Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Six apps to help you survive Coachella 2012 (and festivals in general)

From saving money to staying hydrated, these apps can help facilitate festival life

Coachella

Chris Pizzello / AP

Are you ready for Coachella?

2011 EDC: Night 1 With DJ Tiesto

DJ Tiesto at the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on June 24, 2011.  Launch slideshow »

2011 EDC: Night 2 With DJ David Guetta

The Electric Daisy Carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on June 25, 2011. Launch slideshow »

2011 EDC: Night 3

A performer takes flight during DJ Avicii's set at the final night of the Electric Daisy Carnival at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on June 26, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Festival season kicks off Friday with Weekend 1 of the highly anticipated Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival through Sunday in Indio, Calif.

Whether you’re heading to Indio, anticipating EDC or looking forward to one of the many other music festivals being held in coming months, everyone can expect an experience that’s as exhausting as it is fun. To cope, there are certain tried-and-true survival tips that are common knowledge among festival patrons, such as wear comfortable shoes, dress in layers, drink water and bring hand sanitizer.

But for those of us with smartphones, certain apps can help further facilitate the festival experience. The six listed below will help you do everything from find your friends to save you money; one even helps keep you hydrated. Read on, but be sure to download them before arriving at Coachella, where you’ll be competing with around 100,000 people for service (Verizon is purported to have the best coverage in the area, while AT&T has the worst).

Get the 411: Coachella 2012 Official App

This is the essential app to have, whether you’re going Weekend 1 or Weekend 2. There are a few other Coachella apps out there, but the official one (free and compatible for iPhone) is particularly well-executed -- simple and intuitive. Its features include artist info, set times, a personal “favorites” list to help you pick and choose your sets and a detailed map that loops in your current location. Many of the features also can be used offline. The Unofficial Coachella 2012 app -- free for Android and iPhone -- is similar, if somewhat more limited.

Find your friends: Glympse

In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes -- and getting split up from your friends at a festival. Which is where Glympse comes in handy. The safe, location-based social-networking app works allows you to send expirable notifications alerting contacts of your choice to your location. Your friends don’t have to have the app in order to receive your notifications, but if they do, you can view each others’ locations and follow trajectories on a map. Your pals and you will need an Internet connection to send and receive notifications, so it might still be wise to pick a meeting point beforehand. Glympse is free for iPhone and Android.

Find that song: Shazam

Whether it’s a catchy track from a band you’ve never heard of or an unknown B-side from a headliner, never let a great tune get by you again. Use Shazam to capture a song, live or recorded, as you’re listening to it to learn the name of the track and artist. The app also is a one-stop shop for all things music-related, allowing users to shop in iTunes, stream music videos, make playlists and share and discover new music with other users. Shazam is free for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and other devices; upgrade to the paid version ($3.99 per year) to gain access to other music-discovery apps like Spotify and Pandora.

Stay hydrated: Water Your Body

When you spend the day romping around to your favorite bands, it’s easy to want to reach for a beer or a Red Bull to quench your thirst -- which makes it all the more important to drink enough water to combat dehydration. Water Your Body lets you track your water consumption and then plots it so that over time, you can correlate your hydration level with how you feel. The app also offers alarms to help remind you when it’s time to re-up on water; free for Android, $0.99 for iPhone.

Save money: GasBuddy

Going to and from Coachella means a substantial drive for most attendees, and today’s gas prices can put a real damper on what should otherwise be a fun road trip. Luckily, you can use GasBuddy to find the cheapest gas nearby even while you’re on the go. The app locates gas stations near you and then compares their current prices, which are constantly updated by GasBuddy’s community of users. You can even earn points toward a prize giveaway for every price you report. GasBuddy is free for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Combat boredom: Draw Something

From bathroom lines to set transitions, a substantial amount of time at Coachella can be spent in wait. If you’re lacking for company, popular interactive games like Draw Something and Words With Friends are a fun way to stay entertained and even engage your brain a little. Free versions of both apps are available for iPhone and Android.

Follow Andrea Domanick on Twitter at @AndreaDomanick and fan her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AndreaDomanick.

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