Six travel apps you've got to try at least once

Nara (nara.me) strives to know your tastes better than you do. The free app lets you rate North American and European hotels and restaurants, then prepares a personal profile of other establishments you may enjoy. But after scrolling through more than 50 hometown eateries, giving them thumbs-up and thumbs-down ratings along the way, Nara thinks I only like Italian food (not true). Hotel choices are also hit and miss. In London – a city I know well – results indicate that I “like luxury hotels and independent properties,” without considering my top priority: location. It’s a good alternative to Yelp and TripAdvisor, but you have to invest a lot of time to fine-tune the recommendations and get the most out of it.

The National Gallery of Canada’s mobile app (gallery.ca/mobileapp) gives art lovers an in-depth tutorial on 52 pieces from its Canadian collection. For novices such as myself, perusing the pictorial gallery is an excellent way to delve deeper into the history of the work and lives of artists such as John Boyle, Alex Colville, Paul Kane and Michael Snow (a short but informative bio comes with each piece). I’m drawn to the “details” tab that lets you zoom in on specific areas of a painting or sculpture, to learn more about the artist’s inspiration, techniques and the materials that were used. Take headphones to the gallery and you can listen to video interviews that are more interesting than an audio guide. The app can be used in French or English, comes with a glossary of art-related terms and a floor plan of the gallery.

Planning an African safari, but don’t know where or when to go? Consult the map on HerdTracker (discoverafrica.com/herdtracker), a new web app that follows the annual wildebeest migration between Tanzania and Kenya. Route markers include pop-up blurbs from safari guides, park rangers and lodge managers who give real-time accounts of what they’ve seen and where, and predict where the herds are moving. While Captain Joel, a pilot with Coastal Aviation, gives useful play-by-play (one update reveals that the migration has split into two major herds), stating directions in nautical miles and GPS co-ordinates won’t be of use until you’re in the bush.

Of the many apps that offer insider tips on places to eat, drink and have fun, Locish.com is one of the most user-friendly. Instead of asking users to scroll through countless crowd-sourced reviews, it hooks you up with recommendations of like-minded locals. The first time I use it, I am given a quick lifestyle quiz and asked for my age and gender. Then I choose from an album of hip hotels and contemporary dining rooms, indicating which are the most appealing. From there, suggestions are given by other users who share my tastes. I like that I’m given tailor-made recommendations; not all of them are bang-on – I’d never, for example, go to Applebees for guacamole – but there is plenty of choice. Also, you can scroll through other people’s Q&As for answers to such questions as “Where can I find the best vegan baked goods on the Lower East Side?” and “Are there any decent second-hand clothing stores in SoHo?” The app is still improving, which means that so-called loconauts have not been found in every city.

Duolingo.com is a free app and website, and among the most effective language-learning methods I’ve tried, because the lessons come in the form of brief challenges – speaking, translating, answering multiple-choice questions – that keep me coming back. When you answer incorrectly, you lose a red heart. Lose too many hearts and, like a video game, your lesson will end and you’ll have to start again. Available courses include Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese. Created by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, pictured above, Duolingo was named by Apple as iPhone App of the Year 2013, and by Google as Best of the Best for Android. Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times News Service