It’s no secret, i love having an iPhone, it’s probably been the single best technology purchase i’ve made … and there have been a few.
It’s the applications that make your life easier that appeal to me and catching public transport as often as i do this one does just that, the Tokyo Metro iPhone application.
At the moment you can pick it up for a special price of $0.79 instead of the usual $4.99 … in the Japanese store it’s 115 yen, cheaper than the cheapest fare on the rail network.
The route planner doesn’t require a network connection so it works perfectly in the subway.
You can enter an address in Tokyo and get the closest stations to display.
It comes in English, Japanese, French, Spanish and German …. now that’s handy.
Most people have heard of Hyperdia and that still has it’s merits but i think for the small outlay this application is a must for anyone living or visiting Tokyo.
Via Nihon-Suki
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Unfortunately, I don’t use Tokyo Metro in daily life, still waiting for similar app for JR/Keikyu/Tokyu lines
It’s a bit of a nuisance there’s more than one provider here …. can never quite get everything covered to suit everyone.
You can use the Yahoo appli Y路線 for all lines. It will even tell you the schedule of trains so you know what time you are going to arrive and how much time you have in between changes. Its all in Japanese, but the stations are fairly easy to learn. One way to look at it is you get a train schedule/planner and Japanese language learner in one. Also its FREE.
Shibuya246, what is the exact name of the iPhone application you’re referring to?
Here’s the link to the app Shibuya246 mentioned … http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=288091005&mt=8
Free and learning are both good!
I’ve been looking for something like this, cheers
Looks handy! I wonder if I will get an iphone in the future… If they weren’t so expensive…
I highly recommend it, it’s a very handy device.
This app is a nice approach, but limited. Most JR-East, Tokyu etc. lines for greater Tokyo area are missing. The localization is rather poor. The map is cool but unhandy to use in daily life. I hope they improve this app a bit more.
The application has been getting horrible reviews in the App Store. Average of 1.5 stars.
I used it yesterday and found it OK, it did the job i wanted …. nothing more and nothing less. Some features like the static map are redundant though. Route planning is what i wanted.
“It comes in English, Japanese, French, Spanish and German …. now that’s handy.”
I must be blind… but where do I change the language option?
Maybe it’s based on the default language of the phone?! I had a look and couldn’t find where to change either …. i just got that info from the app store.
It would be a lot more useful with the rest of the lines added. It might almost tempt me to get an iphone.
Regarding the cost of an iphone, Softbank are doing a pretty good deal. Alan’s got the details : http://lemon.soju.co.uk/2009/03/02/ihaveonetoonow/
In Japan the cost of the phone is definitely a bargain ….. and yeh, the other lines would be nice but i get Tokyo Metro aren’t the provider so they say screw them.
it’s because of apps like this that the iphone/ipod touch is such a must have item.
Correct ….. useful utilities to help in day to day life and the learning apps make it a great device to own.
Looks pretty cool will probably need this when i visit Japan
currently have an itouch but may get an iphone when my phone contract ends
I just use the Air Sharing app and keep PDF files from the Tokyo Metro and JR East websites. They have English and Japanese versions available Then I always have them, even when I am in a tiny little izakaya in the basement of a building and can’t get a signal. My wife can’t call me
and I can still view the maps anytime. Great for iPod Touch owners too!
It’s handy having the pdf’s on the iPhone … i have a few too.
And i’m just the man to do it ….
this app is not really so great at route planning
as a test I asked it how to get from here in akasaka (mistuke) to ebisu. first, it considers akasaka mitsuke and nagatacho to be just a single station. true, they are connected via tunnel, but it’s about 700 meters and a lot of escalators to get from one to the other. still, the app had me walking to nagatacho then taking the hanzomon line to shibuya, then transfering to the jr yamanote sen.
cheaper, faster, and much easier would be to take the marunouchi line from akasaka mitsuke to kasumigaseki, then the hibiya line to ebisu, but none of the settings could get this result.
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