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App is used generically to refer to lightweight, web-based applications tailored to a device's (such as a mobile phone, TV set or tablet PC) form factor and input-output interfaces (key pad, touch pad, remote control etc). On to the technical side. APP is an abbreviation for application.
The CivicApps For Greater Portland Web site aims to encourage every citizen to be an active participant by putting the data in their hands. The CivicApps site was developed to source, profile, and accelerate innovative ideas using Web and mobile technologies. The aim is social change. The path is regional collaboration. The focus is local.
Transit Apps: Getting Around the Metro Area
There is a list of transit apps at the TriMet Web site and below are the best of the bunch.
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PDX Bus PDX Bus is brilliant and the only transit app you'll need to get around on public transportation in Portland. It displays MAX stops, bus stops, WES stops, and streetcars. Every TriMet bus stop and rail station as its own unique Stop ID number. Enter the Stop ID number and get the arrivals for that stop. Cost: It's free for the iPhone.
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Dadnab Dadnab uses as old-fashioned text message − just text your location and destination to 503-406-8622 (this is for Portland and other cities have different telephone numbers) to give it a try. Cost: The cost of a telephone call and text message from your carrier.
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Portland Transit Trip planner for Android. It allows you to look up arrival times for any stop that TriMet reports. This includes all MAX stops, bus stops, and WES stops (unfortunately Streetcar times are not currently available). Cost: $2.29 for Android.
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Pdxtrian Location and arrival app and it's a free Android app.
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ArrivalTracker Shows TriMet bus and train arrival predictions. Cost: Free for the iPhone.
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Transitly Unlike mapping and trip planning applications, Transitly for the iPhone does not offer maps, step by step instructions, or routing information. The logic is that most ride the same one or two buses or trains everyday and don't need all these features. All they need to know is: "When is my next bus?" Transitly for the Android provides you with personal mass transit timetables on your Android device. No cost as web base app − just insert transitly.com into your browser and select your city.
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Transit Surfer Cell phone web browser interface for accessing real time arrival information for TriMet and Streetcar routes. It's named 'Surfer' for those of us who 'surf' the transit system, making real time judgments about what route or vehicle will get us to our destination most quickly. As such it's designed to put comparative information on the screen and let you quickly access related information. You can find Transit Surfer at http://tsrf.us.
Portland Tours Apps
GPSmyCity.com offers some of the most interesting self-guided city walks and walking tours in Portland. The Portland city walk apps on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad turns a traveler into his own tour guide. Each walking tour offers accurate turn-by-turn directions to famous attractions, monuments and interesting sights as well as hidden gems; as if you had brought along a local guide.
Neighborhoods
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Portland City Walks and Walking Tours Self-guided walking with no audio narration. Tour includes following: Religious buildings (9 sights), museums tour (9 sights), family entertainment (6 sights), famous breweries (7 sights). galleries walk, nightlife entertainment (6 sights). Cost: $4.99 for Apple devices.
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Alberta Neighborhood Tour Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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East Bank Tour Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Sights include the Museum of Science and Industry. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Hawthorne and Belmont Tour Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Mississippi Neighborhood Tour Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Pearl District Walking Guide Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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The West Hills of Portland Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Sight s included: Oregon Zoo, Portland Children's Museum, World Forestry Center, Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Hoyt Arboretum, Portland Rose Gardens, and Pittock Mansion. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
Other
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Galleries and Museums Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Sights included: 3D Center of Art & Photography, Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, Oregon Historical Society, and Portland Art Museum. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Landmarks of Portland Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Sights include Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden, Benson Hotel, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Arlene Schitzer Concert Hall, Portlandia sculpture, Waterfront Park, and Portland Spirit. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Portland Art Museum The application includes 12 short videos featuring curators, educators, and others discussing works of art on view in the Museum's permanent collection. The app also includes a map so visitors can easily locate the featured works of art and general Museum information. Free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
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Public Art PDX Showcases the rich and diverse collection of Public Art on display in and around Portland, Oregon, USA. The map view shows the location of more than 400 works of art in the metro area, from historic statues and fountains to photography, architectural integrations and murals created this year. High-quality images, details about the work, descriptions and artists’ statements are all just a tap away. Free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
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Quirky Portland Walking Guide Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Shopping in Portland Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
Entertainment, Eating and Drinking Apps
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Microbrewery Tour Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Nightlife in Portland Self-guided walking tour with audio narration. Cost: $2.99 for Apple devices.
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Portland Cocktail Compass You need a drink in Portland... STAT! So let the Portland Mercury's Cocktail Compass find the happiest happy hours near you. Tap the app and in mere moments you'll have the nearest happy hour at your fingertips, along with its location, distance, and how long you'll have before happy hour is over. Free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Traffic
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Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Traffic Oregon traffic information including: live images from ODOT traffic cams, Portland area traffic (how fast roads are moving, road density, road occupancy, and estimated delay times), road weather details (temperature, wind speeds, wind direction), traffic alerts (road closures and road delays of greater than 20 minutes). TripCheck has a Web site formatted specifically for mobile devices such as cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). A user may access this web site by using the http://m.tripcheck.com URL or by using http://www.tripcheck.com/mobile. Either address will identify the user as being a mobile customer and automatically bring up the TripCheck Mobile Web site formatted for these devices.
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Portland Traffic Get the latest traffic for the Metro Portland/Vancouver area on the new Portland Traffic mobile app from KGW-TV. The Portland Traffic app includes: Traffic speed maps, real-time crash reports, 61 ODOT traffic cameras covering all six major metro highways, where to find the cheapest gas. Free for iPhone, Droid and Blackberry.
