13 handy apps for living in Toronto and Canada

If it’s one thing I’ve started to realize, especially more so across here in Canada, is that almost EVERYTHING has an app.

In this technological era, it's incredibly convenient, with everything just being at your fingertips these days.

During the time I've been in Toronto so far, I think there are a few apps I depend on heavily, so I’m sharing that list of apps with you all in the hopes that they’ll help you just as much as they have me, if you don’t have them already.

These are just the ones I use most often on a day-to-day basis.

I have an iPhone so these are all available on iOS, but I'm not 100% certain if they are all available on android, but there may be similar ones.

If you're not finding one of the apps from this list on android, please let me know and I'll do a search to find ones that are similar and update my list!

So without further ado, here are my 13 handy apps I use on a regular basis, while living in Toronto and Canada.

If you have any other apps that you use that you think are pretty helpful and want to provide any recommendations that I can add to this list, please don't hesitate to reach out so I can update the list!

(Please note: This list was create before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so some service options by some of the apps may be currently unavailable or delayed.)

Here's the short list of everything I expand on in much greater detail below, to help with your scrolling!

For Travelling

(1) Moovit

(2) TTC Watch

(3) Presto

(4) Uber

(5) Lyft

(6) Google Maps

Everyday Essentials

(7) Your mobile provider's app

(8) Your banking app

Shopping/Redeeming Points

(9) Scene+

(10) Amazon

(11) Stocard

Ordering food

(12) Uber Eats

(13) Skip the dishes

FOR TRAVELLING

This is a really easy to use transit app, where you plug in where you're trying to go, and the app provides you with numerous options available - which transit lines, the travel times and estimated prices so you can determine which is the shortest travel time, or which method of transport you want to use to get to your destination.

It also gives you notifications like "you’re two stops away," or "your bus is arriving," or if you have headphones in, you'll also hear these notification audibly, which I find pretty useful, especially if you don’t know where you’re going, or you get distracted and forget to check when you're supposed to get off and realize your stop was 3 stops ago. (Been there, done that unfortunately.)

I’d give it an 8/10 - Sometimes it is a bit difficult to see exactly which side of the road you're meant to get off, or get on the bus. I've had an experience or two where I got on the bus going in the wrong direction, and have also found myself having to walk around slightly lost a few times trying to figure out where exactly the stop is if it isn't properly labelled by the TTC.

The arrival times of the buses and trains isn't always accurate either, which is why I suggest pairing any travel app you use with the TTC watch app if your main method of transportation is the TTC.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the transit system in Toronto, the TTC is the main public means of transportation here; the Toronto Transit Commission, ranging from trains to buses to street cars.

The TTC app from my experience, gives the most accurate arrival times for buses (compared to all other apps) and updates automatically if the buses or whatever means of transport you’re waiting for is late, or even early.

It also gives relatively timely news updates if there are any delays and why, which is really handy to check before you plan on heading out.

I don’t know if this app is available on Android, but if you're also looking for any updates for possible delays or closures, the TTC's twitter page @TTCnotices updates at the same as the app, so you can search there as well for any major delays, street or subway closures and any other necessary updates that may affect your travel time.

I’d rate this app a 9/10.

This is a relatively new app, but I believe since the start of 2019, the presto has become the main means at paying for boarding the TTC vehicles.

The presto card in itself is a really handy way of paying for your transit rides, as there is a two hour transfer period allowing you to get off and get back on any TTC vehicle within a two hour period without anymore fees being deducted after the first time you tap the presto card at a terminal.

For short trips this is great, especially when you time it, because you can run errands for a good two hours if you pace yourself correctly and only end up paying the $3.20 fare once.

The presto app is a good way to both check your card balance, and be able to put money on you card, or top it up. (and check your travel history if need be.)

If your card is lost or stolen, you can also block it in the app, or transfer any funds that were on an old card, to a new one.

