Moving Abroad Checklist: What Apps You Actually Need

Relocating to another country involves more than booking flights and packing boxes. The logistical challenges of navigating unfamiliar systems, managing finances across borders, and maintaining connections require practical solutions. Digital tools have become essential infrastructure for international moves, addressing everything from language barriers to local transport networks.

The applications covered here fall into distinct categories based on immediate necessity during relocation. Each serves a specific function that directly affects daily life abroad, from the moment you land to long-term settlement.

Financial Management and Banking

Currency conversion and international transfers are among the first practical challenges when moving abroad. Traditional banks typically charge substantial fees for foreign transactions and offer unfavourable exchange rates that compound over time.

• Wise (formerly TransferWise) has established itself as the standard solution for expats managing money across borders. The platform provides multi-currency accounts with real exchange rates and transfers funds internationally at costs that are eight times lower than those of traditional banks. Approximately 50% of transfers complete instantly, with most others arriving within an hour. The service includes local bank account details for multiple countries, allowing users to receive payments as though they held domestic accounts.
• Revolut offers similar multi-currency functionality with fee-free international spending. The platform supports real-time exchange rates and provides virtual cards for online purchases.

For regular international payments—whether settling rental deposits, paying university tuition, or managing obligations in your home country—these platforms eliminate the compounding costs of traditional banking infrastructure.

Language and Translation Tools

Language barriers create immediate friction in daily tasks, from reading restaurant menus to understanding official documents. Translation applications serve as essential intermediaries during the adjustment period and beyond.

• Mate Translate integrates translation directly into browsing and application workflows, eliminating the need for copy-paste between windows. The application supports 200+ languages and works across iOS, macOS, and major browsers, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. Users can translate text by double-clicking any word on webpages, and the application includes Safari browser extensions for seamless integration. The phrasebook function allows users to save vocabulary for offline reference, which is particularly useful for language learners. Mate also translates Netflix subtitles and can automatically translate clipboard content via keyboard shortcuts.
• Google Translate remains the most comprehensive free option, supporting 103 languages through text input and 52 languages offline. The camera mode provides instant visual translation in 29 languages, making it particularly useful for signage and printed materials. Conversation mode enables two-way speech translation in 32 languages. The application requires downloading specific language packs for offline functionality, though the process takes only a few minutes.
• Microsoft Translator supports 44 languages offline, including text and photo translation and a phrasebook. A distinctive feature is private chat rooms where each user types in their native language, with automatic translation displayed to the recipient.

Navigation and Transport

Understanding local transport systems represents a significant adjustment when moving abroad. Navigation applications tailored to public transit reduce the cognitive load of route planning in unfamiliar cities.

• Citymapper adapts to specific cities and integrates all available transport modes—bus, subway, train, ferry, ride-share, bike-share, and walking—into a unified journey-planning experience. The application provides real-time traffic updates, compares arrival times and costs across different transport options, and offers turn-by-turn navigation for all modes. Citymapper currently serves over 100 cities globally and has assisted more than 50 million users. The service includes features such as real-time bus and train tracking on maps, optimal train-car recommendations for boarding, and alerts when approaching your stop. Wheelchair-accessible routes are available in 17 regions.
• Google Maps is the primary navigation tool, offering offline map downloads for areas with inconsistent connectivity. The application provides real-time traffic updates, transit schedules, and detailed business listings.

Communication and Connectivity

Maintaining contact with family, colleagues, and new local connections requires a reliable international communication infrastructure that operates without prohibitive costs.

• WhatsApp has become the de facto standard for messaging outside North America, particularly in Europe and Asia. The application requires only internet connectivity—no international SMS charges—and includes voice and video calling functionality. If relocating from the US, expect local contacts to primarily use WhatsApp rather than traditional SMS.
• VPN services provide essential functionality beyond simple privacy protection when living abroad. A quality VPN allows you to access streaming services from your home country, circumvents local website restrictions, and protects sensitive activities like online banking when using public Wi-Fi networks.
  
  NordVPN offers 8,900 servers across 129 countries with fast connection speeds via the NordLynx protocol. The service includes a Kill Switch that immediately disconnects your internet if VPN coverage drops, preventing exposure on unsecured networks.
  
  ExpressVPN offers 188 locations worldwide—the most among major VPN providers.
• eSIM applications like Airalo and Keepgo eliminate the need for physical SIM cards when travelling to your destination country. These services provide mobile data plans that activate through their applications, often at lower costs than traditional roaming charges. Data purchases remain valid as long as you top up at least once yearly.

