Spotted by Locals travel guide App Reviews

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Like recs from a friend!. It’s a great way to find out about stuff that’s not in al the tourist books or trip advisor. You can be in a city and experience it like a local instead of a tourist.

Explore like a local. I love this app because it acts as a pocket guide for travelers or even locals. Even in my own city, I like reading about where fellow locals go. I think this app is perfect for those wandering around a city they are unfamiliar with and they’ll be able to see what’s nearby for a meal or viewpoint or place to visit. It’s a great travel companion!

Explore cities like a local. I've travelled to over 80 countries and used all sorts of apps, blogs, etc. But this is the best I've found for authentically exploring a city over time. Even if you will only be there a few nights, still worth the cost just to use a few great insider tips. I've used it for over a year in Barcelona to find great food, sights, and shopping. And I keep using it constantly. The recommendations are off the tourist trail and are not some sort of paid advertising. This app is the real deal! Buy it not only for your next vacation, but for the city you live in...you will be amazed at what you discover in your own town!

Needs improvements. Every time I try to use it, I have to download the same map again. Wish it had a section to only see new posts. Does not see to be updated often

One of a kind. There is no other travel service like spotted by locals. I’ve sworn by it for years and it has inspired most of my most memorable travel experiences.

Wish I could give this app 6 stars. Honest advice about cool & funky places from an app without bugs. Who wouldn’t like this?? Love it SO much! Finds places for me that TripAdvisor has never even heard of. Amazing coffee in Helsinki, Authentic & delicious tapas in Barcelona, practically curated vintage clothes in London. We even bought Los Angeles to find the newest places to try in our own hometown. One of my favorite apps ever, travel or otherwise.

Must have. Great resource to find new places. Totally worth it.

Great App but can’t search by city!. Awesome app but you have to scroll through a giant list to find cities, how could there not be a basic search?!

Most useful travel app!. Having used a few guidebooks and turning up at recommended sights to find out they were closed a few years ago, this app turned out to be a lifesaver! Up-to-date with spots where the locals go, this is by far the best way to explore, no not explore, to get to know a city and go off the beaten path.

Perfect way to explore a city. I first heard about SpottedbyLocals when I was studying abroad in Paris in 2009. I usually like to collect recommendations from friends before visiting a new city but in this day and age with social media, people end up seeing certain places on Instagram and Facebook and then just go where they see their friends go. This works sometimes but the problem is that you end up being directed to the same place that all the other people are going to which in effect ends up being touristy. If you’re like me and want to explore a city as someone who lives there would, then this is the app for you. The app itself is nothing special. Basic map with some highlighted spots but the content and curation is what is so key. We went to at least 10 of the recommended places in Mexico City and they were all spot on. You can’t get fair assessments of where to go on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor anymore because their ranking systems have become biased towards the places that pay them. SpottedByLocals is a neutral assessment of amazing places in cities by the people who are proudest to live in them.

*UPDATED* annoyed. I wrote a review about a month ago about this app and how it didn’t work while I was on vacation. Their response team sent me back an email with a handful of excuses how it was my fault because I downloaded it wrong and asked if I would remove my review. I asked for a refund and he told me the only way I could get a refund was if I had PayPal. I received a total of SIX EMAILS from this guy asking me to remove my review. Not once did he take ownership for the app not working or gave me any other resolution other than to re-download it again (pay for it) and hope it works on my next vacation. He continually blamed me for downloading it incorrectly. By the last email this morning, it felt like harassment and I am so annoyed with this guy I could scream. Don’t download this app unless you are fully confident in your skills to DOWNLOAD AN APP or have the extreme patience and extra time to deal write emails back and forth for over a month about a $4 product and a bad review.

Very useful. This app is very handy for planning upcoming trips. Locations are easily accessed and can add a lot to a vacation for one hoping to experience the non-tourist aspect of a city. The descriptions are genuine and give a lot of insight!

Local Experiences around the world!. This app is amazing since all the content included in the app is written by locals of each city. It includes guides to amazing places to visit, to eat, trendy bars and secret spots that most likely as a traveler you won’t have the chance to know! Super easy to use! 100% recommended.

Not worth the money.. Do not waste your money. I purchased the Montreal app hoping for good insight into things to: Do, See, Eat,... You are better off walking around and finding out for yourself or just asking your Uber driver.

