Seoul Subway Map iPhone App Review

iPhone App Review – iKorway Subway Map App

iPhoneinKorea.com Rating = Excellent

Price = $2.99 USD

iKorway is a feature-rich and intuitive subway map application for the city of Seoul (I tried some others which didn’t really have any functions beyond just a photo of the Seoul subway map). If you live in Seoul, you need this app. If you are just visiting, you need this app. This applies to both English and Korean speakers.

The first thing that you’ll struggle with upon arrival is the transportation in this city. You’ll get by if you’re patient, but it will get frustrating at times. Fortunately, most strangers you approach for help in Korea will gladly help.

However, iKorway will take all the guesswork out of your commute if you use the subway system in Seoul. You’d be foolish not to. For a dollar, you can go just about anywhere. The subway system in Korea is expansive enough where it will take you within walking distance of just about anything you want to see within the city. iKorway will help you take advantage of the clean, fast, and cheap subways in Seoul.

Key Features of iKorway

-offline database app – meaning you don’t need an internet connection to use it. It is completely independent of the internet with the exception of a software update periodically

-works with both iPhone and iPod Touch

-currently supports Korean and English…. Japanese and Chinese are coming soon

-intuitive interface – easy to navigate between route searches and station particulars, takes full advantage of touch screen – flick around the map to pin point your destination, pinch to expand or shrink the map, and touch on locations on map to select or get more info

-shows entire time schedule of each station (including bus transfer information) plus other info like bathroom location and platform location

-shows next train departure, travel time, number of transfers, train fare, and distance in kilometers – all automatically

Here’s a screen shot of the “route” function of the app. Notice all the route details shown at the top (which updates automatically if you miss the departure time to the next departure time). The two icons at the bottom (the first icon “Itaewon” being the departure station and the second icon “Ichon” being the destination station) are actually reversible by clicking the “Reverse” button at the bottom of the screen or actually putting your finger on one of the icons and moving it manually using the touch screen.

Screen-shot of the train station times. Shows first and last departures and arrivals in addition to next train departure and arrival, bus transfer info, and exit info.

Information about each station such as platform location, lavatory (bathroom – particularly useful if you really need to go to the bathroom bad, even more useful if you need to go #2), exit door location.

All train departure and arrival times.

Map of the surrounding area of the subway stop including location of exits of the station.

Tags: Apps, iKorway, iPod Touch Apps, Seoul Subway Map

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 11:55 am and is filed under Apps, Korea. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.