Apps for expats! Our top eight for living in Australia
18 Dec 2016
So you’ve decided to give living in Australia a go – awesome!
From making friends to finding a job, here are eight of the best apps to help you settle in and start enjoying everything the lucky country has to offer.
1. Planning the move
There’s certainly a lot to organise with a move to Oz, from getting the right visa (417, 189, 462, 457 anyone?!) to finding a great place to live and work.
Trello is a fun, free and easy-to-use project management tool that’ll help you organise your life into ‘cards’ and to-do lists. Colour code tasks, assign jobs to others and even give yourself a sticker for a job well done – simple!
2. Converting cash
Just like if you’ve travelled anywhere else overseas, when you first arrive in Australia you might find it tricky to know the relative value of everyday items. To make your life easier download Currency so you can quickly figure out how much everything is really worth.
If you find yourself a bit strapped for cash or need to send money home, TransferWise is a cheap way to send money between countries. It’s simple to use and compatible across devices, so you can send cash overseas with ease.
3. Landing a job
If you’re looking to live down under long-term, you’ll probably need to find a job. Seek is a popular job search platform here in Australia and is compatible across most devices. You can upload your CV so it’s ready to go, save searches and create alerts – small things that make the hunt for the perfect role that little bit easier.
4. Furnishing your new home
Moving into a new place is exciting, but for many expats the first move-in consists of dumping a bag on the carpet. If you’re lacking furniture and need to get all the essentials in a hurry, Gumtree is a great option and a popular way to furnish a whole place on a budget, or in some cases for free!
5. Exploring new places
Some people love to wander and get lost in a bustling city, for others however it can be another thing to add to the stress list.
Step in Citymapper, ‘the ultimate transport app’ – your phone’s GPS will track your location and tell you how to get to your desired location through public transport -it even includes options for bike shares and Uber.
6. Making friends
It can be tough moving to a new city and leaving friends behind, but there are plenty of apps to help. Find like-minded peeps from all walks of life with MeetUp, the app that helps boost your buddy count by facilitating offline meetings based around activities.
If you want to explore the nightlife in your new city, get your groove on with partywithalocal – the app that joins people together for a night on the town.
7. Life's a beach
If you’re moving to Australia then the chances are you’re going to be hitting the beach – A LOT. The Beachsafe app details all the beaches around you, spouting information such as weather, tides, swell and whether it’s patrolled, so you can find the right spot for surfing, sunbathing, and everything in between.
P.S - Don’t forget to be sun-smart! The Aussie sun can be quite harsh, so if you don’t want to walk around looking like a beetroot then check out the SunSmart app which will tell you when the UV reaches skin-damaging levels and how much SPF sunscreen to slap on for the best protection.
8. Keep in touch with those here and back home
As soon as you land you’re going to need an Australian SIM card to keep in touch with those back home as well as the new friends you make here in Oz. You’ll want a mobile plan with a fat data allowance, but also look out for any included international calls and texts to keep you connected to loves ones across the world.
Our unlimited mobile plans come stacked with data plus unlimited standard international calls and texts to 10 countries – check out the list to see if your motherland’s included.
Calling back home is simple, so we put together a quick guide for expats wanting to call internationally. Check out these guides on how to call the USA, Japan, India and many more!
Once you’ve joined, download our free amaysim app for iOS and Android devices where you can do things like recharge, manage your plan and check your usage on the go.
Welcome to Oz, we hope our list helps make your move as simple as can be!
