Whitefish travel app launched
A new travel app for smartphone users
was officially released last week by the Whitefish Convention and
Visitor Bureau. The free app, available for Motorola Droid
smartphones, was designed by Old Town Creative in Whitefish. The
iPhone app will be available this winter.
Old Town Creative owner John Frandsen
explains that the app has been developed over the past six months
with the Whitefish visitor in mind. Based on his travels, he
deciphered what visitors might be looking for when they are in a
new city.
With the touch of a finger, users of
the Whitefish app can find out more about local restaurants, parks,
trails, shopping and basic needs such as the location of public
restrooms.
The functions of the app are divided
into three areas.
“Show me” lets users narrow down their
search to a certain category, such as restaurants or parks. A
scrolling list appears that users can sort through.
“Near me” lets users then find out more
about a certain search result. Photos, in-depth information, and
any deals at a business will be posted.
Frandsen says that a big advantage to
this app over other travel apps — like Google Places or Yelp — is
that the information can be customized instantly by more than 130
WCVB member businesses. A restaurant, Frandsen said, could add a
daily special or update their entertainment information in real
time. Only WCVB partners are featured on the app.
“Businesses can have an impact on
visitors on a minute-by-minute basis,” Frandsen said.
The final area of the app lets users
“map it.” The smartphone’s cellular and global positioning signals
tell a user where they are and where the desired location is. A
blip on the map will track a user’s movement while they walk across
town.
Another advantage to the Whitefish app
is that it can be used offline without a cellular signal or hot
spot. Users who leave town and visit Glacier Park could pull up the
app and read more about Whitefish from their campsite, Frandsen
explained.
Unlike Yelp or Google Places, users
can’t comment or rate the featured places on the Whitefish app. The
WCVB is unsure how to handle the possibility of negative comments,
so they have decided to leave that function out, but the capability
is there, Frandsen said.
Whitefish is currently the only city in
Montana with a travel app.
“This is a little cutting edge for
Montana,” Frandsen said.
However, he noted, tech savvy visitors
from Seattle or Portland, Ore., would expect to have this service
available.
The next generation of the app could
feature a search bar to type in specific inquiries, such as
“coffee” or “bicycles.” Further out, Frandsen says augmented
reality could be the next big thing for the Whitefish travel
app.
A user could take a photo of a
restaurant or park and the app would give you detailed information
about the place.
To download the app, go online to
or visit the Android market.