Apps for the Student Abroad

TravelSafe Pro:

Common emergency numbers are often overlooked during a vacation, but can prove crucial in times of an emergency. This app from BoaLogik keeps the emergency numbers for your destination country, as well as the contact information for your embassy. All of this information is available without an Internet connect.

$1.49 on Android

WhatsApp:

WhatsApp is the popular, cross-platform app for messaging over WiFi, practically eliminating the need for a texting plan while overseas. The app offers features not seen on traditional messaging, like sharing your Google Maps location, attaching media, emoji and visual customizing. WhatsApp is also particularly good at group messaging, making it a great choice for a group of friends abroad.

$0.99/year on iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Phone

Viber:

Making calls back home can eat away at funds, but there are VoIP options available that can save you money. Viber is one app that lets you make calls to other Viber users from your phone through a WiFi network. The app was made for smartphones, integrating well with both iOS and Android devices, and it has also expanded to desktop applications, giving you even more options for communicating.

Free on Desktop, Windows 8, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Phone, Bada

Word Lens:

Word Lens is a translation app from Quest Visual that utilizes augmented reality. Using the phone’s camera, the app can analyze the text of a foreign language and replace it with the translated words. This is done without an Internet connection, with Word Lens interpreting the frames of video in real time to calculate a translation. With Google’s recent acquisition of Word Lens, the app and language features are free for a limited time.

Free on iOS, Android, Glass

Postagram:

Sincerely’s mobile app gives users the ability to create custom paper postcards using photos taken on their smartphone. People can snap a photo, write a message, and send a real physical greeting anywhere in the world. It costs 99 cents to ship in the United States, $1.99 to ship worldwide and Postagram is starting to offer free postcards paid for by advertisements.

Free on iOS, Android