Apartment Guide releases Android app
Apartments for Android allows you to easily search and review apartments in your local area.
As a young bachelor, I'm no stranger to apartment hunting. Normally, I do my research online, make a list of apartments, and head out in my car to visit the listings. This often turns into a full day event, particularly when I have trouble locating some of the places.
I've often wished for a designated application for my Google Android handset to aid in this process so I was overjoyed when I discovered one last week. Apartments for Android is a new application from Apartment Guide that simplifies the hunting process.
Check out our gallery of Apartments screenshots.
Apartments includes almost everything you need to easily locate a place to live. Upon starting the app, you can search by city, state, or zip code. It also uses location-based services to find and display the results around you. Search results can be filtered by radius, beds, baths, and price. After performing a search, you can view the results in a detailed list or in map mode.
The list mode provides a great overview of the basic apartment details. You can easily see the address, rent price, and the number of beds and baths available. Clicking on any result will take you to a detailed listing of the property. From here you can find the office hours, prices, description, apartment features, pet policies and more. A picture gallery is also available for each listing along with options for contacting the landlord with a single click.
Other features include the ability to favorite any apartments, which allows you to make a list of the properties that fit your search criteria. Users can also share any listing with a friend by e-mail, which is great for sending your future roommates the properties you want to visit. The map mode is useful for getting an overhead view of surrounding apartments via Google Maps and Street View.
I recently had a chance to speak with the developer and they told me they're hard at work on the next version. The update will include some minor bug fixes and support the ability to view floor plans. They added that they love developing for Android because it is open source, easy to learn, and they can instantly update their app in the Android Market.
Android users can download the app for free from the Market. Either perform a search for "apartments" or scan the adjoining QR code.