In a recent update, whereas my biggest con to the app used to be that if you were to upload money on the card directly from the app, it could take up to 24 hours to reflect on the card, making it a large nuance if you were in a rush and hoping to leave in the next 10-15 minutes, NOW, when you upload money on the card from the app, the longest amount of time it's taken for me to show up on the card is about 25-30 minutes.

This is a big improvement from prior years, trust me! You can directly load the card with any amount of your choice, and similarly to how it's done at the subway station machines, you simply hold the card up against your phone and let it load, and boom, that's it-card loaded.

The app says it can take up to 4 hours to load officially, so I'm assuming this will be based on how much you try to load on the card at once - perhaps larger amounts may take longer. However for smaller amounts like $5, $10 or $20, this doesn't usually take more than an hour if so much.

Note that if you're looking to load money on your card immediately without any wait period, this can only currently be done at the presto machines found in the subway stations.

If you don't live nearby to a subway line, your best bet is to load your card through the app. So make sure you check your balance regularly to determine if you need to top up the card so you don't get caught by surprise when that big red X shows up on the presto reader on the buses, subways and streetcars when you have insufficient funds!

I’d give it a 7.5/10. When we're able to load money on the card with zero wait time for it to reflect on the card officially, it'll get a 10/10 from me.  

I didn't realize how often Uber and Lyft were used till a few months after being in Canada, noticing quite a number of people would choose to call an Uber over taking the TTC.

If you're unfamiliar with Uber and Lyft, they are car riding services where you can book a trip to a location in someone's car, and there are even options to upgrade the ride, like getting an Uber XL to hold more people, or premier which offers premium rides with highly rated drivers, even luxury rides with professional drivers.

To get from point A to B though, you can't go wrong with a regular Uber or Lyft.

You're notified when your driver arrives, along with a picture of them, and their license plate number so you can ensure you're getting in the right car.

There are also safety aspects, like you can share your ride with someone if you want them to know where you are.

At the end of the day, deciding how you want to get to your destination comes down to two factors: the prices, and the running or wait times for the transit.

After a night out for example, the TTC isn't the most viable option when the trains stop running around 1AM. Or if you've been waiting for a bus for over half an hour that was supposed to come within 5 minutes and you have somewhere to be, or you're just tired waiting for the bus out in the cold.

When you compare how long it would take to commute to a location, and then you look at how long it would take to drive there, the difference is usually huge.

An hour and a half commute on 2 buses and train, could end up being a 20 minute car ride, and some days, you really just don't want to be stuffed in a bus full of people. Some days you find yourself comparing a $25.00, twenty minute car ride to a $3.20, one hour and thirty minute commute and finding it to be not too bad in the moment.

Both the Uber and Lyft apps are pretty accessible. I'm more familiar with Uber's and how you can share your ride and split the cost with people to limit how much you pay for example.

I usually avoid trying to use them just to be cost savvy, save some money, but like I said, sometimes a quick car ride by yourself is more appealing than a bus stuffed with people.

Sometimes Lyft and Uber offer discounts too, so you just need to check your email regularly, but I don't personally have a preference between the two. I have both apps on my phone so that if I do decide to Uber or Lyft, I can check which app is offering the cheaper option for where I'm trying to go.

Note that fares are subject to change subject to change within minutes (such as it being rush hour, or a holiday) so book your option quickly before the price changes.

I'd give both a 8/10

I personally prefer google maps to apple maps just because I feel as though you get a better variation of travel options with it.

It's pretty similar to the other travelling apps I use, but I mainly use it when I want to clarify the location of a place I'm going to just to make sure.

Google maps is also helpful in the fact that it provides you with satellite imagery which helps when you're trying to locate a specific building.

It's another good travelling app to have on your phone (I believe you can never have too many), plus you can download some maps to have them accessible even when offline, which comes in handy when you find yourself in that situation where your phone data decides today of all days it wants to trip. Technology has its moments you know.

My side note for the google maps app though, the transit times it provides in terms of when the next bus or train might be, in my experience they have been terribly inaccurate.

I almost never go with the next bus countdown on the google maps app, rather I compare my transit with the TTC watch app to get the most accurate wait time.

