One of the most innovative mobile phone applications launched in 2016 is an impressive travel app from leather goods designer Louis Vuitton. In fact, Apple has voted it one of its “Best of 2016” mobile apps. Baroque Access finds out all the details
Every year, Apple recognizes apps from around the world, including games and tools, shopping apps and mobile wallets, and everything in between. These include mentions of many famous brands, such as Nike, Pokemon, Vogue, FIFA and others.
One of the apps Apple voted as best of the past year (and the year before that!) is Louis Vuitton’s City Guide app, a mobile adaptation of its printed travel city guides, which it has published annually since 1998. Since 2015, Louis Vuitton has offered information on different cities around the world in both mobile app or print form.
The Louis Vuitton City Guides are already renowned for being meticulously put together, offering all the information one needs when visiting a new city, and including sections on gourmet restaurants, luxury accommodation, fine food stores, day and night markets, and must-see sightseeing attractions, both well-known ones and those off the beaten path.
Since the beginning of 2015, Louis Vuitton has also offered this comprehensive information on 25 international cities such as Paris, Milan, New York, Venice, Shanghai and Cape Town on mobile app as well as in print. These apps, which are available for both iPhone and iPad, are regularly updated to keep visitors in the loop about what is new and trending in each international city. And, just like it did in 2015, the app has won another accolade from Apple as one of its best mobile applications of the year for 2016. The revised app also added four cities to the list, bringing it up to 29; the new cities are Lisbon, Taipei, Amsterdam and San Francisco.
Much like the City Guide books produced by Louis Vuitton, these apps offer an excellent insight into each city, capturing its spirit through exquisite photographs and written descriptions. Every possible aspect of the city is covered, from art and culture, to tradition, as well as new and innovative aspects. The apps are also interactive, intuitive and extremely user friendly to ensure that travelers can glean as much, or as little, information about the city as they wish, in every area that interests them.
What set this mobile app apart from so many others? According to Apple, special features such as geo-location enable users to find addresses quickly and easily. There are also filters for target search results, and users can also send digital postcards from the app, share addresses by email, SMS, and use social media.
While the app itself is free and comes with a free Paris City Guide, there is a small fee of $9.99 for each additional city. Innovative sections include ‘Good Things’, which lists organic markets and gourmet deli’s, and ‘Interior Cachet’, that covers art galleries and quirky antique shops not usually found on anybody’s list unless you live in the city.
’24 Hour’ experiences offer a full day’s itinerary in the city, and there are also sections written by guest celebs or famous local residents offering an insight into their personal list of what to see in their home town, including self-guided walking tours.