5 Essential Apps for Traveling in Malaysia
Bonjour and Good Day 😃
Having the right apps can definitely make your travel more comfortable! In this article I will talk about the apps I use and that I would find essential while traveling in Kuala Lumpur and anywhere else in Malaysia!
Grab
Forget about those red taxis that might overcharge you! With Grab, getting around is very easy 😊
It’s the most popular ridesharing app here and a must have I would say!
Of course you can use it anywhere in KL but in other cities too! So far I've tried Penang without any issues. Also in KL you can get a Grab even in the middle of the night! And it's very useful getting a Grab from/to the airport!
The fares are reasonable compared to an equivalent service in Europe and they adjust the fares depending on the demand and traffic (so you might pay more in peak times).
Grab
Yes I'm putting Grab again in my list because it's not only for taxis but also to order food or mart products. You can pay through the app by linking your card although it looks like since mid 2024 Grab added a small fee for foreign cards.
Drivers usually post pictures of the delivered items if you're not there to receive it and it's very practical, don't forget to rate and tip them if you can 😄
I've made a dedicated guide to use Grab in KL, you might want to have a look!
Google Maps / Waze
Google Maps of course, good enough to look for places, reviews and itinerary. If you're gonna take public transportation (LRT/MRT....) Google Maps will help and tell you where to go and which line to use. 😊
You can also download the map around KL to have it offline!
If you plan on driving then add Waze to your apps. I don't know why but from my experience here, Waze is just way more precise on the navigation instructions. Whereas gmaps will be approximative or even give misleading indications sometimes. And driving in KL can be hard (at least for me, so many lanes!) 😄
Touch n Go
If you plan on using public transportation, you might want to go to the counter and pay for a Touch n Go card. This way you'll just have to tap your card to use the transportation systems. Otherwise you'd have to queue at the machines, select your itinerary, pay and get a token...that's quite time consuming 😅
With the Touch n Go app you can link your card and see how much money is left, so you'll know when to reload!
Also even if you're driving, most parkings there use Touch n Go to pay the parking fee so that's pretty convenient too.
WhatsApp is used a lot in here! Pretty useful to book or ask questions to restaurants. Just remember whenever you add Malaysian numbers, add the "+60" before which is the country indicator and it should work all right 😇
A qr code scanner
I've included this as essential because a lot of restaurants will tell you to scan a QRcode to view the menu or even to order. I believe that most phones have this included already but if it's not your case then install any qr code scanner app.
You don't know if your mobile does that? Try scanning the qr code at the end of the article 😊
Bonus
Those apps are not really essential but might be useful to some:
- Lazada : this is Europe's equivalent of Amazon, can order almost anything!
- Google translate : english is common so I wouldn't put this as essential
- GSC : this is a popular cinema chain, you can view what movies they have on the app, at what time and which location
- Instagram : to find new ideas and places to go, there's a lot of content there
There you have it! It's not much but it should get you covered, especially Grab 😊
Terimakasih for reading until here! Happy travels 😇
