1. Philly 311

This app is your direct connection to city hall.

• It offers great features like reporting local maladies in your neighborhood so the city can address them immediately.
• The app is new and hasn’t received great attention, so it needs feedback from citizens to really make it efficient.
• You can report graffiti, litter, pot holes and more just with a quick pic and caption — the app links directly to city officials who can take care of the problem in a timely matter

2. SEPTA App

This might be the most important app to have if you commute with SEPTA, especially considering the potential for suspended service.

• The app offers RealTime views of trolley and bus locations via GPS, so you know when you’re just about catch – or miss – your bus.
• You can catch updated schedules and find when your train is scheduled to arrive next.
• The app offers updates to service suspensions, detours and any other bumps in the road, like service closure.
• All of this is in real time, so it’s no hassle to get an accurate update of detours or locations.

3. Philadelphia Parking Finder

Reality: parking is anywhere from expensive to impossible.

• This app actually pinpoints the costs of parking in various parts of the city
• It tells you where you really have no chance… in case you didn’t know that parking in front of a hospital ER entrance is an issue.
• Take note, tourists: South Philly and North Philly are, not surprisingly, filled with FREE parking opportunities. But, beware the pain of walking almost a mile just to get to your car.

4. Fox 29!

How could we write a list and leave this one out?

• Get your news up-to-date before the other stations.
• Weather updates at your fingertips to make your commute as smooth as possible.
• The app is free on iTunes and compatible with iPad and iPhone with iOS 6 or newer.
• Gives a clean view of everything we have to offer on our website, optimized for your mobile device
• Stay in the loop! Don’t lose track of what’s happening around you when you can have the Philadelphia and surrounding area news at your fingertips
  

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5. AroundMe

So, this isn’t just for Philly but golly if you just moved to this city you might find it helpful.

• Much like TomTom, this app allows you to look for restaurants, gas stations or hotels in whichever city you end up in. Moving to Philly can be overwhelming when tourist-filled hot spots just barely collide with not-so-desirable terrirory. Definitely download this one.
• No english, no problems. This app is available in German, Spanish, English, French, Japanese and Chinese.
• Available for iPad, Android and Windows Phone.

6. Free Wi-Fi Finder

Another not-just-philly app… but who doesn’t love free?

• This app requires 3G or wifi, but actually locates nearby free wifi spots for you to mooch off of instead of wasting precious monthly data.
• Bookmark your fav. locations so you don’t forget their passwords when you return
• The app lists more than 145,000 FREE locations worldwide.