It is no understatement to say that Citysearch completely understands how I want to use maps and review material on the Internet. With the free iPhone app, I first look at a map that pinpoints where I am. Easy enough!
From there, I can either click on any of the pinpointed locations (which are already sorted out by categories such as: drinks, food, arts, banks, gas stations, etc.), or type in my own search. For example, if I was looking for a sushi restaurant, a list will come up with all relevant and nearby sushi restaurants.
At this point, this iPhone app is nothing I couldn’t do with the iPhone’s map feature. But clicking on a location reveals a bevy of information. Do I want to know the dress code, hours of operation and brief description of a bar? Done. Do I want to see what the user reviews say about the bar? Done. Do I then want to read the latest tweets about that bar? Hey, also there’s a button right there for that, too!
Perhaps you’re searching for those sushi restaurants, but it turns out your girlfriend wants some soul food instead? Bookmark the sushi restaurant you searched for so you can pull it up later. Or, if you feel like learning a little more about your surrounding neighborhood, check out the handful of list articles that give you new travel ideas. At the moment, lists for the Top Five corn beef sandwiches and a guide to St. Patrick’s Day spots rule the roost, but I suspect those will change frequently.
Short of providing you travel directions to the locations not down the street from you and giving you the Web site for the restaurants you’re looking up, I’m not sure what other information Citysearch could throw in. Citysearch would work best for a user in a major city, where there’s a lot of unique restaurants, stores, or bars to frequent. If that’s you, meet your new Page 1 friend.
