your means. It also makes it quite interesting to see in which place you spent the most and why.
Tripcoin lets you track expenses by category and you can set a currency depending on the “trip” sheet you create. Its geo-location feature helps you break down the cost of every country you were in.
If you travel with friends or your partner, we would suggest using Splitwise instead, which is what we have been using for the last 2 years. It functions similarly as Tripcoin but works better for bigger groups.
Conclusion: Best Apps for Digital Nomads
So there you have it! Our favorite apps for digital nomads, which are simply apps that make your life easier when you combine work and travel.
We hope they made you realize of certain issues that could arise before you embark on the nomadic journey, or maybe simply found new app additions to your existing lifestyle.
If you know of any other digital nomad apps that can help you work and travel better which we haven’t mentioned in this guide, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
This is super useful – so many apps that I did not even know of. I like the sound of Tripmode. That is something that most of us really need. And Duet as a second screen can even be useful when you are working from home. Alfred Camera – that seems like a complete safety booster. Am gonna try some of these out.
We are so glad this is useful to you! We don’t know about India, but we once rented an apartment without broadband in the Philippines. Since we relied on mobile data even at home, it was a must to not burn our data package within days!
I only use UBER and Google Maps on this list. I have used XE currency in the past but for the last 18 months, havent even touched a currency app as I am stuck on my island of the UK. Havent heard of the other apps so going to look into them, they sound like they can be pretty useful once travel resumes.
Thanks, Danik! We hope you’ll find a few of them useful when the time comes. While the travel apps can’t be used right now, the productivity apps are worth a shot, as many of us can work from home nowadays.
This was SO helpful, I had no idea these apps existed! Especially Duet, I’m going to use that nonstop now for my tablet. Definitely keeping this list!
Amazing, Chloe! It looks like you found a new purpose for your tablet that was laying around. You can really set up a mobile office anywhere with that 🙂
Duet and Workfrom seem very useful to me. This is actually a very effective list for digital nomads. I already use Uber for booking taxis and sometimes bikes in some countries, and also always Splitwise when traveling with friends as it helps me manage the accounts for all of us.
I’m not a digital nomad, and I guess that’s why I haven’t heard most of these apps. But I’m sure they are really useful. Your post made me smile a bit as you mentioned about Go-Jek. I’m originally from Indonesia so I heard a lot about it. Save a lot of lives.
This is such a great list!! I had no idea that there was something like Duet – so convenient! I would use that even at home. TripMode would also be useful. I tend to have my phone in airplane mode and only turn it on when I’m around wifi. Love this list!
Some of these apps I’ve been using for a long time, but with some of them I’m not acquainted at all. Like for instance Duet. I had no idea you can use an app for an instant second screen, so I’m glad I found out about it. Tripcoin I’ve heard about, but to be honest, I don’t really like to keep track of my expense when I travel. I breaks all the fun, doesn’t it?
This is such a useful list!! I haven’t used a lot of these apps to be frank and had not even heard of Workfrom – it sounds really cool and helpful even for consultants. I can totally vouch for Speedify, I used it during my trip in NZ (where network was pretty patchy in a lot of areas) and it was a life saver!
We are so glad you found Speedify so useful on your trip! So far we’ve only used it at home to merge different cell carriers but can’t wait to test it on the go. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Wow thank you for this list. It is very useful especially now that I am looking for being a digital nomad. I already use some of the apps like currency exchanger, google maps and now I will download some of the other apps straight away and see how they work.
You should add https://www.punta.app/ to the list of top apps for digital nomads! It’s a great app to meet digital nomads that overlap with your travel plans before arriving.