Seeking recommendations for Tokyo-oriented iPhone apps
 

Any recommendations for Tokyo-oriented iPhone apps (free or pay) to help in getting around Tokyo, explore the neighborhoods and choose places to eat at?

It's actually intended for people who live in Tokyo, so I don't know how useful it would be for a visitor, but I've made a web app that uses the phone's GPS and Bento.com's database of 1500 restaurants to show you the nearest restaurants and/or bars/cafes to wherever you're standing. http://bit.ly/5jnFgD

I was browsing thru pages and pages of apple apps in the travel section and came across "trains.jp". It's Tokyo train route information (in English) covering over 1300 stations and 110 lines. There's "trains.jp" (orange colour) and "trains.jp NET" (red colour) Same developer but the orange trains.jp does not require an internet connection while the other version does. Both apps are free. Tokyo is huge and at some point you will need to take the metro.

I just checked out trains.jp for the first time, and I'd say you might be better off just pointing your iphone browser to the Jorudan route finder instead (http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/ ).

The very first route I tested (Sendagaya to Hamamatsucho) was a 26-minute, three-train journey with trains.jp, and a direct, 12-minute trip with Jorudan.

Looks like the first application finds routes from Sendagaya to Hamamatsucho while Jordan knows you can walk to Kokuritsu Kyougijo Mae and get the Oedo line to Daimon, which is right outside Hamamatsucho.

Not Tokyo specific, but Jorudan (mentioned above) does have an iPhone app: 乗換案内

Site is http://www.jorudan.co.jp/iphone/norikae/

Uses the internet and posts alerts for you just in case you want to take a different route or you're on your way to the station and you need to tell your boss you're gonna be late...:rolleyes:

Thanks for that apps info -very useful!

Couple of rather naive questions (sorry in advance!) :-

Will my UK iPhone receive/send calls and texts while in Japan ?

Will it connect to the internet via 3G ? (I'm assuming I'll have no issue connecting to a wifi connection subject to having access to any network).

Will the GPS work ? (I understand that most GPS-based apps use the internet for maps and information)



I'm off to Japan (for the first time) in late march / early april, and knowing how useful my phone will be is helpful!

With your UK sim card? If you upgraded to the official 3.1 firmware, all bets are off.

If you're still running 3.0 or earlier, or you jailbroke your phone, then that depends on what your carrier's roaming relationship is with NTT DoCoMo or Softbank, you'd best find out.

If you jailbroke your phone and it is effectively unlocked, you can use this thread: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=645157 (and this: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...el-asia-2.html)

Yes, but again via Softbank or NTT DoCoMo. The question is how much you want to pay. The going rate with a RENTAL SIM/PHONE is 128 bytes = 1 yen, so 8 yen for every KB and $80 for every MEGABYTE. The Softbank rental service counter will actively refuse anybody who wants to rent a sim card only and present an iPhone.

Yes -- you don't need the Internet for this. I'd strongly advise you to use a fake APN (mobile profile) to prevent you from sending any data, search for FakeAPN. You can still use WiFi using the profile, so get the maps, cache them, then you can walk around town with GPS.

This is why I usually skip those schedule apps altogether and use Navitime, Google or Yahoo Maps to find train schedules, as those apps are smart enough to look at your origin and destination address and take all the surrounding stations/lines into account.

Navitime is the best by a long shot, as it will calculate walking routes as well, even through large train stations.

Google works much of the time but also gives bad advice much of the time, as it draws a line from your location to the nearest station "as the crow flies" even if it is physically impossible to follow that line. If I try to use Google to get a route from my apartment, it will usually direct me to a station directly across a river, which is very close as the crow flies but actually twice as far (walking) as the next nearest station.

Yahoo is sort of in the middle and is probably the best free service, though I think their mobile interface is not as powerful as their web interface.

Thanks for the comprehensive info KPT :) My iPhone is only a month or so old, so I assume I'm on the latest fireware (I'll check later, my phone is currently off as I don't get reception in the office).

I was considering jailbreaking my phone anyway for other reasons, so this adds weight to the arguement to do so.

I was spanked to the tune of £120 for roaming internet on my old nokia when in the US (merely a few emails / webpages), so I'm very aware of the dangers of mobile internet abroad !!

I've no absolute need for mobile internet, or even having a phone while in Japan - I'll be on holiday, and I should (try to) detach from work for a few weeks. Besides, due to the time difference I don't want people calling me!

Why?

The 3.1 firmware updates your baseband chip which blocks the software unlock done via jailbreaking + redsn0w/ultrasn0w. However, it looks like blackra1n takes care of it, not sure. Not willing to try, either, since I've already got myself a custom 3.1.2.

I simply carry Kodansha's Tokyo City Atlas with me at all times. I don't know if there's a more recent edition than 2004 (Amazon doesn't list one), but it's great for finding your correct station, and the large maps of certain neighborhoods even show the numbers and letters of the station exits.

Even if that's true, I don't see the relevance to the question, which was:

You don't need to SIM unlock or jailbreak a UK iPhone to send or receive calls or texts while in Japan. You just take it to Japan and turn it on and it will work without having to do anything special (unless your UK carrier blocks roaming).