Can’t schedule a cadence for updates.... Every time I open the app, it says there are new posts and updates. I like that the content is fresh, but the update is super annoying. It’s not “required” but if I don’t update, the map will not render properly. I wish there was a setting option to schedule weekly content updates instead of every time I open the app. Right now it’s annoying enough to be a barrier to me using the app.

Not willing to pay. They should give you a day or two free. I’m not going to buy data that I can get on yelp.

Tbilisi. Tbilisi is a chaotic city so having a guide to help me around the city was perfect. It’s also super connected and using my phone as a guide rather than a boring and heavy guide book made me feel less touristy. The best part is that it feels like a friend giving advice.

Far better resources out there. Trip advisor alone beats this. The app has the audacity to ask for payment to unlock the full reviews? Not at all worth it for free!

Excellent resource!. Truth be told, I first started using this app because it had really good maps which you could use offline (no roaming charges) as a navigational tool. As I used the maps to get around I got to know the content as well and stumbled into some great spots, particularly in Amsterdam. I’d definitely use it again, and not just for the maps!

Not enough. It is a good idea but that is it. I found it not useful at all in Paris and other places were not even available like Nice. Just keep using the free apps like TripAdvisor they are more useful.

Nope. Total waste of money for florence.

GOOD but the review service was weird. The app is awesome and helped me find a lot of cool stuff around Munich, however it then tried to get me to write a review. Every time I opened the app to use it, it redirected me to the App Store to write a review, making the app itself useless. I could not even look at the map before it redirected me.

Very useful. I’ve tried three cities in the last month and they’ve all showed me interesting things I wouldn’t have otherwise found.

Best Travel App. If you want to travel the world, without tourist traps at every destination, get the Spotted by Locals app. It’s the app of the true adventurer. It’s like a treasure map pointing you to places less traveled with all the need to know details (like address, hours of operation, website, $.) All of the articles are written by locals sharing their city’s best kept secrets and hidden gems.

Good idea — but not easy for me to use. Updated: I received a nice, helpful email from one of the developers after my review, which urged me to take another look at the app. I also had an opportunity to visit another city covered by the app. My impressions on another look: The free version on the App Store gives you only a taste of how the app works. To get a real idea if it will work for you, you need to gamble the cost of buying it. Without purchase the downloaded version isn’t very useful. It becomes far more useful when you can read entire entries, filter more, and map locations. So I will bump my original review by a star. I hesitate to award the app a full five stars at this time because I still think it’s important to know more about the “spotters” and their qualifications. The vast majority of the spots listed in the city I just visited were written by just two spotters. Either by accident or design, there was absolutely no overlap in their recommendations. Maybe that will change as more spotters come on board though with the developers’ intention to meet each spotter personally and given that the app has been available for years, that does not seem likely to me. No offense to the spotters who have labored to provide content for this app, but It still is not clear to me from the spotter bios that they know their coffee or old-school local music or whatever. I like the concept of the app. I know people who devote themselves slavishly to the big crowdsourced apps that start with T and Y and the places recommended here are too small to rank on apps like those. All good. I’m looking forward to future versions of this app.

Never travel without it. I never travel somewhere without downloading spotted by’s guide.

Great App. I have used the Spotted by Locals apps for travel in Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. I have followed the reviews to a number of restaurants, bars, and other local attractions and have not been disappointed. I find that if I particularly like a restaurant it is helpful to check and see what other reviews the local author has written. You can also look at the profiles of the local writers and find out where else they are writing, which can lead to more local information. Once you have downloaded a particular city’s app, make sure you update it before leaving home (or reliable wifi) so that you have the most up-to-date information on your phone.

Confusing. I bought this app for Paris. It was not useful and very confusing.

Lelaina212. Love the variety of destinations and personalized recommendations.

Great app.. Great app, great recommendations.

Great reference tool while traveling!. I found this app extremely useful on our trip to Vilnius, Lithuania! It helped us find places closely, and the reviews were fun to read and very handy when it came to choosing where to go. I especially loved the Offline function, as WiFi is not always handy - although WAY easier to find in Vilnius, than in our city in Germany for example. But having an offline reference was priceless. Real photos, by real people, and if there was one function I would like to see in future updates, it would be a Search box on the Maps component. We’ll be going to Paris soon, and I will definitely use Spotted by Locals as much there as I did in Vilnius!

