Korean Must Have Apps

If you are visiting South Korea, whether for travel, study, or work, here are a list of applications that you may want to consider:

First and foremost - everything Kakao is a must


1. Kakao Talk
If you are looking for a messenger application that nearly every Korean uses, including businesses and hostels, this is it. The app is simple to use, with your phone number or email used to set up an account. You can add contacts several different ways, by using their phone number, Kakao ID, or scanning their barcode. Kakao Talk also has many useful features such as creating polls, events, sending files, videos, photos, and announcements. These features make using the app for contact and coordination with larger groups very useful.  You also have a place for your own personal chat room, where you can save important messages to review later.  While having WiFi access this app allows for free voice and video calling from anywhere, including internationally. Another useful feature is that you can send friends your location. When you are traveling in a foreign country it is super easy to get turned around in a large city, so having the ability to send a friend your location makes things much easier. (It only works if you have WiFi access or the ability to use cellular data.)




2. Kakao Metro

Kakao Metro is the ultimate subway application. With both written English and Korean, it has the metro maps for all the major cities in South Korea. You can set your departure and destination and the app creates routes (simple/fast) and instructions. This includes any transfers you need to make, what subway car you should be on for your transfers, subway arrival times, minutes between stops, and the overall estimated time to reach your destination. At first I had been trying to use an all Korean app, but obviously using one that has both Korean and English makes things much simpler.




3. Kakao Taxi
In the case that there are no taxis in a given area, you want a more trusted driver, or if there is a big event and finding a taxi is impossible, than this may work. I know that many Korean people prefer this app when finding a taxi. Kakao Taxi can also be used to call a taxi to your current location and almost always works as long as you are not either in the middle of nowhere or in an are that is EXTREMELY busy at that time. I believe you can also call and set up to have a taxi pick you up at a prearranged time and destination as well, which could be useful if you plan on seeing an event and want to ensure a taxi will be available for you once it finishes. (I am not sure about this though.) The best part, is that this application just recently got an English reboot, and now has a fully functional English app.




4. Kakao Bus
As you probably can assume by this point, this is the Kakao application that will allow you to find buses and bus stops in your area, their arrival, and bus fare costs. It depends on the area though, the rural area in which I live only has any one buss listed on this app. So it is a wild guess where the buses go and when for me. I am sure if you live closer to a main city, then this app would work well. It is worth a try when you first move somewhere for sure, it could help you familiarize yourself with the area.




6. Kakao Maps

I use Kakao Maps for practically everything. It helps keep me from getting lost on labyrinth like streets, helps me find new routes to places, shows me hiking trails, and shows where the stores I need to find are. As long as you have the place you want to find IN KOREAN, then this app works very well. The only downside for an English native speaker is that the addresses are mostly only searchable in Korean, not romanized addresses, which are usually what hostels provide their foreign guests...

Make sure you have the Korean address.



There are more Kakao applications, but these are the ones that I find the most useful.




7. Naver Dictionary
Even though it is a dictionary it doubles as a translation app. Since Naver is one of the main servers in Korea, it is one of the best dictionary applications that you can use when referring to Korean language. It has lots of great features and also allows you to save words you've learned, look up sample sentences using those words and more. Check it out. If you can read and understand Korean, the general Naver search app works much better than Google in Korea when you are looking for specific things.




8.) Papago 
Papago is a translation app that runs by using Naver Dictionary. Koreans I've met are fond of using this app. My mentor teacher uses this app because she can speak to it in Korean and have it translate to English things she wants to tell me. (I think she speaks English fine, but she is too self-conscious.) So for any cases where you need to speak to someone and either do not know how to say something or are just not confident like my teacher, you could try this app. It doesn't translate perfectly, as I think no app really does, but it can get the general point across enough for people to understand.



9. Goseok Bus and Korail Apps

These two apps are very useful when buying tickets to travel without needing to go to the actual station. Easy, convenient, and in your hand ability to purchase tickets. The Korail app has an English setting, but the bus app does not. That being said, you may need a Koreans help to set up your bus application account and use it the first time or two. Also, for the record, when it says (in Korean) "password" at the checkout page...it is referring to your card PIN number NOT the password you made for the bus account. I confused this and entered the wrong thing too many times and have been locked out of not only the bus app, but the Korail app as well, for months now. I have been told I need to go to the bank and change my pin number to regain access. I have been locked out because the bank things someone is trying to hack my card. It is very frustrating.





10.) Yogiyo Food App
This is a food delivery service app that foreigners like to use because you can place a delivery order with many restaurants without talking on the phone with someone. Just enter what you want, your address, and then wait for your food. It unfortunately does not work well in my area because it is somewhat rural and less restaurants use the app, but I know it works great in other areas. Depends on the region, but is worth a shot.





11.) T-Money Balance App
Again, great app if you rely on a T-Money card to get around on public transportation. This app lets your phone scan your card and tells you how much money is still charged on it. This is especially great if you only use the card every few days and never know the balance. It saves you needing to go to a store somewhere to check it/refill it just in case, because in areas like where I live, there are no subways and so no machines to check the balance...

HOWEVER, this app is not available for iPhone users. So if you are like me and have an iPhone, you are out of luck and have to hope that some company rises to the occasion and makes an app that is compatible with iOS.



12.) Bank App 
Getting access to a bank app so that I could check my account balance wasn't easy. It took maybe over an hour at the bank in my town with paperwork and lots of processes. You can'y just download the app and use it, you need permission codes and information from your bank to do it. I have no idea what I did to get it. I signed what they said, and downloaded what they said, and the bank set the application up on my phone. I also don't have the slightest idea how to use the app because it is all in Korean, but I can check my balance and withdrawal/deposit history and that is enough for me.

*As a side note, if you have a choice in the matter, I do not recommend NH bank... I've heard KEB Hana is much much better for foreigners to use, especially if you plan on sending money home.



13. Emergency Ready App

If you have a Korean phone number sometimes you will occasionally get emergency alerts sent automatically to your phone. These can be quite startling if you don't know what they say (and can't copy/paste them to find out.) The only thing that I had found which worked was to take a screen shot, and then use Google Translate's photo scan option. (So get Google Translate too lol.) HOWEVER, this app has the alerts conveniently in English and has lots of information telling you how to prepare or what to do in those types of situations. It also has information on shelters in your area, how to call the police, ambulance, fire department, and much more.