Travelling to Taiwan has never been easier thanks to all the free smartphone apps available – from translation to transportation, weather to wonderful restaurants, Taiwan phone apps make life so much easier.
Whether using a SIM card, eSIM or the wide ranging Wifi network in Taiwan, most of the information you need is available at your fingertips (and we think checking out taiwanderers.com every so often won’t harm either)!
From must-have essential travel apps to some more random suggestions, this is our guide to the best Taiwan apps for your travels.
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You might like – Our Taipei Taiwan first time visitors guide for 2025 >
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, KK Day or Klook.
Using your phone in Taiwan
If you are arriving in Taiwan and want to use your phone, you’ll likely need to consider a SIM or eSIM (unless your home provider offers a competitive roaming package).
SIM cards and eSIMs are available to purchase from a handful of kiosks in Taipei Taoyuan Airport both before and after passport control/luggage pickup, and in the arrivals area at Songshan Airport.
WiFi routers are also available to hire. If you wish you can pre-book your SIM on Klook, but we have always just queued up and paid on arrival.
If you wish to have data as soon as you land, then we recommend MobiMatter for purchasing cheap eSIMs. You can use the code CAROL86604 to receive cashback on your first purchase.
Incidentally, Taiwan’s crime rates are very very low compared to other countries – we’ve even seen people leave their phones, wallets and laptops on tables in restaurants whilst they nip away to get food. So just use common sense and be sensible in overly crowded places like night markets and Jiufen.
You might like – Our 1 day Taipei highlights itinerary or our best of Taipei 3 day itinerary
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Essential Taiwan travel apps
Below is a guide to the best Taiwan apps / travels apps to download before you arrive or when you first get to the airport.
If for any reason you don’t plan to buy a SIM until after you’ve checked in at your first hotel, this guide to getting the MRT from Taoyuan International Airport to downtown Taipei might come in handy.
Travel in Taiwan apps
1. The official Go! Taipei Metro app
To see which is the quickest and best route for you – this is best Taipei app for planning your journeys and day trips from Taipei.
2. Google Maps
This doesn’t need much of an introduction but Google Maps is invaluable when walking around Taiwan or using public transport outside of Taipei – it saves you having to download all the regional Taiwan transport company apps.
3. Citymapper
An alternative to Google Maps and which many travellers prefer as the user interface is sometimes a bit easier to use.
Note this is only available in selected cities so if you only want one map app, stick with Google Maps.
4. Bus+ Taiwan
We have a Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group with 35,000+ members and whenever anyone asks about the best Taiwan apps, people always mention Bus+ Taiwan, which shows you real time bus journeys, plus other transport options like the MRT and Ubike.
You might like – Top Taipei tours with Klook, Get Your Guide or KK Day
5. Taiwan High Speed Rail app
Official app for time-tables / travel disruption updates if you plan to visit other cities on the HSR train network. Try the TRA app for local trains too.
6. Uber Taiwan
If you have an existing Uber account, this can also be used in Taiwan seamlessly without having to redownload the app or switch payment methods.
Taxis in Taiwan are generally cheap, safe and reliable and Uber Taiwan lets you know the fare upfront – note that taxi availability is best in the big cities and not always available in more remote spots.
7. Easy Wallet Taiwan
You’ve likely heard of Taiwan’s EasyCard before and the Easy Wallet app from EasyCard is an easy way to pay or recharge your EasyCard. However, some reviews mention translation doesn’t work on the app so well.
You might like – How to use a Taiwan EasyCard, iPass and iCash card or our pick of the coolest and cutest EasyCard designs
8. YouBike
For the cyclists out there, this is the app that allows travellers to hire the bright yellow YouBikes you’ll see lined up at docking stations in big Taiwan cities.
Taiwan weather apps
9. Taiwan Weather app
Taipei weather (and in Taiwan in general) can be quite changeable so instead of your usual weather app, try using the more accurate Taiwan Weather app. This is the most recommended Taiwan weather app in our Facebook group.
Translation Apps
10. Google Translate
Many restaurant chains like Din Tai Fung have English menus but some of the smaller local restaurants only have Mandarin menus so Google Translate in Taipei can come in handy.
We found Google Translate in Taiwan comes in especially helpful outside of the big urban areas and cities.
Messaging apps
There are two main messaging apps in Taiwan.
11. LINE messaging
A local alternative to What’s App, Line originated in Japan but is big in Taiwan and many other Asian countries.
Lots of local Taiwan businesses share codes / offers for events and promotion e.g. free Taipei whisky tasting at Eslite was a recent one.
LINE Pay is also accepted and a good way to pay bills if your credit card isn’t accepted.
12. Whatsapp
Whatsapp can still be used in Taiwan – note that when booking Taiwan tours, most tour operators ask you for either a Whatsapp or Line contact number so they message you before the tour departure.
Currency Conversion Apps
13. XE
Take your pick in terms of all the currency conversion apps out there but we find XE the best and simplest one to use.
Taiwan Tour Apps
The two biggest tour companies with lots of Taiwan tour product both have apps – both generally make any booking confirmations or joining instructions available to download in their apps
14. KKDay
KKDay is Taiwan owned and the biggest provider of bookable online tours – they operate their own tours as well as selling other tour company trips. They are generally reliable and offer a wide range of Taiwan tours.
15. Klook
Perhaps the best known tour and travel booking app, one of the advantages of having this downloaded is they have Klook app exclusive deals and vouchers.
Taiwan Hotel Apps
16. Agoda
This is our preferred Taiwan hotel booking app as we can easily check the status of all our Taiwan hotel bookings in the ‘My Trips’ section, plus Agoda generally seems to offer the best rates on Taiwan hotels.
17. Booking.com
A popular travel and hotel booking app, booking.com has a similar app to Agoda and usually has good Taiwan hotel availability.
Other assorted travel apps
18. ChargeSPOT
This is a great app in Taiwan (also available in Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand) if you need to find a portable power bank to rent if you don’t have one on you.
They have power bank rental locations across the country including most Taiwan 7-Eleven stores.
19. Taipei FunPass l Easy Taipei
Only for those purchasing a Taipei Fun Pass which gives you unlimited public transport access in Taipei plus entry to over 30 attractions including Taipei 101 available on Klook and KKDay.
Our final personal Taiwan app suggestions (non-essential)
20. Shazam
OK, this is not an essential travel app for Taiwan but we found ourselves using this a lot in bars and pubs to identify Taiwan songs and other artists we hadn’t heard of before.
If you haven’t heard of Shazam (where have you been?), you basically let it listen to a few seconds of background music and it tells you the artist and song title.
21. Netflix
If you already have a Netflix account from your home country, download the Netflix app to your phone or tablet before you fly to Taiwan.
Netflix has a presence in Taiwan meaning you can still use your log-in overseas without the use of a VPN / proxy. Note the content varies from country to country but all of Netflix’s original content is available worldwide.
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