REVIEW: 'Visit Port Washington' Phone App Worth Bookmarking

I love my iPhone. I also love discovering new apps that make life easier. So I was excited to find out that the city of Port Washington has recently released a phone application for the iPhone and Android platforms called "Visit Port Washington."

The Visit Port Washington App makes it easy to find information about Port Washington from the palm of your hand.

The app has several sections: Eat, Sleep, Play, Shop, Events, Main Street and Chamber. Each provides basic information as follows:

• Eat: Easily view all restaurants in the city or find a restaurant by type.   Each restaurant also has a button to call for reservations and map that takes you to Google maps.   
• Sleep: Easily find a place to spend the night. You can choose from hotels, to B&B’s and motels. There's an info button where the user can find out very specific information about each hotel. This is great to keep in mind the next time your in-laws drop in for an unexpected visit!
• Play:  Find boat rentals, charter fishing cruises, golf courses, local history sites and tours, outdoor recreation lists beaches, trails, and playgrounds to visit. Don’t worry if you’re not an outdoors person — the nightlife section has a list of bars and pubs.
• Shop: Check out two categories: shops, and specialty food stores such as , and .  
• Events: Easily view all events starting from March 2012 or view events month-by-month. Each event has a "More Information" Button where the user can get a brief summary of the event. Visit this section often and you’ll never miss a smelt fry again.
• Main Street: Find out all information on government, industry, marina and other services that are offered throughout the city.
• Chamber: View information on where to find apartments, services, schools, places of worship and other businesses that may be useful.

The app also has a social media button which is an easy way to find Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that the city is posting information on. I was able to "Like" several new pages on tourism in Port Washington. You can also use the search button to quickly search through the app. 

Overall, the app is nicely laid out and very user friendly. The app is free and I appreciate that there are no ads on the app. Many of the free apps that I download have popup ads that get to be a bit annoying to close.  The one downside I have found is the app is a bit slow to load. I would also recommend adding a section where the user could write reviews on restaurants similar to yelp.   

In the end — I am happy keeping this app on my home screen of my iPhone.  I look forward to more updates from Visit Port Washington.