Time Out London released for iPhone

Fellow Londoners, it's been a good week for us! First, The Guardian unveiled their iPhone app [£2.39, iTunes link], now Time Out London has finally released their free iPhone app – and it is amazing.

This app is worth it for the map feature alone. How it works is a Google Map is displayed with a selection of five buttons: Cinemas; Gigs; Restaurants; Bars, Pubs, and Clubs; and All Arts and Entertainment. Select one button or a combination of the five and watch pins drop on the map that highlight not just the venue, but the event occurring at the venue. A pin will not drop unless there is something going on at the venue.

So the next time you're walking through London, you don't have to look up what's going on where on one site then open your Maps at to see where it is; just open the Time Out London app and see current events displayed in your location.

And that's just one of the great features of this app. There are many more like 'Top 10' lists based on category, search functionality, bookmarking of favorites, and a nifty 'Inspire Me' function that lets you shake to see randomly selected events you may be interested in. Other features include:

The only thing I don't like about the app is how heavily it's marketed by Smirnoff. But what you trade for in a logo, you get in a great, free app that is intuitive and well designed. So go ahead and download this app [iTunes link], now, and you'll never be at a loss of what to do in the city again.

BTW: New Yorkers, there is a Time Out New York app for you guys [iTunes link]. The two apps are quite different and appear to be made by two separate companies, according to the iTunes Store. I'll look into why that is, but perhaps it is up to each regional Time Out to make their own app.