The Short Version: when you are vacationing in a unique location with that special someone, escorted trips and sightseeing vehicles is almost certainly not your favorite way to explore an innovative new city. Jim Zhu established the GPSmyCity application in 2010 to aid a lot more separate visitors understand places at their very own pace. The application addresses significantly more than 1,000 cities and provides almost 7,000 hiking tours prepared by subject, such as nightlife, food, or purchasing. Each trip supplies a digital map and information regarding every destination you will see. Best of all, the software has no need for mobile or websites, to put it to use overseas without racking up costly international costs from your own wireless company. The app can be found on both new iphone 4 and Android os and has now had above 12 million packages since their release.

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Jim Zhu loves to take a trip and check out brand-new cities throughout the world, but he’s never been follower of concert tour vehicles. He doesn’t like getting stuck in a seat and put through another person’s timetable. Jim is actually healthy and active and favors the liberty of taking walks from place to spot at his or her own rate. But traditional maps are troublesome, and before smart phones arrived regarding the world, phones did not supply much assistance when navigating a new town.

But that changed in 2007 when Apple launched the new iphone 4.

“When the new iphone was launched and was included with a GPS function, I imagined why-not incorporate these matters? Use the new iphone’s navigation purpose and place all the information inside the application to help you tour by yourself,” the guy said. He’d worked in Silicon Valley for 15 years prior to starting his personal business, so the guy realized the ins and outs of technology organizations.

As an all natural problem-solver, Jim decided to work together with his idea. He started GPSmyCity in 2008 with the purpose of creating a new iphone 4 app that supplied engaging hiking tours without needing cell or websites. The application formally launched for iOS this year. “It switched your own new iphone into an individual trip tips guide,” stated Jim, who also functions as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Up coming, the app was created available on Android and it has had significantly more than 12 million downloads since their launch.

GPSmyCity, enabling you to definitely discover regional attractions from professionals, is ideal for couple for males who want help navigating a brand new area while on a romantic getaway. Forgo the high priced concert tour groups and congested tour busses and use the application to take a relaxed, self-paced walking concert tour customized your distinctive passions — as well as on the schedule.

“we developed the application to resolve my own personal problem, but there are a lot of folks available that the same problem,” Jim mentioned. “Now that the application provides 12 million packages, that gives myself many pleasure.”

Jim with his staff at GPSmyCity love to take a trip and check out, in addition they’ve turned that really love into a desire for helping others discover more about brand-new spots by themselves conditions.

Nearly 7,000 Tours in stores over the World

GPSmyCity provides nearly 7,000 hiking trips in over 1,000 metropolitan areas all around the world. Jim informed you that, depending on the city, the app has between a handful to 30 different hiking trips readily available.

Lots of the tours have specific motifs or subject areas, including relationship, shopping, night life, or meals, to help you find the types that be perfect for you and your spouse. You are able to just take a dessert-themed trip in Paris or visit each of Amsterdam’s oldest pubs on another tour.

You can even use the software for a staycation and spend a weekend mid-day examining the parts of yours area you never seen. And software doesn’t simply take one to spots, additionally, it tells you much more about them.

“per walking concert tour, there is a summary of tourist attractions and a chart,” Jim mentioned. “you utilize the routing device on your own mobile device — an iPhone, Android os, or iPad — receive from just one spot to another. At each and every end, it comes down with a photo and description that show details about the area.”

The software was created to work traditional and allows you to download maps. As soon as you travel abroad, you simply won’t need mobile service or an internet connection to use GPSmyCity. That is a substantial benefit since with your smartphone internationally without any proper data program may result in an obscenely big bill.

Regional article authors & Bloggers offer Expert Advice

GPSmyCity can protect more locations than nearly any some other walking tours app considering that the organization works together with many travel specialists to create world-class content material and maps. The team creates certain walking trips internal, even so they also deal with many travel writers, writers, and natives to generate some of the much more detailed tours.

The regional specialists write for GPSmyCity and add hiking tours giving people a geniune, compelling experience in each area. The GPSmyCity group contributes strolling tours in brand-new places weekly as a consequence of the connection with neighborhood content material creators.

“this article continually gets better by leveraging these relationships, therefore can cover even more locations,” Jim said. “We talk about app and functionality, however the content must always be growing and expanding.”

Working together with others who live, work, and play in a city creates much more romantic, special trips than possible aspire to enter a travel guide. And the ones times from the crowds are those partners remember when they return home.

The Future of GPSmyCity: Upgrade the App & Add More Tours

Many globetrotting partners echo Jim’s disdain for concert tour busses and would like to share a lot more romantic minutes through its spouse while exploring a destination. And walking through an urban area merely enhances the feeling of marvel they feel while on vacation.

This is the reason GPSmyCity is indeed well-known, nevertheless business isn’t relaxing on their laurels. Jim, their builders, and the content material team tend to be continuously improving the app, and GPSmyCity is in the process of adding greater functionality to the Android os app, getting it in line with the iOS counterpart. The brand new Android os version is planned for launch during the summer 2018.

And additional features —for both Android and new iphone — will likely be added centered on suggestions from consumers.

“we now have an opinions function that will help you get opinions from users several times a day,” Jim stated. “People deliver tips, and in addition we examine those and hold improving and improving — so it is an ongoing procedure.”

Because Jim knows about just how a notion that solves a problem for starters person can resonate with thousands of people.