App. Worst app I’ve ever downloaded

Best App for Local Favorites. If you want to find a spot that is an off-the-beaten-path locals’ favorite OR, is a spot in your guide book, but described and recommended by a local, this should be your go-to App. And, if you like to travel to cities that are not visited (yet) by a lot of tourists, this App will also inspire you to discover those lesser-known spots!

Battery Drained in 3 hours. Phone battery drained in a matter of 3 hours upon downloading this app, from 100% to 10%. I turned off location settings per another review. Not helpful when touring a foreign city to have your phone die. I removed the app immediately. Unless the creators can prevent battery life diminishing in 3 hours I won't be able to use this app while on holiday.

Spotted, San Francisco. A good idea but not enough data at this point. Wasted $, buy a god cup of coffee instead.

Best app to travel like a local!. Having the Spotted by Locals app is like having a friend in every city around the world that has top notch recommendations that you find in any guidebook. I’ve used it all over- was just using it Amsterdam and Vienna last month- and I’ve find some of the best spots I’ve ever traveled to using the app. If you’re a traveler, or even just looking to find some new spots to check out where you live, I highly recommend downloading and using the app!

Not for me. There’s not many suggestions on here for restaurants. All the shops and activities you can get for free on a search. Feel like I wasted 12 dollars on an app I have no use for

Love the Rome app. Lots of good tips/interesting places to check out. Only wish I could have stayed in Rome longer to check out more. I’ll be back.

My Favorite Travel Buddy. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to quite a few of the locations Spotted By Locals has city guides in, and I without fail always turn to them first for recommendations. From cozy coffee shops in Madrid, to a tucked away brewery along a canal in Paris, I have found THE BEST places through SBL. My friends think I’m a genius traveler, but it’s SBL who do all the work. I’ve even been introduced to incredible places in my own city! Definitely give them a try the next time you’re planning a trip.

Asia doesn’t count. Apparently you need to live in Europe, or North America to get the most out of this app.

Different ideas, weak categories. I like that this app employs people to identify personal favorites from the locals perspective. Very useful for the European cities especially. What does not work so well is the categorization of spots. For example, arts and culture might bring up a shopping place to buy furniture or an Italian restaurant. That’s not really what that category should be about.

App keeps crashing. Before I can even see the load screen this app crashes. My iPhone 8 is up to date and so is the app. Please fix! Update: the developer suggest I uninstall and reinstall and all was fine. This was the first time I’ve ever had a problem so I changed back my review because I do truly love the app and have found some really cool places by using it.

Great!. Besides loving the idea od this app, I love its new look and feel! Now it’s much more user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Money well spent!. For less than the cost of one beer (if you know a fun spot with good beer for less than $3.99, let me know...or buy a city in this app and you will find one) you are guaranteed to find at least one good tip in a city you are going to spend time in. Like most everyone, I enjoy travel and feel that part of the enjoyment of travel is the planning and anticipation. I am always on the lookout for articles about cities I will be visiting. So far I have purchased 5 cities (NYC, DC, Paris, Florence, & Stockholm) and at a minimum have found at least one Spotted recommendation in each of the cities that I wasn't aware of and made my visit better. It is like having an in the know, cool, virtual friend in your pocket. Updates for each city are pushed out frequently. So frequently that it is my only suggestion. I wish the option to update was more in the background instead of having an alert right away after opening the app. But, it is a minor thing. The takeaway, $3.99 per city is money well spent and it will pay dividends when you travel. Plus, it is fun to use prior to your trip, dreaming and planning.

Not a typical city guide. I really love this guide. But I guess it wants to be used slightly differently than regular city guides. This app has a handpicked selection of locations that are recommended by locals. It will never recommend as many restaurants or sights as e.g. TripAdvisor. I usually wander around a city and then I’m looking what Spotted by locals recommends in the surroundings. It made me discover many small gems in cities such as Athens, Amsterdam and Prague. The recommended places are almost always authentic and either not (that) known to tourists or else also loved and frequented by locals.

Fab city guides. This app is great for the suggested spots plus that it can all be used offline while traveling 😍

Web Editor. Great tool for traveling.

