Africa’s Best Resident Apps: Top 1-Year Award Winners & Must-Have Mobile Tools

🌍 It’s been a year living in Africa!
Seeing more and more friends coming to Africa, I recently compiled a list of useful apps I’ve discovered over the past year to share with everyone~

1️⃣ QuickFox
Who understands the pain of expats when their 🎵 NetEase Cloud Music playlists turn gray or they can’t catch up on domestic shows like 🥝👖🐧? 🥹
Thankfully, QuickFox (QF) is here—one tap and you’re back to your happy place.
So satisfying 😌

2️⃣ Bolt (Ride-hailing)
🚗 A must-have for getting around. You can even book Africa’s iconic Bajaj tuk-tuks 🛺.
But for safety, it’s better to stick with cars.

✈️ Travel Essentials – With this combo, you’re ready to explore the world! 👍
3️⃣ Booking – Hotel reservations
4️⃣ Skyscanner – Budget flights (Google Flights works too)
5️⃣ Google Maps – Addresses & guides
6️⃣ Flighty – Niche flight tracking app

🏨 Hotels can be filtered by price directly on the map.
The hotels I booked for my Easter trip to Zanzibar were all fantastic!

When you’re in Africa, the world feels closer, and you’ll want to travel everywhere. Since crossing the continent usually means flying ✈️, checking for cheap flights in advance is a must.

Even if you’re not traveling, browsing low-cost flight deals to Europe or other destinations during work breaks is a great way to dream.
Seeing the world is just a flight away ✈️.

7️⃣ Duolingo
Simple and clear—just 5 minutes of daily language learning with Duolingo.
Spending 5 minutes a day learning French on Duolingo is amazing 👏.
Already reached Level 11!
For those in East Africa, you can also learn Swahili here.

8️⃣ DeepL
📄 Document translation – A lifesaver for work in Africa.

9️⃣ Notion
The go-to app for organizing life, work, and study notes.

🔟 Dazz 📷
Africa’s natural wild views + Dazz’s retro film filters =
Every shot becomes a vibrant masterpiece of untamed beauty.

1️⃣1️⃣ Pinterest 🤳
A treasure trove of aesthetic inspo—level up your photography game.