5 Smartphone Apps To Keep You Safe When Traveling Abroad

You have an international trip coming up, and you're excited and maybe a little nervous, which is understandable. After all, you get to immerse yourself in unfamiliar sites and experience a new culture. Traveling to a new country can be a daunting experience. However, smartphones have made it easier, given that you can book last-minute air tickets to different cities after you've reached your primary destination, look up the best local spots to eat, walk to nearby attractions, and even learn the local language through apps like Duolingo and Babbel.

That said, despite how well you may have planned out your travel, things can still go wrong. Fortunately, though, there are a number of apps that are designed to keep you safe while you're traveling abroad. SlashGear has listed some of these apps below, based on user reviews and first-hand experience. You'll also find a detailed methodology that explains how these apps were evaluated and selected toward the end of this list.

Although people usually download and use VPNs on their phones to access geo-restricted content, the fact is that VPNs offer so much more than just a workaround to stream your favorite movies and TV shows. In fact, a reliable VPN service like NordVPN (Android|iOS) can help protect your online activity and private information by routing your data through a remote server, reducing the chances of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. Additionally, NordVPN has a strict no-log policy — this means your private information is not collected or stored on NordVPN's servers.

What makes NordVPN an especially good choice for travelers is that it offers some of the best connection speeds while you're abroad. It also gives you access to over 6,000 remote servers across 61 countries. Moreover, when you sign up for NordVPN, you get to take advantage of other protection tools like NordPass (a password manager) and NordLocker (a file encryption tool).

Currently, NordVPN's annual plan costs $58.88 for the first year. If you'd rather go with the monthly plan, you would have to shell out $12.99 a month.When free VPN services are common, paying for one may seem like a bad move. That said, NordVPN offers reliable protection, making the subscription worth the cost.

If you're traveling abroad, make sure to check what the preferred mode of communication is in the country you're visiting. In many parts of the world, messaging apps like WhatsApp Messenger (Android|iOS) are used because they're free and have robust security and encryption features.

In fact, WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption policy ensures that every message you send remains between you and the receiver — no one else, including WhatsApp, has or will have access to it. Additionally, WhatsApp supports a number of other features, like voice calls and video calls, that let you stay connected with your friends and family members.

The messaging app also has a pretty user-friendly interface. To get started, all you need to do is download and launch the app, register using your contact number, and complete the registration process by entering a verification code. You can then set up your profile and start chatting with your contacts.

The downside of using an online messaging app like WhatsApp is that you can only operate it if you're connected to the internet. If you're visiting a place that doesn't have access to cellular internet or Wi-Fi, make sure you've made other arrangements to get in touch with your family and friends back home if you need to.

Built by the U.S. State Department, the Smart Traveler app (Android|iOS) is a helpful travel app for Americans, especially for people traveling to unsafe regions. The app displays travel alerts, travel warnings, U.S. embassy locations, and more, making it an important resource for staying up-to-date on the potential safety concerns in the places you're visiting.

The app is available for free to both Android and iOS users. To use it, download the app, launch it, and select the country you're visiting. You'll then be able to view the related travel advisories.

Apart from advisories, the Smart Traveler app allows you to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). By doing so, you'll receive continuous notifications about the safety conditions in the country you're traveling to. While this app is undoubtedly useful, the only key downside at present is that it may not be compatible with phones running Android 14. However, future updates should resolve this issue.

You can't overstate the importance of staying safe while overseas, and fortunately, the Life360 app (Android|iOS) prioritizes your safety through its international location tracking feature. The best part about this app is that it works in 195 countries so that you can share your international whereabouts with your friends and family members from most places. Apart from the location-tracking feature, Life360 members who are subscribed to the free plan can use the battery monitoring service, share their location ETA, and more.

If you subscribe to Life360's Platinum plan, which is available for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, you get to access advanced tools, like individual driving reports (this feature tells your family and friends which route you took and how fast you drove, among other things). While the paid version of the app is helpful, most travelers will find that the free plan provides ample security features, especially when used with the other travel-based apps mentioned in this list.

A sudden, severe weather event can affect even the most well-laid-out plans, so it helps to keep track of the latest forecast through a weather app like AccuWeather (Android|iOS). The app uses 170+ forecast models to provide detailed day-wise weather forecasts, which include minimum and maximum temperatures, so you're able to plan your activities. More importantly, the AccuWeather app offers alerts regarding weather watches and warnings with links to access more information.

If you're subscribed to the Premium+ plan, you'll be able to access better and more advanced weather alerts and notifications. While the free version of the app will serve you just fine if you're within the U.S., you may want to consider upgrading to the paid plan to access comprehensive weather alerts when you're traveling.

You can sign up for the Premium+ subscription for free for seven days. After this, though, you'll need to pay $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year to access the features that come with the Premium+ plan.

The apps listed above were chosen primarily based on user ratings and reviews on the Google Play Store and App Store and deemed some of the most useful apps to keep you safe while traveling abroad. These apps have an average rating of four out of five and above. Plus, they continue to receive positive reviews, which indicates their usefulness. Additionally, these apps were also downloaded and tested personally to ensure they offered what was claimed.