Designed for tourists and locals alike, the city guide series Not For Tourists has made its way to iPhone and iPod Touch — which may be an ideal platform for the book’s signature snark and ease of use.
Covering 77 Chicago neighborhoods, the NFT Chicago City Guide iPhone app ($4.99) makes a few unusual choices—for example, creating separate entries for Buena Park and Boystown, but ignoring Wrigleyville completely. While this isn’t exactly a bad thing, it seems that the map function considers Buena Park to be most of what is traditionally known as Wrigleyville. And that does create some strangeness when users on the north end of Buena Park view neighborhood Top Picks, most of which are more than a mile away. Plus, like any print guidebook, NTF doesn’t always have up-to-date information—the first restaurant listing in the Andersonville section closed more than a year ago.
But even with its imperfections, NTF Chicago City Guide is extremely useful for offering up honest information. I love that the app offers an overview map of the city when users rotate the neighborhood section. This is especially useful for iPod Touch owners, as NTF doesn’t need an Internet connection (also great for when the Red Line breaks down underground).
Other NFT guides currently available in the iTunes App Store include Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, San Francisco and New York City.
