You’ve planned every aspect of your next trip; the flights, rental car, and hotel nights are booked, reservations are made at that restaurant you keep hearing about, your distant cousin picked out a great place to meet up for coffee, and directions to the art museum are saved in your phone. Perfect, right? Well, what are your plans for when nature calls and you’re in the middle of an unfamiliar city? You may want to download a Restroom Finder App – just in case.
Restroom Finder Apps are one of those resources that you’d rather have and not need than need and not have. You may be out of town, have medical reasons, or just be away from your usual stops – whatever the reason, knowing the location of the nearest restroom can be a lifesaver. These apps allow you to access databases of hundreds of thousands of toilets across the world.
Keep in mind that since these communities rely on members to add, review, and report bathrooms, they’re only as good as their members. One app may have more users (and more toilets) stateside whereas another may have a more European population. It’s always a good idea to try different options and see which one works for your needs.
Whenever you need the bathroom, water closet, lavatory, powder room, or whatever you like to call it, be prepared with these one or more of these restroom finder apps.
Flush Toilet Finder
Free on App Store or Google Play
Flush offers information on over 190,000 public restrooms around the world. Quickly see if the nearest loo offers disabled access, requires you to ask for a key, or even charges a fee for use (many around the world do). With its Google Maps integration and clean design, as well as commendable user ratings and update schedule, Flush makes a solid choice.
Charmin Sit or Squat
Free on App Store or Google Play
If you’re looking for an app made by a company who should know a thing or two about bathrooms, try Charmin Sit or Squat. When visiting a restroom, users can add photos and rate the facilities as a “Sit” (clean!) or a “Squat” (self-explanatory). Search via map and see what’s around you, or filter the results in case you don’t mind walking a little further for a free, sit-worthy bathroom. You can even bookmark your favorites. Requires an account (via email, Facebook Connect, or Twitter) to leave reviews.
Charmin also offers an online version of their toilet database with over 100,000 locations.
WC-Finder
Free with in-app purchases on App Store
Highly-rated and boasting a very large 600,000+ location database, WC-Finder may be your best bet for finding a nearby restroom. Available in 10 languages, descriptions can include operating times, handicapped access, cleanliness, and any comments available about the water closet. Although it may be the most popular bathroom finder on this list, it also boasts the worst interface (at least to me). With a couple of features added and a little redesign, this would be a hands-down winner.
Toilet Finder
Free on App Store
Toilet Finder does not have all of the features as the other apps we have mentioned, but since these apps are only as good as their communities, you may want to see how it fares in regards to your next destination. The app features the usual bells and whistles, but also allows users to rate the bathroom on a 5-Star scale to get a more accurate rating rather than just a thumbs up or thumbs down. They are the only app on this list to also offer an Apple Watch App, showing a map and list view of facilities right on your wrist. Users complain about a lack of locations, but your mileage may vary.