Dubai, the city of extravagance and innovation, thrives on convenience. Whether you’re a seasoned resident or a fresh arrival, having the right apps on your phone can make your life significantly easier. From navigating the metro, hailing a taxi ride, ordering food online, sending a parcel, availing government services to much more.
In this guide, I will share some essential apps that simplify everyday life in Dubai, helping you save time, stay connected, and make the most of this vibrant city.
Here’s a rundown of all the essential apps I use in Dubai
Getting Around:
- Careem/Uber: Ride-hailing apps are a must in Dubai. Careem offers budget-friendly Hala rides and even motorbike options, while Uber provides a variety of car choices, including luxury selections. Both offer food delivery services too! Careem App offers extra services as well, such as Grocery delivery, Car rental, Home cleaning and money transfer services.
- S’hail: S’hail can show you the best public transport routes to take using different modes of transportation available in Dubai, such as Buses, Marine, Metro, Tram, Taxis, e-hailing and even cycling. It tells you the fastest or the cheapest route to your destination and the real-time departure time from your locations. Although the app is sluggish, it helps me often when searching for departures from Bus stations or their route/stops. I just use it for public transport, more especially for bus timings as Google Maps timings were sometimes not updated.
- Yango Maps: Especially in Dubai, Yango Maps displays the roads in high detail complete with all their lane markings, multi-level interchanges, tunnels, traffic lights, parking spots, and more. You get warnings about upcoming traffic, road closures, and speed limits ahead of time so you definitely arrive on schedule. Even I found the cycling and scooty tracks more beneficial on the Yango Maps. This is my new favourite app for navigation. (This is still in development so there will be some features that will not be as good as Waze or Google Maps).
- RTA Dubai: Your One-Stop Shop for All Roads, Traffic and Transportation Services. Although I don’t use it often but a mention.
Delivery Apps
- Zomato – Offers a wide selection of restaurants, user reviews, and the ability to order food for delivery or takeout.
- Deliveroo – Features a range of restaurants and allows real-time order tracking and delivery.
- Talabat – Known for its extensive network of partner restaurants, Talabat offers convenient delivery services.
- Careem – Provides a variety of food delivery options along with other services like taxis and ride-sharing.
- Smiles – Offers discounts and deals from various restaurants in Dubai, along with easy order tracking.
Government Services Apps
- UAE Pass: This government app is a game-changer. It gives you access to all government services, from bill payments to visa renewals, in one secure location. It as the name suggests, gives you a pass to sign in to all the government services apps as well as other apps that have linked their sign-in to UAE Pass.
Classifieds and Real Estate Apps
- Dubizzle: The ultimate online marketplace you need in the UAE. Whatever you need to sell or buy preowned, this app has it all.
- Property Finder: Renting or buying an apartment? Property Finder boasts a comprehensive listing of properties across the Emirates, allowing you to find your perfect place.
I’ll be updating this post from time to time to add new ones and remove those which are not needed anymore.
