Thanks to the rise in popularity of mobile devices, the phrase “there’s an app for that” has crept into everyday conversation. We spend more time than ever connected to online services and our mobile phones and tablets act as the portals to this world.
From social media and everyday communication to shopping and entertainment, we now rely on applications to handle many of our activities. The beauty of this is that app developers can now make geo-specific apps targeted at users in a certain location. So if you live in New York or London, you can download dozens of apps to help you access products and services to plan and organise your city life. But what about residents on the Isle of Wight? What apps are there available to those who live, work on or visit the island?
Retail apps
The Price Is Wight app keeps you up to date with the latest deals as well as the best events, attractions, food, drink and local business services on the Isle of Wight. It includes money-saving deals for restaurants, classes, spas, salons, shops and more – all updated daily.
Travel apps
The Wightlink app is the official app for the Isle of Wight ferry company of the same name. It gives you real-time access to your bookings and season tickets and also puts the ferry timetable in the palm of your hand. You can also check-in using the bar code provided and keep updated on the status and location of each ferry including the £30m Victoria of Wight vessel.
Entertainment apps
There are a huge number of entertainment apps available online – whatever your location. Whether you want to play bingo online at a top bookmaker such as Paddy Power or play your favourite social game, there is – indeed – an app for that. But when it comes to entertainment on the Island, the Isle of Wight Festival is number one.
The festival famous the world over after being launched as a counterculture event in 1968. Back then, it featured the likes of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and John Lennon. The event was stopped in 1971 before being revived in 2002.
The official Isle of Wight Festival app is now available for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play. It is the perfect way to plan your weekend with all performances listed and the ability to create your own personal schedule that can be shared with fellow festival-goers. There is also a site map to help you get around.
Other Isle of Wight apps
Two Isle of Wight GPs have been using a pioneering new app, known as Dermicus, to analyse skin problems and provide a helpful diagnosis. The app speeds up the time a patient can be referred to a specialist. It also streamlines services at the practice, giving doctors and nurse more time to attend to patients. The surgeries at Argyll House, in Ryde, and St Helens Medical Centre, are already using the app which takes high-quality images to analyse skin abnormalities.
These are just a few apps that you can download today to keep your finger on the pulse of the Isle of Wight community.