Fantastic guides well worth the price. Full of hidden gems found and written about by actual human beings. Each of the city guides are a steal at $4. (If you're one of those regrettable folks who refuse to pay for anything no matter how good it is, the guides are available at no cost on their website.) Bought the Oslo guide while traveling abroad and instantly filled several days with fun adventures I never would have found otherwise. To kick them a few more bucks of appreciation (and to see how good the guides *really* are) I later bought the guide for my hometown. Speaking as a native of that city, the recommendations are solid, which makes me trust the other guides even more.

Really. Really. You have to pay for each app for each place. That’s not local.

South Seattle Doesn’t Exist. Imagine my disappointment, $3.99 for an App that reviews less than half of Seattle. If it’s South of I-90, there’s virtually no reviews. Undoubtedly the Northern half is the easy pickings for reviewers, but what about the rest of the city? There’s all sorts of great & quirky places around Seatac, Georgetown and Black Diamond, to name a few. Nearby small towns like Enumclaw-a mini Telluride- go completely ignored. It’s lazy reporting, and it’s dishonest to charge for an App that is only focused on one small part of the city. There’s a lot more to Seattle than what’s in Spotted By.

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Not Good. We bought this app for Lisbon only to walk around in circles trying to find 3 places in it. Ended up with Google+Local.

Travel essential. Before going away I always download any city guide relevant to my trip. The cost is a bargain and the highlights of the last three trips have come from tips contained in this app. There are recommendations for all ages tastes and budgets and it is updated all the time. This app is the travel essential I have always wanted. It gives you great ideas about places to eat and things to do which are off the beaten path. Not only do you get to go somewhere different but often it takes you to an area of the city you may not have been before. I love this app!

Don't waste your data. Although the app is free. Content has to be purchased for each individual city at $4.49. Disappointing.

Expensive in-app purchases. You get 5 free tips for each of the 41 cities, but if you want the full guide you need to spend $5.49 for EACH CITY. That's the kind of price I would expect to pay to unlock all of the guides. Maybe they should allow you to have the 5 free tips for each city but also one free full city guide to start off with, because with the 5 cities it's hard to get an idea of whether the app is any good. Right now, I am not convinced it will be worth the money.

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Great app for travellers and locals alike. Love the fresh look and features. Amazing concept where city locals provide users with the best places to visit. Allows for more authentic experiences when exploring new cities. Love the maps and offline option. Awesome!

Not very good.. This app said it would provide working offline maps for its locations but it doesn't work for Belgrade. My review would change once this major aspect is fixed, since it's a major reason I downloaded it in the first place.

An unpretentious way to view your city of choice. Just downloaded the Toronto portion of this app... And I've already learned about so many hidden gems...

Needs routing map. I like almost everything so far with my new experience of this app. It would be cold to click on the spots and make a route of all spots you want to visit. And possibly that would open a journal to write about each spot as you visit. Then you could save it for your own reference and others

Great app!. This app is very helpful. I also like the fact that it’s locals who are recommending the places instead of companies with self-serving interests. The result is finding places that might not be a guidebook, but are still worth checking out.

must have in your pocket. After a few city trips I can’t envisage traveling somewhere without first checking if there is a Spottedbylocals guide and secondly download the app in advance. It saved me many where do I go now situations.

Excellent!. This is a great App for travelers. We used it on our recent trip and it was not only a good source of information, but we used it as a GPS/map when we were off line. Very precise maps, good reviews, informative in every way. We have a locked iPhone yet we were able to access all the information any time. We found places off the mainstream tourist traps. Excellent restaurant recommendations in residential neighborhoods. You can use this App as a preparation for your trip by selecting spots to visit and adding them to your favorites. Well worth the price. Bon voyage!

Great insider tips and stories!. Very handy app for exploring while you’re in the city and doing research. Great tool frequent travellers!

Really leads you off the tourist trail. I really like these guides. I used one for the first time in Barcelona in 2014 and found all sorts of cool places I would never have discovered on my own. I recently downloaded their guide to Montreal, not expecting to be as wowed, because I know Montreal fairly well. But it didn’t disappoint! Lots of great leads. The ability to use it offline, frequent updates (which don’t use up your data—you can wait to do them on wi-fi) and easy-to-use interface are bonuses. Great app.

Got me beneath the surface.. Just spent 10 days wandering around Paris. Thanks to this app I kind of felt like I belonged there. I highly recommend it. Bravo.

My most used app. This is the app to have in order to get the local feel. I've used this app in Barcelona, Rome, Prague, Edinburgh, Antwerp, Amsterdam and so many more cities. The Spotters are excellent and the support staff are great also. Highly recommend!

