From Lonely Planet iPhone edition (Marrakesh)

My italian friends will forgive this post in english. I bought, downloaded and used for a week the Marrakesh Lonely Planet Guide for iPhone (on iTunes here). The experience has been positive, although many points are a critical factor to evaluate carefully before deciding whether it’s worth the 12,99€. Also what it’s NOT there has a key role for me, see below in the “LACKS” section. If you want to have yourself a hands-on experience before spending the 12,99€ try and by the San Francisco edition in promotion for just 0,99€: you will have an idea of what to expect. I try to sum up quickly the up & downsides.

From Lonely Planet iPhone edition (Marrakesh)

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LIKE

– No weight, no space, all info with you.

– You won’t look as a tourist (probably you will look as a geek, though)

– You will hardly get lost with GPS Geomapping (it doesn’t work as smooth as google maps on iPhone but it tells you where you are)

– You can find in a second the info on the place in front of you (wheteher you know what it is or not, through the SEARCH function or with GPS Nearby function or via FAVOURITES)

– Easy to use. Filtering options for the map, smooth UI, readable graphics make it dummy-proof

– Read, call, send an email to book a place: all functions united give a flowing experience.

From Lonely Planet iPhone edition (Marrakesh)

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LOOK!

– You will need to access the web: verify the country’s roaming costs, functionality and in case the cost of a local SIM card before buying it. (Offline the guide is hardly worth the money)

– You need to bring your iPhone with you or you have no-guide (i always do when I travel, but for some or in certain areas it might become an issue)

– You can’t lend it to others, and its tough to watch together.

– If you buy the SF guide it’s better to buy the other ones from your iphone: they will cost 1USD less and will be packed in one LonelyPlanet button on your iphone desktop.

From Lonely Planet iPhone edition (Marrakesh)

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LACKS

– No open standards (ie Google Maps etc)

– No Multimedia features (pic albums, movies, AR…)

– No Social integration (ie: twitter, facebook but also other readers suggestions)

– It’s hardly worth if you are not able to connect to the Internet where you go (and in some countries this can be an issue)

– A bit heavy to “boot” (start).

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All the LP guides for iPhone (iTunes link)