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Bobby Travis

This is a post by Bobby Travis, who wrote with me at 40Tech from 2009 through 2012. Bobby has since moved on to bigger and better things, but I've left all of his great contributions up on the site. - Evan

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It’s a given fact that smartphones have made it easier to get around. You’ve got your maps applications, search engines, business directories, even apps that are strictly for finding the nearest bathroom. Life is good — but Localscope makes it even better.

Localscope is one of the most comprehensive local search apps I’ve come across. Some apps of this type, especially outside of the United States, have a tendency to miss the bank, gas station, or Starbucks just down the street (hard to blame them on that last — Starbucks has a tendency to sprout spontaneously on vacant corners). Localscope attempts to solve the missing business problem by integrating several hyperlocal search engines — Google, Bing, Foursquare, Twitter, and Wikimapia — into their app, all nicely tied together with a slick interface.

A tap of the little monitor button in the top left opens a dialogue that allows you to change views between list, map and augmented reality views (augmented reality allows you to use your phone’s camera to visually search the surrounding area). But the different views and search engines aren’t where the ultimate power of Localscope lies. It’s what the app lets you do with the information it finds. Tap on  or swipe a listing and you are able to interact with the information there with just a tap or two. You can tap to call the business, view their website, open the Google Maps applicatios, set it as your current location, share via SMS, email, Facebook, or Twitter — and even add the business directly to your Contacts list. This is extremely handy!

You can conduct your own searches in Localscope (which are automatically saved), or you can jump in to one of the many pre-defined searches like Restaurant, Bank, Shopping, Parking, Taxi, etc. You can also use the “Browse all nearby” button to get a good snapshot of the entire neighbourhood.

The only problem with Localscope is that it’s one of those apps that spends a lot of time telling you that there is compass interference. Not to worry, though, you can easily turn off the notifications in the settings (touch the little i-for-information icon in the app). Other than that, Localscope is one of the best apps for finding local businesses that I’ve seen. You can purchase Localscope in multiple languages for $1.99 on the App Store. Highly recommended!

What’s your favourite way to find local businesses online?