Even though Google has finally started taking an active interest in indoor maps, this particular genre of navigation is still in its infancy. There aren’t any major apps that can help you when you are lost within some huge building, given the fact that your GPS will be nearly useless on most such occasions. Add the lack of internet connectivity to this scenario, and your smartphone is left utterly redundant as a navigational device. Fortunately, if you have a Windows Phone 7, there is now a really easy solution to said problem. Meet FastMall, an amazing Mango app that will let you find your way inside any major shopping mall, and that too without GPS or internet connectivity! Doesn’t that sound too good to be true? Wait till you hear the rest of it.
If you allow FastMall to access your current location, all the nearby malls will show up on the app’s main screen. If you don’t find anything interesting there, it is possible to search for any particular mall or store. The app has a decent database, but of course, it doesn’t list every mall in the world. The good thing here is the fact that you can request the FastMall team easily to add a new mall to the app. Once you have found the mall you were looking for, FastMall takes you to its dedicated page. The info page shows mall timings, its location on the city’s map and other relevant data. As soon as you view a mall’s info, it is automatically downloaded for offline viewing. Inside the mall, users get a detailed indoor map of the place, highlighting all the stores and important location within the premises. You can apply filters to the map, so that only relevant locations are shown. FastMall also comes with detailed instructions to get to any area of the mall.
Although indoor navigation is the main feature of FastMall, it comes with some great secondary offerings as well. The app can be used to call up stores from anywhere (at least the ones whose numbers are listed), and you can come across some fairly decent deals using the app. The deals can belong to any store, and are sorted into different categories for the convenience of users.
If you are living in the US, the app can be particularly useful for you, and although malls from other countries are listed as well, their entries are usually not as detailed as the US ones. In any case, giving FastMall a try can’t hurt you one bit, as the app is available for free at the following link.
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