Congratulations! You have now moved to the U.S.A. as an international student (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) or foreign worker (H1B work visa, O1 work visa, L1 work visa, P1 work visa) and are trying to adjust to the lifestyle here. This article will be introducing some useful apps to help you assimilate to the U.S. lifestyle. The most commonly-used apps in the United States will be covered below.
Table of Contents
U.S.A. Money-Related Apps
When you are studying in the U.S.A. as an international student (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) or working as a foreign employee (H1B work visa, O1 work visa, L1 work visa, P1 work visa), it is very likely that there will be times where you are eating out with a classmate or coworker and would need to split the bill. The following list includes the apps that people usually use in the United States to split the bills.
- Venmo
- Your U.S. bank app that has Zelle Quickpay
- Cash app
VENMO
To use Venmo to send or receive money in the U.S.A., you will need to first create an account that links to a bank account, credit card, or debit card. Sending money from a bank account or debit card through Venmo is free. However, for credit cards, Venmo charges a 3% fee for sending money. You can search for the other user through their name, phone number, email address, Venmo username, and their QR code.
ZELLE
Zelle Quickpay can be used through your U.S. bank app to send or receive money. You can search for other Zelle users using their email address or phone number.
CASH APP
Cash app is a little different from Venmo and Zelle because in addition to sending and receiving money for free, it can also be used to spend money that you have saved in the app or to invest in stock or bitcoin. To use Cash App in the U.S.A., you will need to first create an account that links to a bank account or debit card. You can search for other users, using their name, phone number, email address, or QR code.
U.S.A. Map Apps
The most commonly used map apps in the U.S.A. would be Google Map app or Waze. The google map is useful for walking directions and driving directions. Waze is generally for driving directions.
U.S.A. Language Apps
Google Translate
You can type, copy and paste text, import images with text to translate in the google translate app, or you can point your camera on your phone to the text you want to translate. You can also use the microphone on your phone and start speaking to translate as well.
The Google Translate app is a very good translation tool if you haven’t mastered speaking in English yet. Furthermore, you don’t need to use internet connection to use the Google Translate app.
U.S.A.Taxi & Car Apps
The most commonly used taxi or car service apps in the U.S.A. would be Uber and Lyft. There are different types of rides you can choose from. For example, you can choose what type of car you would like to be picked up in or whether you are willing to share a car with other people, such as when you choose Uber Black you may expect to be picked up in an BMW, Mercedes, Audi or similar level of cars and when you choose Uber Pool you would share the car with up to three other people.
U.S.A. Food & Restaurant Apps
The more well-known food delivery apps in the U.S.A. are Ubereats, Grubhub, Doordash, and Postmates. You can also have other types of items delivered to you with Postmates. Opentable is an app to book tables at restaurants in the U.S.A. Yelp is an app where you can read reviews of U.S. businesses that are posted by customers.
U.S.A. Shopping Apps
Rakuten is a cash back app that when you use the link to shop at certain websites through them, you get cash back from your purchase. It is more often used as a browser extension but also has a phone app in case you are using your phone to make the purchase. You can get paid with your cash back through a check or Paypal. For international students (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) or foreign worker (H1B work visa, O1 work visa, L1 work visa, P1 work visa) in the U.S.A., this is a good way to save some money when you shop online.
Amazon is the biggest online shopping platform for most type of goods in the U.S.A., their App is very useful when you want to buy something quickly or want to check the price of an item. Amazon offers students with a free trial and a discounted price for prime membership.
Dealmoon is an app that provides discount and promo codes for online shopping websites in the U.S.A. Dealmoon is always updating and has a robust Chinese speaking community. There are also a lot of resources about living in the U.S.A. It has a Chinese or English version. Dealmoon is strongly Recommended for Chinese-speaking users.
For a more comprehensive list of online shopping platforms for different type of items in the U.S.A., please read Commonly Used Online Shopping Platforms in the U.S. (UPDATED Full List).
U.S.A. News & Trending Topic Apps
The Twitter app and Reddit app are a good place to read about the latest news and trending topics in the U.S.A.
U.S.A. Apartment or House Apps
To rent or buy houses or apartments in the U.S.A., the following list of apps are a good place to start the search. International students (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) or foreign worker (H1B work visa, O1 work visa, L1 work visa, P1 work visa) who want to read more about searching for a rental apartment or house and moving in the U.S.A., please read “International Student Preparation Checklist Before Studying In The U.S.A.”, “A Guide to Searching and Renting Apartment or Houses in the U.S.”, and “A Guide to Moving in the United States of America (USA)”.
U.S.A. Music Apps
Some popular music related apps in the U.S.A. are listed down below. When you hear music that you really enjoy but don’t know the name of while living in the U.S.A., you can use Soundhound or Shazam app to search for the song via your phone’s microphone.
For streaming music in the U.S.A., Spotify and Apple Music are the biggest music streaming platforms. Spotify offers a free version where there will be ads sprinkled throughout and a paid version where there will be no ads between songs. Apple Music offers free trials for a period of time but there is no free version with ads like Spotify. Apple Music and Spotify both have a student plan at a discounted price for the paid tier.
- Soundhound (find music through phone’s microphone)
- Shazam (find music through phone’s microphone)
- Spotify (music streaming service)
- Apple Music (music streaming service)
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