These five mobile applications can help enhance and simplify your Israel experience:
If you prefer a video, you can check out Revital's Video and channel here:
How we wish there was a StudyinginIsrael.info app that we could start off the list with, perhaps, in good time. B'ezrat HaShem.
Here are some apps that you should download for easier accessibility across the country:
1. MOOVIT- PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Israel is a small country and is very easily motorable. In fact, you may be able to scale its length from the north to south in about eight hours of driving time. Making an intercity commute is a daily affair for many. For that people have the option of traveling by Busses, Rapid Metro, trains, trams and other co-operative transport mechanisms like shared bicycles, car sharing etc. Now, being in this country, you will be tempted to (and must) travel around and will want to know the fastest, cheapest and convenient options- with the MOOVIT App you have that on your finger tips.
MOOVIT is a real time journey planner. It is GPS enabled and helps you search for the best routes, plan trips across transportation modes and even pay for tickets. It helps you locate the nearest station, tells you how to get there, has live updates on the movements of the bus and estimates your time journey. It’s pretty the most basic app to have on your phone when moving around Israel.
Students are entitled to discounts on intercity bus travel which you can easily benefit from if you make a students profile and purchase your tickets through the MOOVIT App
In the absence of this app, you can also use:
www.rail.co.il for Train Information Services:
www.bus.co.il for Busses Information Services
2. GETT- TAXI SERVICES
So Uber operated in Israel for a number of months in 2017 before a Tel Aviv court handed down an order to stop, and wasn’t allowed to ply for about five years in Israel and is set to relaunch their operations in the country. It is possible to get a taxi on the road, but then you’re going to have to haggle and settle on an amount or hope that the driver goes by the meter and you have an easy ride. Currently Gett dominates as the main app based taxi hailing service in Israel with operations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Eilat.
You can book and pay for your rides on this app and it provides a host of features to ensure convenience and safety of your trip. Fares are calculated by the meter and charged directly to your registered card. You can also pay in cash.
3. GOOGLE TRANSLATE/ GOOGLE LENS - TRANSLATION
It is absolutely important to have a translation app on your phone during your time in Israel. You may come across many people who do not speak English or any language that you speak. However, Hebrew speakers can read Hebrew. Google translate helps with converting from your language (the list of languages it can work with is wow!) to Hebrew. It has the speaking function as well where you speak into it and it converts.
You can also use Google Lens to read posters, menus, headings, signboards, etc throught the camera and it will translate it for you.
4. WOLT- FOOD DELIVERY
Are we in in that post capitalist world where home delivery of food is considered part of the basic survival pack in a location? I am afraid, we have been for some time now.
Wolt is the app for home delivering food. It runs on the basi principle that you have a registered card on the account and you order food via the app and have it delivered to your address. It has additional services for delivery of groceries or to explore restaurants in your neighborhood. Once you start using the app, you will know better about the in app purchases, benefits, costs and offers. But, it is not available in all cities and is more prominent in central Israel.
5. WAZE- NAVIGATION
Waze, pronounced like 'ways' is Israel's indigenous navigation app which provides real time travel assistance including turn to turn navigation, route options and traffic updates. It also provides you with accident reports on your route and police activity. It's information is crowdsourced and therefor can alert the driver of road closures, speed traps and provides an ETA of your trip.