Apps for Expats Living in Turkey
Such is the advance of technology, no matter what your device is, millions of apps for expats living in Turkey make life easier. Although the transition to moving here may seem stressful, there is an app for everything and anything that will help expats settle in with ease.
Whether you use Apple or Android or are a hard-core fan of desktop apps, technology helps us to learn languages, stay informed, manage finances, keep in touch, get organised and even start dating. So, with the extensive choice out there, which is the best to use?
Apps for Expats Living in Turkey
1: Go Local
We recommend you go local first, especially if you live in the big cities like Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir. Local apps give a wealth of useful information in real time data like planned events, traffic jams, transport schedules, opening times of businesses and guides for visiting local attractions and landmarks.
Expats who are newcomers or travelling around Turkey may also find the CityMap2Go app extremely helpful. Available for iPhone or iPad, access the maps offline, see recommended restaurants, bars and attractions and read the latest travel blogs and article for any given destination.
2: Learning Turkish and Translation
In many of the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, English is widely spoken. However, life in Turkey is easier, if expats know a few Turkish words and the basic terminology for day-to-day living and conversations.
This is where Hands on Turkish App delivers by not only helping expats to speak Turkish but also read and write it. Funded by the EU, they tailored the beginner’s self-study course to anyone living or travelling in Turkey as well as doing business.
For instant translation though, the Google Translate App is the most widely used, even by the Turks. With written, camera or conversation modes, use while you are on the go, trying to converse with a local or just researching ingredients in the supermarket.
3: Managing Personal Finances
One of the most difficult lifestyle changes for expats is handling finances in two different countries and currencies. The XE Currency app showing real-time live data of currency exchange rates is one of the most widely used with more than 55 million downloads. It is an excellent tool for using on the go, but to keep a snapshot of your overall finances, we like Moneyspire.
Their personal finance software is sadly, not available for Android, but Apple and desktop users manage their finances in one place because it supports more than 30 different currencies. Track your income and expenses in Turkish lira, British pounds, Euros or Dollars, set reminders for bills, and see an overall net worth of accounts and debts in both your home country and Turkey.
4: Staying Informed
While some of us prefer to live in ignorant bliss others like to stay informed of news and events. Expats living in Turkey can read the English version of websites such as Daily Sabah and Hurriyet, but the Flipboard app delivers any given news topic from a variety of various sources.
Curating news and information from around the internet on broad issues such as Turkey, or Istanbul, users discard headlines that don’t interest them or tap the flip button, to move the article into their personalised reading list.
It covers every country in the world, so expats can keep up to date with news about Turkey and their home country, or even pursue less timely topics such as learning, urban trends, travel, hobbies, cooking and photography.
5: Making Friends and Dating
InterNations is the largest expat organisation in the world covering many countries including Turkey, and they aim to help expats settle into their new home, make new friends and stay informed of local events.
They are active in big cities and destinations such as Istanbul, Ankara and Bodrum, and as well as focusing on social developments, they cover jobs, business and professional contacts for the working expat.
To start dating in Turkey, Tinder is a location-based dating service that allows both parties to chat and eventually meet up, if both express an interest by simply swiping to the right!
6: Staying Organised
Working expats or those who are involved with local events and charities sometimes find their days need to be planned and organised in which case, ToDoist is a task manager that shows your daily, weekly and monthly schedules at a glance and also helps you to arrange a productive day.
It is basic, but for more bells and whistle, Wunderlist accommodates both professional and personal lifestyles. Set reminders, write your shopping lists, keep tracks of bill due dates or allocate household cleaning duties to the family are just a few examples of how it is used by many expats around the world.
7: Keep in Touch with Family and Friends
Lastly, Technology geeks realise our number one aim is to keep in touch with family and friends, and in the past, this would incur costly telephone bills, these days we do it for free with the Skype and Facebook Video Calls. Millions of people use both all over the world and are great for oral communication, but sometimes, we just want to send a quick message in which case, Whats App, Messenger and Viber steps up to the mark. Both parties need to install the apps, but the best part of keeping in touch is that it is free! Out of all the apps for expats living in Turkey, these are probably the most widely used.
Istanbul