Nothing is free.. Don't bother, you have to pay for everything.

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Worth it!. A fun app. Definitely worth the purchase for offline accessibility!

Great local intelligence. It's like having a friend in the city you are visiting. Reviews are fun to read, recommendations are spot-on and the app is easy to use.

Ms. I don’t usually review apps. In fact, I rarely review anything but I have to say that I am very passionate about Spotted by Locals and what they are doing. Amazing app, works well even offline which is essential if you don’t have data! Beyond that, each blogger is very dedicated to give you really authentic places to go to that go far beyond the touristy hot spots. A must have for the avid traveler or local!

Terribly thought-out app. This app will only let you view the information you've already paid for when it's updated, and these updates happen seemingly every couple days. Since you won't be able to download the update when you're off wifi, and you'll likely only open the app off wifi because that is its purpose, you'll actually never be able to access the information you paid at least 4 dollars for. Enjoy.

Best tool for exploring cities. For every city I visit I download it's spotted by map before and start investigating where I want to go before I even land- then you have your own personalized map ready to go. On your trip, if you find yourself in a certain neighborhood craving, say, a hidden gem of a bar, you can use the map to find one that you would otherwise not find on your own. Best city travel tool hands down

Brilliant. It's truly everything you could want from a visit to a city. We all do the touristy stuff because let's face it, it's touristy for a reason. Something happened of importance or something was/is of importance or is just plain awesome. So yeah you're going to check out the Eiffel towel, the liberty bell or the pyramids. What if you want to just see how people are in their environment or when in Barcelona take that afternoon nap and then eat at 11pm. Where do you go, what do you do? Well this app answers all of these questions from people who have been around. The quality of the articles are high because they come from people who WANT to show you around. Sort of like that aunt that would always take you places when you visited. Eat local food, do local things, and most importantly meet local people so you can get a better sense of the place. You can categorize by content or follow specific writers, it's up to you how you get the most out of this amazing app. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Get in on the action and away from the crowds. For a young traveller like myself, I don't just want to do all the big "must-do's" in any place I go. I want to know what it is that makes a place special and gives it its unique flavour, and the best way to do so is to do as the locals do. Spotted by Locals collects hundreds of locally-recommended places around the globe so you know what kind of stuff the people who live in these places are doing, and can get in on the action and away from the crowds. There are brilliant food, drink, and activity recommendations, all written by people who love their city, and want to share it with others. Awesome concept and app!

Best Travel guide for City Travel. Super resource for go-to information about great spots in many cities in Europe and North America. Works offline also!

Local suggestions to help you discover local.. TripAdvisor may be a good platform for reviews, but they're not the best at content curation. Spotted by Locals has helped me discover my own city in a unique manner. There have been times when I'm looking for a suggestion from a person who has lived in a city and that's when I turn to the spotted by Locals city guides. If you're looking to avoid touristy spots check some of their recommendations.

Great when it actually works. When the app actually works, it's great. I've used the recommendations and haven't been disappointed yet. However, lately it seems like 80% of the time the app won't work. It will open, but if I try to click on a guide that I've previously purchased, nothing happens. Also, why does the app need my location always? Or at all?

First-rate help. I have been using the Frankfurt guide for two weeks now and have found it to be wonderful. Every recommendation has been spot on. The map feature is amazingly helpful. It has just the right amount of information about each place, e.g., hours, average costs, location. It also has a great range of places to check out. You will not be disappointed.

All add ons. The app only gives you the option to buy guides, all of which are a pricy $3.99. They don't show you what a guide will look like or the type of tips included. A sample would be nice. Will probably just delete it.

Great travel app!. I travel often and hate to use my data plan abroad because it's so expensive. SBL is offline and gives great advice for what to do and where to go in tons of cities. Very easy to use and certainly worth it!

Don't travel without this app. Spotted by Locals is a great resource to find places off the beaten path where typical websites or guidebooks might not take you. I have used it in multiple cities in the USA and Europe - such as San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Prague, Munich, Athens and Istanbul - and each time I have found places that have been a highlight of my trip. The city guides are cheap and the offline maps make it well worth the investment.

