Looking for the best apps for living in South Korea? Keep reading!
About Downloading the Best Apps in South Korea
South Korean life requires learning a few new apps. The reason for this is that many international apps haven’t been fully integrated into Korean culture and daily life. Sometimes this may be because of government regulations (Google), sometimes it is because of the language barrier, and other times it’s because Korea already has a great system (KakaoTalk).
The Best Korean Apps Have a Learning Curve
Apps developed by cultures other than your own have a steep learning curve. Korea uses different iconography, layouts, terms, and structures. You may feel frustrated and overwhelmed at the beginning. However, by using Papago to translate screenshots and asking friends for help, you may slowly get the hang of these new cultural symbols and systems.
Expect to feel angry and then don’t give up. The energy put into learning new apps will greatly increase the quality of your life. Especially if you plan on living in South Kore for longer than one year.
Spend time studying apps before you need them. Explore buttons and features while you are relaxing at home or in a cafe. Avoid waiting to use a feature until you feel pressed by time or culture. If you put aside 1 hour a day to learn something new about an important app like Naver Maps, you will find your life quickly improved.
Different people will be drawn to different apps. Make sure that you try a variety of different apps so that you find the right ones for you.
Why Does South of Seoul Recommend Certain Apps
The Apps in this blog article list have been used by South of Seoul volunteers. Each app will take a certain amount of use before you become comfortable with them, however, such apps provide the best access to information and resources within South Korea.
It may SEEM that the international apps provide access to a great deal of information in Korea. However, if you understand what is available through Korean apps you may quickly realize that the international smartphone apps may provide limited and confusing access. We want to help ensure everyone knows how to access additional insight into Korean life.
Recommended Air Quality App
Residents in Korea should have an app that keeps them notified about changing air quality conditions. The following app does just that and makes it feel easy to understand. We also use AirVisual data in our location-specific South of Seoul blog articles.
AirVisual
What the app does: An app for tracking air quality. Air quality changes throughout the day. Reason to have this app: Since air quality changes throughout the day we recommend keeping an app on your phone that alerts you to changes in air quality in the area around you. Why this air quality app?: There are many air quality apps. Many expats like this one for Korea because of its coverage across rural areas.
Recommended Restaurant Review App
Living in Korea means getting to know new types of cuisine and new types of restaurants. The following apps will help you find places to eat across Korea.
MangoPlate
An app, kind of like yelp. This app doesnt have great coverage in rural areas and a lot of closed businesses in rural areas dont get removed. However, it can be a nice source of information. Its mixed English and Korean.
South Of Seoul
Volunteer and community developed lifestyle app for getting the most out of your life in Korea.
Recommended Korean Language Hotel and Travel Apps
PROS: The Korean travel apps provide a far larger catalog of properties, cheaper prices, and better discounts. They also have unique categories like pool villas and dog pensions.
CONS: As of 2022, apps developed in Korea for Korena travel require a Korean bank account and ID to make reservations. However, it’s worth figuring out because if you find a deal on a Korean app you can have a bilingual concierge service make the reservation for you and it will still be cheaper and better than using foreign booking websites.
Yogiyeoddae
Discounts, event tickets, hotels, and more. Great for booking things around Korea. Note: No English Language Interface. Korean bank account and ID needed.
Yanolja
Discounts, event tickets, hotels, and more. Great for booking things around Korea. Note: No English Language Interface. Korean bank account and ID needed.
Recommended Discounted Tickets and Travel in Korea Apps
KLOOK
Discounts, event tickets, hotels, and more. Great for booking things around Korea.
WAUG
Discounts, event tickets, hotels, and more. Great for booking things around Korea.
Recommended Apps for Your Lifestyle
Some apps help with solving life’s little issues like communication with friends, checking on information, and organizing life. The following apps help with daily living.
Kakao T
Kakao T is like Uber but different. You get a taxi, coordinate a local delivery, rent a bike (in some areas), find a carpool, etc. Basically its not like Uber, but thats the closest connection because its how you call a ride. In Korea, taxis are pretty cheap so it calls a taxi instead of a private car.
Kakao Talk
Kakao Talk also offers shopping, Kakao pay, the ability to send gift cards, and so much more. It offers to many things to list. Having a registered Kakao account is life. Kakao is how South Korea connects.
1330 Korean Travel Hotline
A MUST have app that answers your questions, has emergency alerts, and an SOS hotline if you have an emergency.
South Of Seoul
Volunteer and community developed lifestyle app for getting the most out of your life in Korea.
Recommended Apps for Online Shopping in Korea
Especially during the pandemic, online shopping became all the rage. Two online shopping giants standout for international residents.
Coupang
Coupang is South Koreas version of Amazon. They ship almost anything you need right to your front door.
Gmarket
Korea’s second largest online shopping market similar to Amazon. Works with foreign cards.
Recommended Apps for Language Support
Google Translate App
Not as good as Papago for translating Korean, but still smart to have on hand.
Papago Translation App
The best Korean translation app. You can even translate text from photos using your camera or a photo from your folders. There is also a website.
1330 Korean Travel Hotline
A MUST have app that answers your questions, has emergency alerts, and an SOS hotline if you have an emergency.
Recommended Apps for Food Delivery
Some food delivery apps only work with Korean debit or credit cards. If you don’t have Korean banking you may find Shuttle to be the very best option for you. It also has an easy English language interface.
Shuttle Delivery
Shuttle Delivery provides delivery services from a variety of Korea’s best restaurants, so you can enjoy the best food in the comfort of your home, office, or wherever you happen to be! They offer a fully bilingual service where customers can place orders in either English or Korean. If you are not sure what to eat, you can check out the full range of options by selecting by cuisine! Click on the website link to get signed up! They have a website and a phone app. Use what’s comfortable for you. South of Seoul volunteers will get a discount and so will you when you place your first order.
CoupangEats
CoupangEats is like the UberEats of Korea. They often have a wider delivery area than other apps. The app has an English interface.
Baemin Delivery App
Korean language delivery app that operates across Korea. You can download it to any phone by searching ‘Baemin’. Watch Google YouTube videos to learn how to navigate the app in Korean.
Yogiyo Food Delivery App
Yogiyo is one of Koreans most established food delivery apps. The app is only in Korea but you can Google blogs and videos that will help you get registered. Remember, it will take some time to get it setup so don’t wait until you are hungry to start the process.
Recommended Apps for Navigation
South of Seoul volunteers can not recommend using Google Maps or WAZE Maps (a Google-owned mapping company) for navigating Korea. Such apps do not have access to consistent, accurate information across South Korea. In areas with a great deal of development, the data in Google and WAZE can be completely inaccurate and off location by 2-3 km.
Additionally, Google Maps bus schedules are not current and the times quoted for travel are not correct. Often incorrect by 2-4 hours. Yes, you can limp along using Google and WAZE but it is nothing we can recommend.
Instead, we recommend taking the time to adapt to the following Korean mapping systems.
Naver Maps
Naver Maps is the top navigation app in South Korea and it has an English interface.
Kakao Maps
Kakao Maps is one of the leading map apps in South Korea.
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.