Accommodation and Housing

Securing housing represents one of the most critical tasks during relocation. Traditional rental platforms often cater to long-term leases that require local guarantors or credit history, which recent arrivals cannot provide.

• HousingAnywhere operates in more than 50 countries, with strong European coverage, and specialises in monthly stays without long-term lease commitments. The platform lists accommodations ranging from private rooms in shared houses to full apartments, with prices varying significantly by location—for example, in Rotterdam, offerings range from €400 per month for private rooms to €1,650 for three-bedroom apartments.
• SpareRoom facilitates flatshare searches, connecting individuals seeking roommates or rooms within existing households. This approach often provides easier entry into local housing markets while offering built-in social connections.
• For shorter initial stays while conducting housing searches, standard platforms like Airbnb remain useful, though monthly rates should be negotiated directly when possible to avoid platform fees.

Social Integration and Community Building

Establishing social networks in a new country directly affects both quality of life and successful long-term settlement. Purpose-built applications facilitate connections with both expats and locals.

• Meetup organises group events across 24 categories, including outdoor activities, professional interests, hobbies, and cultural activities. The platform allows users to join existing groups, RSVP to events, message other attendees, and create new groups around specific interests. Unlike one-on-one social applications, Meetup events provide a lower-pressure environment for meeting multiple people at once through shared activities.
• Bumble BFF adapts the dating application model to friend-finding. Users create profiles that indicate their interests and preferences, then match with potential friends based on compatibility. The BFF mode specifically excludes romantic intentions, focusing on platonic connections.
• Nextdoor connects residents within specific neighbourhoods, facilitating hyperlocal community integration. The application shares information about local events, services, recommendations, and neighbourhood activities, allowing gradual community participation without explicit "friend-seeking".

Document Management and Organisation

International moves generate substantial paperwork—visas, work permits, housing contracts, insurance documents, medical records, and academic credentials. Digital document management prevents loss and enables quick access when authorities request verification.

• Document scanning applications create high-quality digital copies using smartphone cameras.
  
  Adobe Scan receives positive reviews for user-friendliness and quality, with automatic storage in Adobe Document Cloud accessible from any device.
  
  Microsoft Office Lens integrates well with Microsoft products and offers free, reliable functionality.
  
  CamScanner provides free scanning with cloud storage connections to iCloud and Google Drive, though it adds watermarks to documents.
  
  The built-in Notes app on iOS also includes capable document scanning that many users overlook.
  
  For those already using note-taking systems, Evernote supports document scanning alongside its broader organisational features, including cloud storage, web page saving, and multi-device synchronisation.
• Notion, OneNote, and Google Keep function as digital note-taking systems for tracking contacts, important dates, to-do lists, and other information accumulated during relocation. These platforms allow collaborative sharing and work across devices.

Time Zone Management

Remote work across time zones or maintaining connections with family and friends in different regions requires tools that eliminate the need for mental arithmetic when scheduling.

• World Time Buddy provides visual, side-by-side calendar views across multiple time zones, showing optimal meeting times for all participants and automatically adjusting for daylight saving time changes. The application generates shareable links for proposed meeting times and includes mobile functionality.
• Google Calendar automatically displays event times in participants’ local time zones when invitations are sent, eliminating the need for manual conversion. The calendar settings allow you to add multiple world clocks beneath the monthly overview, showing the current time for regions where team members are based.
• Slack’s Timezone Butler application automatically detects users’ time zones and translates any times mentioned in messages, ensuring all participants reference the same hour regardless of their location.

Conclusion

The applications outlined here address fundamental needs that arise immediately upon international relocation and persist throughout expatriate life. Financial tools prevent costly traditional banking fees. Translation services reduce language barriers in daily interactions. Navigation applications decode unfamiliar transport systems. Communication platforms maintain connections across borders. Document management preserves critical paperwork. Social applications facilitate community integration.

Rather than installing every available application before departure, focus on the core categories most relevant to your circumstances. Financial management, translation, and navigation tools serve nearly universal needs. Other categories—social integration, healthcare, and time zone management—become more important depending on whether you’re moving alone, working remotely, or managing medical conditions.

The digital infrastructure supporting international moves continues expanding, with new applications launching regularly and existing services improving functionality. The tools available in 2026 significantly reduce the friction that previous generations of expats faced, transforming what were once substantial obstacles into manageable tasks that can be handled on a smartphone.