The Best Apps You Should Download Before Visiting Dubai

As the Dubai Mall is the biggest mall in the world, with 1,200 retail outlets, it’s not surprising that this venue needs its own GPS. The Dubai Mall app is free and helps people explore all that the mall has to offer, catering to each individual’s taste and interests. In the app, people can choose if they want notifications about attractions, fashion, food or lifestyle, and can also put in their gender, allowing the smart software to provide information tailor made for them. The Dubai Mall app also provides a directory and directions for the mall, making itself immensely helpful to visitors.

To find out all the hottest restaurants, hotels and attractions in Dubai — or anywhere else in the world — the Culture Trip app is everyone’s best friend. It provides users with useful articles based on their exact location, down to the area of town they are in. Other than finding out what’s new and trendy, Culture Trip offers articles on the history of attractions around Dubai, allowing visitors to save money on tour guides. It’s a great idea to download the app and bookmark interesting articles to read on the airplane. Arrive in Dubai super informed with articles such as, “13 Things Tourists Should Never Do in the UAE, Ever” and “Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Emirati Clothing“.

Move over Uber, Dubai has it’s very own carpooling app called Careem. This Dubai-based company can also be found in several other countries in the Middle East, and it’s a great way of supporting a local business when visiting Dubai. Like other carpooling apps, people can use the Careem app to book rides and get picked up and dropped off wherever they want. Careem’s drivers are known as Captains, adding an element of fun to the dailly commute.

For those who prefer getting around via public transport, the Dubai Metro2 app is the ideal way to stay informed and on time for the next train. This app provides information on times, stations, and more. The Dubai Metro2 app is not only useful but also very informative, as it gives users a brief history of the Dubai Metro, as well as a list of fines that users could be at risk of when using public transport. As fines vary from $28 to $545, it’s crucial to be well informed!

All foodies visiting Dubai need to download Talabat. This food delivery app can be found in several countries in the Middle East, and it’s a way for tourists to support a local business even when ordering their food. The app offers hundreds of restaurant, cafe and fast food choices to order from, and operates 24/7, allowing you to fulfill your late night cravings. The Talabat app also provides offers and coupons when ordering from several food outlets.

Another great food delivery app in the UAE, as well as in 23 other countries, is Zomato. Although the selection of restaurants on the Zomato app might not be as large as that on Talabat, it offers an additional service that it crucial for tourists: Zomato provides restaurant reviews. The Zomato app covers almost every single restaurant in Dubai, no matter how small, allowing users to check out the menu, look at pictures and see reviews. This is a must-download app!

Fitness is a major part of many people’s lives, and many don’t want to slow down their workout routine while on holidays. GuavaPass is the ideal app to download when in Dubai. The fitness app allows people to buy a membership and offers several packages that will suit both residents and tourists, giving them access to over 80 fitness studios in Dubai alone. The GuavaPass app also provides members with studios in Abu Dhabi and eight cities in South-east Asia. The platform offers everything from yoga, CrossFit, and boxing to stand-up paddle. Users can choose a fitness routine that best suits them, to keep up with their favorite exercise when traveling to Dubai.

For the latest updates on events around the city, Dubai Calendar is everyone’s best friend. This app is the best way to keep up with everything that is going on in the city, including concerts, sporting events and cultural happenings. The Dubai Calendar app provides users with recommendations, and separates events into categories, allowing people to filter events by interest. Another practical feature of Dubai Calendar is that people can buy tickets straight from the app, aggregating everything one needs to be informed and attend events into one place.