Not only is Berlin the startup capital of Europe, it's fast becoming its app-icentre. Developers and "netrepreneurs" are coming up with mobile solutions for problems you never knew existed, in the hopes of earning geek points and investment from Ashton Kutcher. Whether you want to explore Berlin, buy your buddy a beer or just make sure that you're never alone again, if there isn't already an app for that, there soon will be. überlin thought it was time to halt the march towards app-igeddon, and to come up with five apps that Berlin really needs.
1. Summerfy
Berlin winters getting you down? Can't bear another miserable grey sky? We have the perfect solution with our Summerfy app! Using augmented reality our app can turn the most depressing of scenes into a beautiful summer's day. Simply point your mobile device at whatever is bumming you out and see it transformed instantly. Berlin – and Berliners – never looked so good!
2. iProtest
Berliners' favourite pastime just got social! Now you can earn badges, as well as bragging rights, when you attend the city's countless demonstrations. Stick it to The Man and be crowned Green God/dess, Nuclear Reactor, Nazi Hunter or Baby Bugger-Off-er. One day you could be the proud owner of the coveted WTF?! badge, issued when everyone is rallied together to protest, but no one seems to know why.
3. Buskamatic
This app recreates the Berlin busker experience in all its horror. Bursting with over 100 badly-sung songs, played poorly on outmoded instruments, Buskamatic will annoy your fellow commuters just like the real deal! With styles like Atonal Accordion, Ballad Bollocks and Fuck off Folk, you'll blend seamlessly with your busker buddies, and wonder how you ever lived – and paid the rent – without this mobile music maker.
4. Find-a-Pfand
Berlin's streets aren't exactly paved with gold, but every other bin contains treasure – bottles that can be returned for a deposit, or Pfand. Find-a-Pfand hacks Google Maps to show the location of the bottle banks and trash cans that are overflowing with glass goodies, and the closest place to collect your cents. The bottle icons glow red when collection time approaches – get there fast to pick up your pay day!
5. Angry Berliners
Sick of dealing with German bureacracy? Why not take out your frustrations on this classic strategy game? Fire your Angry Berliner through webs of red tape, topple over mountains of paperwork, and repeatedly bang his head against brick walls, in order to defeat the pencil-pushing Office Pigs. With over 200 levels available in the App Store, you'll really be getting somewhere – unlike in real life. Angry Berliner soft toys coming soon!
This is an article from our Guardian Travel Network. To find out more about it, click here
