The Internet made it super easy to communicate, keep track of, and interact with basically the entire world. It also keeps you connected to things happening in your town. Generally, the Internet (or apps) aren’t super necessary for these kinds of things but you can find some valuable information with the right apps. There are some instances where a browser works best. For instance, in Columbus, OH, the best way to see the trash schedule is in a web browser. However, there are still some great local apps to find some neat local stuff and help yourself out.
We’d like to give an honorable mention to Craigslist. You can find most of the stuff below on Craigslist in one form or another. You can find our list of the best Craigslist apps here.
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Local help: Angie’s List
Price: Free
Angie’s List kind of corners the market on this one. You can look up various local companies to do various jobs for you. Services include HVAC, plumbing, concrete work, home improvement, home remodeling, and even stuff like landscaping. You get reviews from folks who used the service, easy to find phone numbers and contact details, and more. The app is a little difficult to use. It tries to make you use its tool and the results aren’t great. We recommend browsing by category instead of going through the tool until they work out the bugs. Craigslist is another excellent spot to look for local stuff like this.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Local events: Facebook
Price: Free
Facebook has its ups and downs. However, there are few apps with Facebook’s capabilities in terms of local events. The app lets you check out things happening in your area and any venue worth its salt has its latest events posted somewhere on Facebook. You can use the app to find nearby concerts or Magic: The Gathering games at local card shops. Plus, Groups lets you coordinate events with other people for things such as Pokemon Go. Yes, the app isn’t very good and the privacy on the platform is basically nonexistent. Still, Facebook is good for finding stuff happening near you. There are also some specialty event apps such as GameFor if you want something a little more specific.
Local news: Your local news app
Price: Free (usually)
Most major metropolitan areas have local news stations. You can get them with antennas on your TV and listen to it on the radio. A lot of them also have Android apps. You can get a lot of localized news that you won’t find on national publications or stations. You have to search for it on your own because there are literally dozens and dozens of these local apps for news. We have ABC 13 Houston at the link in case you’re from Houston, but otherwise you should search for your local stations to see if apps are available.
Local shopping: Krazy Coupon Lady
Price: Free
Krazy Coupon Lady is an excellent app for money savings. It features a metric ton of coupons for things like groceries, clothes, and other items at local retailers like Kohl’s, Target, and Walmart. You simply find the coupons you want, save them, and use them at the register. It does work for online retailers like Amazon. However, you most likely have a CVS, Kroger, Publix, Dollar Tree, or Walgreen’s near you so this app is usable at places you frequent. Plus, if you find a good deal, it’ll motivate you visit places you might not visit very often.
Local businesses: Google Maps
Price: Free
Google Maps is kind of a no-brainer for this category. You can quickly and easily find businesses in your area that do various things. An example is a basement repair person if your basement leaks. Additionally, you can quickly find hours of operation for businesses in your area as well as directions if you don’t go to that side of town very often. A lot of people use the app to see upcoming traffic jams or other slow downs to plan alternate routes to work. Like I said, it’s a no-brainer.
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Local weather: Your local weather app
Price: Free (usually)
Most weather apps let you check your local weather. However, we already have a list full of those so we wanted to highlight local weather apps. These apps focus only on your area and feature a lot of the same things as generic weather apps, including severe weather alerts, daily forecasts, and current weather. What makes these stand out is the individual coverage for a specific area. These people are the same as the ones who track tornado warnings on TV and the app is an extension of that level of coverage that you just don’t get with big weather apps. Search the Play Store for local weather channels from your area. There are simply too many to list here. You can always default to one of our picks for the best weather apps if your local sources don’t have Android apps.
Local dating: Tinder
Price: Free / $9.99 per month
Local dating is fairly tricky. Literally all dating apps let you filter by GPS location. However, Tinder seems to do the best of the bunch. It’s a household name in dating and hooking up. Thus, there are simply more people on the platform than most other places and you can find matches relatively quickly. This likely won’t work the best in rural areas but neither will any other dating app.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Local selling: Yard Sale Treasure Map
Price: Free / Up to $4.99
Yard sales and garage sales are still some of the best ways to offload your stuff. You set everything up outside and people stop by and check out your wares. Yard Sale Treasure Map helps you find garage sales in your area. It scours sites like Craigslist for apropos listings and you simply look them up on the map. It’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday and you know what they say about one man’s trash. Obviously, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are excellent places to sell of individual items locally and we recommend those apps as well.
Reward and store apps
Price: Free
Most places have a rewards program these days, including many of your local businesses. Additionally, many stores have store apps that can occasionally cover rewards. These apps are useful for a variety of things, including sales, coupons, keeping track of your reward points for future redemption, and some extra features. For instance, the Kroger app lets you schedule grocery pick-up at select locations and refill pharmacy prescriptions. It’s a good way to help manage the day-to-day stuff.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
YP – The Real Yellow Pages
Price: Free
The Yellow Pages are still surprisingly popular. More than 80 million people visit the website each month and the app has more than 50 million downloads on Google Play alone. Thus, it is statistically likely that you might be interested in using the Yellow Pages to find local businesses for various reasons. Luckily, the app is pretty decent. You can find over 20 million listings across the whole app (in every locale combined), including repair, food, shopping, and whatever else you want. Additionally, the app includes GrubHub integration for food delivery, Fandango integration for buying movie tickets, and a function to check gas prices in your area. The Yellow Pages adapted well to the modern era and it’s still a great local app.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
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If we missed any great local apps, tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!
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