Cool app but has some drawbacks. I really do like using this app to find good non-touristy spots when I'm traveling. The one thing I wish was that you could access the cities without having to update everyday. They won't update on service, only wifi. And I'm often not using service abroad anyways. When I can't access the map out & about even though I updated it yesterday, it makes the app pointless :/

Local gems. Best way to avoid tourist traps and find good local places.

Great app. Very helpful city guide. I especially like how the map is available offline.

Spotted by Locals. Easy to use and awesome app, would recommend it for any type of traveller or backpacker!

Great Travel App!. Easy to use and utilizes your phone's GPS so you can find recommended sights that are close by. Can't wait to use this to find unique local spots on my upcoming vacation!

Great App and offline maps. This is a great and easy to use app that contains reviews and advice that are not offered in other guide books or apps. The app has regular updates. You can favor attractions or venues that you want to visit. And you can view your favorites and maps even off-line. I recently used the Stockholm and Copenhagen guides and both were great! Keep adding more cities as well as content!!

Local tips to make the trip. Having locals offer helpful recommendations really can make a trip that much more enjoyable. We have found so many hidden gems thanks to Spotted by Locals and their unique concept. The only improvements would be clearer maps and an ipad version.

Excellent. Wonderful app that has helped my wife and I discover some amazing and unique places around the world.

C. Nicely chosen spots. You don't have to search through a ton of mediocre places, when the best ones are in one place with this app.

Spotted by Locals Paris. I have actually lived in Paris for a long time but I don’t always have time to keep up on cool new places, so I love to look at Spotted by locals to get ideas on where to go and new things to do Thanks! I can’t wait to us S potted by Locals next time I visit a new city as well - I know it will make me feel like I live there!

Why does it need my location AT ALL TIMES?. Great app, but why does it need to track my location at all times??? Why not add the simple solution to only track location while in use? Drains my battery like a Saigon hooker!

Dont waist your money. In the end, I am using google maps and find the app useless. Yes it's an offline map, but you can't search which is a huge issue. It's icons to mark random "local" places block the map and you end up frustrated and going back to google maps. Again, waist of money...

Disappointed. I was expecting something well done and defined for the $3.99 Really low quality for the maps as well the information. Got lots to improve - I do not think I'll buy another map other than the one I just bought.

Love it! Live like a local!. So many great places to visit through the spotted by locals app with real tips from REAL locals, not tourists! Live that local experience and truly embrace the culture of where you're staying!

Must have for all serious travelers. I typically travel 15-20 countries each year and consider Spotted by Locals my must-have guide. Their recommendations are excellent, particularly when you tire of the standard tourist recommendations. From great dress shops in Paris to unknown former prisons in Tallinn and lovely cafes in San Francisco, they will help you feel more like a local. (Also, the app support is top notch!)

Best travel guide!. I have been using these guides for years and love them. They are great for finding off the beaten track shopping and restaurants that are authentic and local. My best meals when traveling are found through them. The function "nearby" is awesome and means you always know where to go for a good cup of coffee when running around town. I even use it for my home town as they are that useful. Highly recommend!

Great tips!. My wife and I are planning a trip to Scandinavia and picked up guides for the three cities we’ll be traveling to. The tips in this app are much more personal, and off the beaten path than you might find from a Lonely Planet or even your friend Rick Steves. Great for planning, and can’t wait to have with us on our adventure!

Insider perspective. The Spotted by Locals apps are the best way to avoid the cliches and instead visit a city through a local lens. Shops, restaurants, off-the-beaten path sights and other attractions are plotted on a map of the city along with write ups for easy reference and an insider perspective. They are indispensable for tourists and locals alike!

Good for your own city too. It's not cheap, but considering a city app gives you a good selection of real fun places to eat, shop and be with an easy-to-use platform makes this into a nice, worthwhile purchase

Great for local tips!. I'm the type of traveler who loves to explore the way locals live, and this app gives great advice from people who actually live in the cities they talk about. Great eats and hidden gems to explore! Tons of info you won't find in magazines

A travel bible. I've used this app the past 3 times I've visited and traveled throughout Europe and it's the best. It's has places that would never come up if you just did a Google search of "best dives in Berlin" or "local cuisine in Prague." The offline maps are great especially if you don't have data abroad. It's mostly European capital cities and larger 2nd cities like Kraków, Florence, Munich, etc. it's worth the three dollars for the time saved and aggregation of trying to find a bar or restaurant that doesn't have trip advisor stickers plastered on the door.