Following those google maps countdowns have left me waiting in sun, snow, rain and wind for extended amounts of time, so please take my advice so you can make sure you leave at the best time with the shortest wait times!

I'd give it an 8/10

EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS APPS

To my knowledge, all the big phone companies and mobile providers have their own apps.

Having your mobile provider's app on your phone gives you the fastest way to not only pay your bill, but also keep up to date with information like when your next bill is due, how much data you've used vs. how much you have left, how many minutes you've used and so on.

I have freedom mobile so I also get notifications when I'm halfway through my data usage for example, and text messages when my phone bill becomes available.

The freedom mobile app is a bit finnicky, but paying your phone bill through it is relatively easy, as is checking your data balance.

This is another great app to have on your phone for quick access to your funds and check how much is in your balance.

One of my 'biggest' discoveries in Canada was the phenomenon that is 'e-transfer' (also know as interac) and to my knowledge most of the major banks offer this service.

Compared to back home, Canadians don't really carry cash around like that, so e-transfer is a great way to send money to people, whether it's paying for your rest, paying a friend back for that Uber you took home because you were both super tired after a night out, or you just felt like sending a friend $10 to sponsor their morning coffee, it makes it all really simple, and it's done through the app.

The main difference I would say in terms of e-transfer is based on your bank and your account, as there are some limitations as to how much you can send, or minimums as to how little you can send as well. Some accounts also carry a fee for transfers, so make sure you understand the dynamics of your bank account before you begin sending money anywhere.

Scotiabank for example has a $10.00 minimum e-transfer sending limit, so I can't send anything under $10, which isn't too bad, but I believe some others don't have a minimum limit. All accounts will have a maximum though.

In general, e-transfer is pretty easy to use, you just have to plug in the email address of the person who you're sending the money to (this would be the email address they have linked up to their bank account) and if they don't have auto-deposit on, you'd just have to make up a question and a password for that specific transaction. All you do after is provide the person you're sending money to with the password and the money will be deposited.

Direct deposit is extremely convenient though, because no password is needed for money to be send and deposited into your account. When you get a job here, they usually ask for your direct deposit information as this is how you would receive your paychecks, but it's just a matter of changing your account settings.

I turned direct deposit on one day and just never looked back.

FOR SHOPPING/REDEEMING POINTS

This is one of those cards that is part of a points system.

I mainly use it in the major movie theatres here - Cineplex, but there are also a few other places/restaurants around Toronto such as the rec room (an arcade/restaurant downtown), Montana's and more where you can also gather points, or redeem them for money off on your meal.

Essentially, the more you spend the more points you earn.

Every time I go to the movies I have them scan my card so I can rack the points up, and with a certain number of points, you can get a free movie ticket. (That's how I ended up seeing Black panther the second time and Avengers Endgame for free)

With 1,250 points for example you can get free admission to a general movie or regular 3D movie, where 2000 points redeemed is a free ticket for an enhanced movie, such as an IMAX, or IMAX 3D movie.

If you forget your physical scene card or just don't carry it around, your card's bar code is also virtually available in the app.

It sounds like a lot of points you may have to wrack up, but after just a few movies, you'll be there in no time. Especially if you go with a group of friends and let them scan your card for you.

You also get points from buying food at the theatre too, so you'll rack up those points in no time, trust me.

Sidenote: If you bank with Scotiabank, you also get points anytime you use your debit or credit card, so that's another way to rack up those points quickly.

I'd give it an 8/10

Amazon prime has been one of my best friends these past three-ish years.

I believe when you're signing up as a student for the first time,  you get prime free for the first six months, where you get options like free shipping, one day/two day shipping, and access to other things. Prime student after that carries a cost of $3.99 a month, or $39 annually, so still pretty affordable on a student budget. (it bumps up to $7.99 monthly or $79 annually when you're no longer a student, so take advantage of those student discounts!)

The amazon app is a great way to track your purchases, get timely notifications when your package is shipped, out for delivery and has been delivered, and through the app you can just scroll through it, and all the items offered with ease.

