Common Sense Media Review
By Amanda Bindel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Great tour guide shows and explains nearby must-sees.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Field Trip
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
FIELD TRIP lets users find and learn more about places near them. You can actively search using the map, or the app can run in the background on your phone as you travel, with cards popping up when you're near featured spots. You can configure settings so the cards are read aloud as you encounter locations. You can customize your interests within Architecture; Historic Places & Events; Lifestyle; Offers & Deals; Food, Drinks & Fun; Cool & Unique; and Arts & Museums. Each category pulls content from several sources and can be customized. For example, in Historic Places & Events, content comes from more than 25 sources that include Historvius, the Historical Marker Database, Archaeological Institute of America, and Arcadia Publishing. The cards have short descriptions but include links to more in-depth information.
Is It Any Good?
Field Trip is a must-have for road trips -- there's no need to make a U-turn to read that historical marker: it's right there on your phone. This is also a fun way to learn more about places you drive by every day. Settings can be customized so the app reads the card title, or the entire card, aloud (good for keeping your eyes on the road). Speaking also can be set through Bluetooth or disabled while you're driving. Also, for a family road trip, Field Trip is a great pass-back app for the whole family to enjoy, with the kids in charge of reading aloud about their discoveries.
The number of cards can be overwhelming, so you may want to spend some time deselecting sources you or your kids aren't interested in; everything is selected by default, but customizing takes only a few minutes. Keep a charger handy if you're running Field Trip in the background (which makes the cards pop up automatically) because it's a battery hog.
Though you can explore other areas by scrolling around the map, there's no way to search locations by ZIP code, city, or address -- and that would make Field Trip truly amazing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Let kids browse to choose an interesting location for a family outing.
Talk to kids about how GPS-locating works and how to make choices about when and what to share online. Read more about teaching kids to stay safe with location sharing.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Subjects : Social Studies : cultural understanding , events , exploration , geography , history
- Skills : Tech Skills : using and applying technology
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : September 10, 2013
- Genre : Lifestyle
- Publisher : Google
- Version : 1.12.1
- Minimum software requirements : Android 2.3 and up; iOS 6.0 or later
- Last updated : December 9, 2020
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