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Parkmobile Starting in August 2011, Pearl District drivers will test technology that allows people to pay for street parking with a cell phone. No more walking to the meter in the middle of the block. No more fishing out coins or a credit card while juggling a toddler and an umbrella. And no more messy window stickers. Instead, a few taps on a cell phone will authorize a credit card payment of the meter rate − plus a 35-cent fee. Free for iPhone, Droid and Blackberry.
Hiking, Biking, Running
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Forest Park Lincoln High School senior Dylan Gattey worked with The Forest Park Conservancy and Portland Parks and Recreation to develop the iPhone application that provides maps of the park and its more than 80 miles of trails for hiking, biking, walking and running. $3.99 for the iPhone.
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Walk There Ten treks from the popular Walk There! guidebook jump from their pages and onto your iPhone screen. Metro and Kaiser Permanente teamed up to bring you the Walk There! app. Free for iPhone.
Other Apps
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Citizen Reports Citizen Reports will let any iPhone user file reports to the City of Portland. Using their iPhone, citizens can select the type of issue to report, take a photo, geo-locate the issue via GPS or map, add comments, and send their report directly to the appropriate bureau for resolution. Once submitted, citizens will receive updates directly to their iPhone regarding the status of their issue(s). Also available is PDX Reporter for Android. Free for the iPhone and Android.
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DMV Test Prep for Oregon Prepare for the Oregon DMV driver test using our acclaimed Test Prep series of driver's license practice tests. DMV Test Prep has over 150 essential Road Rule questions and over 120 Road Sign questions to help you get ready for the live exam. $2.99 for the iPhone and other Apple devices.
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Multnomah County Library The free app allows library users to search the catalog, place and cancel holds, renew items and check accounts. Chat with or text librarians, download audio books and music, and locate the nearest library. The app can be found on the library web site, or by searching for "multcolib" or "multnomah" in the iPhone App Store and Android Market.
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Oregon Exposure "The torch is passing. The path blazed by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Eliot Porter, Galen Rowell and others is being followed by an ever-growing number of new-breed photographers" --Outdoor Photographer Magazine, referring to Sean Bagshaw and others featured in its 2008 Landscape Annual. $.99 for the iPhone and other Apple devices.
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Oregon Public Broadcasting Listen to a live stream from OPB Radio, replay the latest local news from OPB Morning Edition, and subscribe to OPB’s podcasts. Plus, read the latest local headlines from OPB News, learn what’s coming up on OPB Radio, and set your alarm to wake you with OPB Radio. Free for the iPhone and other Apple devices.
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The Oregon Trail (audio book) As a young college student, Francis Parkman, lived the Oregon Trail, slept it, ate it, marveled at it, and wrote an excellent memoir that leaves one with the feel of sand in the boots and the smell of buffalo roasting on the fire. $.99 for the iPhone and other Apple devices.
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Portland Weather Get the latest weather forecast, live radars and weather alerts on the go with the new Portland Weather mobile app from KGW. The Portland Weather app includes: Forecast personalized to your location anywhere in Oregon, live Doppler radars, a dozen live weather cams from across Oregon, weather alerts from the National Weather Service, weather closures for schools and businesses, ski report, pass conditions and mountain cameras. Forecasts: 7-day forecasts, regional forecasts for the metro, Willamette Valley, Oregon Coast, the Gorge and Cascades, Free for iPhone, Droid and Blackberry.
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Oregon Coast Today Your Oregon Coast vacation application: event calendars, live music listing, tide tables and traffic updates, plus deals on hotels and restaurants, from Yachats north to Manzanita. Get all the utility and attitude of the coast’s favorite entertainment weekly, the Oregon Coast Today, without all that pesky paper. Free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
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poZone will allow you to explore the elevations of Portland. You will note that within a mile of downtown heading west you are up to 500 feet.
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The Best of The Apps
Public Transit
PDX Bus will get you there and back with ease whether you use the bus, light rail, or the streetcar. Free for iPhone.
Android users may want to consider Portland Transit.
Walking Tours
Portland City Walks and Walking Tours Self-guided walking with no audio narration. Tour includes following: Religious buildings (9 sights), museums tour (9 sights), family entertainment (6 sights), famous breweries (7 sights). galleries walk, nightlife entertainment (6 sights). Cost: $4.99 for Apple devices.
Public Art Portland
Public Art PDX showcases the rich and diverse collection of Public Art on display in and around Portland, Oregon, USA. The map view shows the location of more than 400 works of art in the metro area, from historic statues and fountains to photography, architectural integrations and murals created this year. High-quality images, details about the work,
Citizen Reports
Citizen Reports will let any iPhone user file reports to the City of Portland. Using their iPhone, citizens can select the type of issue to report, take a photo, geo-locate the issue via GPS or map, add comments, and send their report directly to the appropriate bureau for resolution. Once submitted, citizens will receive updates directly to their iPhone regarding the status of their issue(s). Also available is PDX Reporter for Android.
Oregon Photos
Oregon Exposure "The torch is passing. The path blazed by Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Eliot Porter, Galen Rowell and others is being followed by an ever-growing number of new-breed photographers" --Outdoor Photographer Magazine, referring to Sean Bagshaw and others featured in its 2008 Landscape Annual. $.99 for the iPhone and other Apple devices.
Ten treks from the popular Walk There! guidebook jump from their pages and onto your iPhone screen. Metro and Kaiser Permanente teamed up to bring you the Walk There! app.
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