Apps Apps Apps! And I don’t mean the category of food that happens to be my favorite. I hope that you will find these Apps appetizing and that they will make your life in Athens easier.
Mobile phone applications are here to stay and a big part of many people’s daily routines. Some curmudgeonly damn them, while others may love them too much. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, you will surely find this list of ‘Apps to Use in Athens’ beneficial for your daily life.
Contents
1. Beat (formerly Taxibeat) 
Taxibeat is the bomb! Yes, I will continue to call it by the old name.
This App has been a blessing to the entire non-Greek speaking community in Athens. Actually, whatever language you speak, you love this one! Gone are the days of trying to describe where you are going and hurdle the language barrier that may exist when you get into a random taxi.
Do you need a taxi? Now you just have to open up this fancy App and it immediately locates where you are. You have the option of entering in your destination (no having to spell out the name of the street to the driver) and it will give you an estimated price and time to that location.
You can select drivers based on their current location and other filters, such as language and if they accept pets or not. You pick your driver and like magic, you can watch their tiny little car on the screen as it approaches you.
After your ride you can rate your driver and leave a comment. I think I can speak for many when I say that this little feature, makes a big difference. You feel as if you are more in control of the situation, whereas in the past with Athens taxi drivers, they were totally in the driver’s seat. (I make joke)
Another thing people love about this App is that you can store your payment details, so you don’t have to worry about dealing in cash. Just hop in, relax, and when you arrive at your destination, hop out!
2. Click Delivery 
Order your food from your couch… in your pajamas.
This App has had more of an influence on my life than Taxibeat, but not necessarily a GOOD influence, so it got the number two spot.
Having the menus of 86 restaurants, in English, at my fingertips is not a good thing. It is a dangerous thing. CURSE YOU Click Delivery!
Click Delivery is pretty self explanatory. You click a few buttons on your phone and glorious food arrives at your doorstep in no time.
There is everything you can imagine listed on the App. You can even order a coffee and a donut to be delivered to your front door before you have gotten out of bed in the morning.
You can store your credit card or PayPal so you don’t have to worry about having exact change or the delivery guy not being able to break a large bill. It’s just so easy… too easy, I’d say.
Click Delivery Website
App Store
Google Play
3. Athens Book 
Basically everything you need in life in one App.
Athens Book flew under my radar for some time. I discovered it when I was riding with a friend and she was running very low on gas. She whipped out her phone and opened Athens Book and voilà! there was a gas station one block behind us on a side street that in all reality, saved our lives.
From hospitals to bakeries, everything you need to find nearby, can be found on this App.
Athens Book lists pharmacies that are open in your vicinity, which can be very useful information if you are looking for a pharmacy during an ‘off-business-hours’ time.
My favorite part of this App is that it has movie listings in English. None of the cinema websites have the English option, so before this App, going to the movies was an adventure!
Athens Book Website
App Store
Google Play
4. AB Click2Shop 
Order your groceries from anywhere.
I have been a religious user of AB’s home shopping since it was introduced. I always used the website and did my shopping from my home computer. I was recently on a flight and while we were taxiing to the gate, the woman next to me was doing her shopping. Now that is what I call efficient time management!
Click2Shop has an English option, but the product listings are not in English nor the descriptions… luckily there are pictures. If your Greek food vocabulary is not up to par, you’ll have a fun time going through the items and inspecting the pictures. Think of it as a game.
You can create lists and view your past orders, so if your shopping orders are similar, it can be very simple after the first few times.
When you book your delivery time, the available times are in three hour increments. If you want your order delivered first thing in the morning, you have to select the 8:30am-11:30am (so it may be 8:30 or it may be 11:30). You must place your order at least 24 hours prior to the delivery time that you want.
AB Click2Shop Website
App Store
Google Play
5. Google Translate 
Yup, Google translate in your pocket.
This one is also pretty self explanatory, but nonetheless AMAZING! Anywhere you go, pop this App open and figure out what the hell is going on.
This app has a few different ways to translate from one language to another and you can download a language and use it offline.
You can do the traditional Google translate way of typing in the word. You do not need the Greek keyboard installed on your phone-you can just type out how it sounds.
You can press the microphone and record the word(s) and it will do its best to translate it for you. This is also fun if you are learning the language… record yourself and see if Google can understand what you are attempting to say.
The coolest thing it does is translates directly from an image you take with your camera (as pictured). If you see text somewhere that you want translated, you press the camera button on the App and it directs you to align the text you want. Next you highlight it with your finger and then it does its thing.
I feel like I don’t have to say this, but please remember that Google translate is not 100% accurate, so don’t bet your life on the translations it gives. It’s very handy though with simple things like menus and informational material.
Google Translate Website
App Store
Google Play
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