Top 3 Apps For City Living

Two years ago when I moved to the city I had no idea what I was doing. No clue how to take public transportation, how to find the best restaurants, how to know what areas to avoid at night and so on. I knew nothing about Chicago and definitely would not have survived without my phone.

I mean really, how did people use to get around without google maps or keep a long distance relationship without FaceTime. Blows my mind.

Thankfully we’re fortunate enough these days to have phones that pin point exactly where we are standing on a map and tell us the best place to grab thai food in our neighborhood. I guess you could say these little machines are our biggest lifesaver these days and we would probably all be lost without them. I mean who knows what random train I would be on right now trying to get home.

I’m sharing my top 3 apps that helped me survive my first few years in Chicago!

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Top 3 Apps for City Living

Watch Over Me

Living in a new city by yourself as a young woman can be a scary thing at times. Granted I will say I have never felt in danger, but it’s always nice to know if I was that there is a way to safety. Watch Over Me is a personal safety app dedicated to helping women live and commute safely in the city by alerting their loved ones if ever attacked or assaulted. The app keeps track of where the user is at over a specified time frame, alerting emergency contacts if the user does not check in when time is up. How freaking cool is that? Also with the new feature, Safer Streets (only available in Chicago for now, but coming to more cities in the US soon), you’ll get alerts if you enter streets that have recently seen a
spike in criminal activity. So when I’m walking home by myself at night I know which routes to avoid. Plus, this avoids your mom having to call you 10 times during your walk home to make sure you made it safely;) watchovermeapp.com

OpenTable

As I’m sure you know from my instagram, I’m a big fan of trying new places to eat in the city but when I typically pack more things in my day then hours I’m not so big on wasting time waiting for a table. That’s where OpenTable has become my lifesaver. You can make free, instantly confirmed restaurant reservations at almost every restaurant in the city. Plus, if you’re going to be somewhere you’re not familiar with you can search restaurants that are near by and view their menu before even booking. So basically you show up with no wait and ready to order, pretty amazing! www.opentable.com/start/home

Uber

Cue the ultimate lazy day, dirt poor intern lifesaver, Uber. No joke, this app may be the best thing that happened to the city. Uber is basically like having a personal chauffeur. You simply open the app to request a ride and get picked up within minutes from where you are. You can even track how far away the car is so you can finish getting ready or wait inside the building instead of standing in the snow waving your hands in the air. Plus, if you use UberX it’s usually much cheaper than a cab and you don’t have to have cash on hand since it’s hooked up to your credit card. You can get out of the car as soon as you arrive at your destination and will receive a receipt via e-mail shortly after. Like I said, total lifesaver. www.uber.com

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Watch Over Me App, all opinions are my own. Thanks for helping keep Sparkles & Sprinkles up and running:)