Great. Definitely worth a download- awesome to have an offline map of the city in your pocket plus the places are mostly all awesome

Creative recommendations!. I used spotted by locals on a recent trip to Stockholm. The restaurant and cultural activity suggestions were both superb.

Excellent Local Tips. I just used the Milan guide to find an awesome happy hour, cool park, and great design shop. The descriptions include useful tips that only locals know. I would use this app for any of the cities they cover.

Really enjoy this. I have used this app before Prague, and really enjoyed it. I found the number of places I would certainly not have found otherwise. To me, easily worth the money. It would be nice to have an option to set the map application you want to use. Otherwise, no issues.

Dumb. This is hardly an app. You open it only to find that it's 3.99 for every city. Are you joking me? Who's the genius who thought that up. Only came across it because I like the actual website... Uh which is cool. Why not do the same for the app? Don't think I have deleted an app faster.

Physician traveler. I recently purchased the apps for cities Zürich, London and Paris. I emailed the company because my wife wanted to view the PDF files which they said within 12 hours they would be happy to send me the links for. That is an amazing response time for a small company. I am going to the cities in March and look forward to extensively using these apps both on my iPhone and in PDF format for my wife.

Good info, app needs improvements. Maps need to be high res, they are very blurry at the moment. Would like a feature to display which way I'm looking compass on map for my location. Not map rotate, just a which way I'm looking vision cone. Need a way to resume a stalled download. Currently if map download fails it either does a complete retry wasting data plan bytes or gives up at which point you have to delete that guide and download it again. Restore previous purchases should NOT download again items that are already downloaded, should only restore missing items or missing maps. Home button should be first, I often forget how to get back to the list of guides. Filtering by category not perfect, for ex when I choose restaurants I see some items which are NOT restaurants. Color of each category page should match color of tab on filters list. Currently all pages are green. All Map button not needed, all it does is zoom out which I can do with pinch. Need a way to buy packs or countries or some kind of volume discount, if you buy many cities it quickly becomes expensive.

Big Cities Only. I'm sure this is awesome for bigger cities around the world, but it seems odd that cities like Austin, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada aren't included... I'm sure it'll happen, eventfully. It just doesn't help me much now/today.

Decent. Works fine in general, only with some minor glitches. Most importantly, at 0.99 per city, the pricing is much more sensible. Edit: I've noticed that the prices went up to 3.99, this is quite disappointing. Also, links to other spots mentioned in an article open in safari instead of taking you to the respective article within the app. One star down!

A Friend In The City. I tried to explain to my husband the other day why Spotted By Locals is different. His mind was wrapped around your typical travel guide that points to the same tired tourist traps and the fall back over priced, under delivered tourist trap restaurants. "It's not like that," I said. "It's more like having a friend in the city tell you his favorite places. Where would we take our friend when they come to visit?" He gets it. And so does Spotted By Locals. Of course there are places listed that everyone knows about--- some places attract tourists for the right reasons. But for authentic advice from real live locals in cities around the globe, this is the app for you. Pin them in the map, favorite them to a list and hit the ground running like a local in all your favorite cities.

GREAT!!. It has so many features to find different places to go! Definitely download it!

Great for Edinburgh!. My husband and I don't really care for the overly-crowded tourist spots in big cities, we prefer to go where the locals go and this app was perfect for that! The insiders view into the best restaurants and bars was so helpful. The best recommendations were for shops to get good, quality souvenirs that were local produced crafts/art that wasn't the same 40 Scotland mugs!

Great travel guide!. I have used several spotted by local maps and have loved all of the places I have visited! I would definitely recommend this app and guide to any traveler looking for one of a kind recommendations!

Different way to research!. I do all the trip planning for the trips my wife and I take, and it's been years since we have been to Europe. I was so happy to find this app as I use all the usual websites to find restaurants, shops and bars we should go to. But, we haven't ever gone this far away before. It's so nice to have recommendations for some huge travel cities so I don't have to worry about just going to the tourist traps and we can try to blend with the locals in different cities!

Location ON requirement. Why does it require Location Services ON when the app is suppose to be able to work OFFLINE? I purchased Chicago and since it requires Location ON, I went to Location services to try to turn it on but it it not listed under LOCATION SERVICES app list. So I simply toggled the actual Location services OFF/ON that would apply to ALL the app but no success of the app ever working. POS!