If you have an amazon Alexa, you also get real time notifications when a package is delivered, when the ring lights up green, indicating you have a new notification.

If you have an error or issue with an order, you can also go through the process of issuing a return, or even contacting amazon customer care if needed, all through the app.

With amazon prime you're also eligible for Amazon Prime video so that also gives you a number of movies and TV shows to watch aside from Netflix or Disney plus if you use those streaming sites as well.

I'd give it a 9/10

Another thing I realized upon coming to Canada is that there are a lot of discounts offered almost everywhere you look, and points programs are actually pretty common. By racking up points, you get discounts on certain items in certain stores. The more points programs you sign up for though, the more cards you're going to get, and overtime it can get a bit difficult to store all those cards, plus your banking cards, travel cards, ID cards and everything else in your wallet. That's where Stocard comes in!

Stocard, is an app which gives you the option to scan a number of cards you have, giving you the option to have a digital version of them on your phone.

The numbers of stores offered is limited, mainly to major or popular brands. For example, Airmiles and Optimum cards, which groceries and drug stores like Metro, Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart use can be found. You hand scene card can be stored here too. Take a moment and search through the app to see if stores you signed up with are also supported by stocard to make you wallet just a little less cluttered, it'll help you out in the long run, trust me.

I'd give it a 7/10

FOR ORDERING FOOD

This is another one of those apps I learned about when coming to Canada because prior to that, I'd never heard of skip the dishes.

As a food delivery app, it's pretty good, your restaurant options would vary of course based on your location, and they often have discounts, as well as some restaurants which offer free delivery when you have an order over a certain amount, usually $20 or $30.

The service I've experienced from using this app hasn't been too bad, and it's pretty easy to track how far away the order is, but there does tend to be some lag, so the distance away your delivery person is, doesn't always tend to be 100% accurate from my experience.

In newer updates, they've also introduced a point system, where you earn points on every meal you purchase, where the more money you spend, the more points you get.

2500 points are redeemable for $2.50 off a meal, 5000 points is $5.00, 10000 points is $10.00 and 15000 points is $15.00.

For a $24 meal (tax and delivery fare included), I've received 195 points, whereas a cheaper meal of around $13, I've received 106 points, It all depends on how much you spend, and your status in the app. I currently have gold status which earns be 10 points per dollar according to the app, but it only takes 2 steps to achieve gold status.

Note that with this app, when tipping your delivery person, compared to uber eats when you can do it after the food is delivered, with skip the dishes you put the information in before you place your order.

From my experience, skip the dishes tends to be much cheaper than Uber eats, especially if you're just looking for something small to eat and don't want to incur those frustrating service and small order fees. Delivery fees tend to be lower by a dollar or two on skip the dishes as well,

However my main cons with the Skip the dishes app is that it isn't simple to communicate with the courier who's delivering your food, the lag time in the time notice of the courier's location and a lack of categories which makes it harder to search for something to eat, say you're feeling for Chinese food for example.

However, I have had some good experiences with customer service to get refunded when I received delivery notifications only to go downstairs and see that the food was in fact, never delivered.

I'd give it a 6.5/10

This is another great food delivery app, where again, your restaurant options are based on your location.

Uber eats is better when it comes to tracking how far away your courier is, or communicating with them and vice versa if say there's a delay with your order.

My main con with Ubereats are all the additional fees you have to pay aside from the fee for your meal and delivery and tip. Those service fees and small order fees can take a $13 meal to about $25, and on a student budget, sometimes it's really just not worth it.

I do prefer however, how Ubereats couriers take a photo in the app to indicate the food has been delivered, as skip the dishes doesn't do that. The confirmation of delivery can prevent a hangry episode you know.

Ubereats also has their food options categorized, which makes for an easier browse through if you're feeling for something particular, and they also have regular 15 minute shuffles of restaurants that will offer free delivery if you order within that period. That can make a big difference on your meal total depending on the restaurant.

Tipping the courier is also relatively easier in Ubereats as well, and they can even say thank you for the tip which I think is really nice.

• I'd give it an 8/10