7 essential apps for international road warriors

Plug Finder isn't the most polished app, but it's ridiculously useful for finding a nearby outlet when you have a short layover.

Wi-Fi Finder

When you're traveling internationally, finding Wi-Fi becomes your top priority, especially if you don't have a phone or a SIM card from your host country. Opening up your Wi-Fi menu on your smartphone can be useful for finding networks, but it's not the best way, especially not if you're in South Korea, where I swear each fire hydrant has its own Wi-Fi network. If you just use the Wi-Fi menu, you may miss out on networks because your device will get overwhelmed with the sheer number of networks in the area. Or, you may not realize that if you take three steps to your left, there's a free, public Wi-Fi network just waiting to be discovered.

Wi-Fi Finder is a free Android and iOS app for finding Wi-Fi whether you're online or offline, and whether you can currently see the networks or not. Wi-Fi Finder has a scanner, which you can use to scan for networks that your device can actually see. The scanner delivers information about each network, such as its signal strength and how it's secured. The app also has a "Public Wi-Fi Near Me" option, which gives you a listing of public Wi-Fi hotspots in your area. This is where you'll find restaurants, cafes, libraries, and other establishments that offer public Wi-Fi either for free or for a fee.

I actually ended up using Wi-Fi Finder more often than I thought I would, because my typical strategy for finding Wi-Fi when I'm overseas is to hop into the nearest AppleApple Store. But guess what South Korea has no Apple Stores. Alles zu Apple auf CIO.de