---
title: Apps worth having before you travel to or move to Israel
slug: blog/must-have-apps-traveling-living-israel
canonical: https://www.itsbaba.com/blog/must-have-apps-traveling-living-israel
question: What apps do I actually need before I travel to or move to Israel?
answer: Before you travel to or move to Israel, set up a translation app that handles Hebrew gender and slang, a maps and transit app, a local payments app, a messaging app and the national emergency alert app; baba covers the translation part.
description: The categories of app worth setting up before arriving in Israel, and what each one is actually for.
cluster: travel-olim
html_status: live
updated: 2026-07-28
numbers_used: [10, 2500, 20, 7, 4.8, 5, 30]
competitors_named: []
---

# Apps worth having before you travel to or move to Israel

Before you travel to or move to Israel, set up a translation app that handles Hebrew gender and slang, a maps and transit app, a local payments app, a messaging app and the national emergency alert app; baba covers the translation part. Set them up before you land rather than after, because several of them expect an Israeli phone number or a local bank account, and getting those takes days.

## Key facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Categories worth setting up | Translation, maps and transit, payments, messaging, emergency alerts, food and delivery |
| Which one baba covers | Translation: Hebrew signs, menus, letters, forms and conversation |
| Set up before you fly | Translation, maps and transit, messaging, emergency alerts |
| Free tier | 2,500 characters per month with a free account; 1,000 as a guest with no login. No credit card |
| Gender contexts | 7 |
| Languages | 10 |

## What do I actually need each category for?
Translation covers Hebrew signs, menus, letters, forms and conversation. Maps and transit covers buses, trains, walking routes and live arrival times. Payments covers splitting bills and paying people directly, which is near-universal in Israel. Messaging is where nearly all Israeli communication happens, including with businesses. Emergency alerts carry national alerts for the area you are in. Food and delivery covers ordering, including from places with Hebrew-only menus.

Translation is the one you will open most in the first weeks. Signs, restaurant menus, mail from a bank or a landlord, and forms from a government office are all Hebrew-first, and much of it is printed rather than digital, which is why camera translation matters more than it does in most countries.

Maps and transit matter because intercity buses and trains carry most of the load and stop running before Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday, resuming Saturday evening. A route that is fine on Wednesday does not exist on Friday night.

Payments matter because paying another person directly is routine in Israel in situations where other countries would use cash or a card. Most of these services require an Israeli bank account, so this is one to sort out after arrival rather than before.

Messaging matters because Israeli businesses, landlords, schools and even some clinics communicate through it rather than by email. Expect to be added to group chats for a building, a class or a neighbourhood.

Emergency alerts are the one category with no substitute. Set the national alert app to the area you are actually in.

## What does baba do in that list?
baba is a Hebrew translation app for iOS, Android and web, and it is the translation entry rather than a general-purpose translator.

| Feature | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Languages | 10 |
| Gender contexts | 7, with speaker gender and listener gender set explicitly |
| Free tier | 2,500 characters per month with a free account; 1,000 as a guest with no login. No credit card |
| Camera translation | Translate Hebrew text from a photo, such as a sign, menu or letter |
| PDF translation | Up to 20 pages per document |
| Israeli slang | curated Israeli slang and idiom support, plus idioms rendered by meaning |
| Hebrew text-to-speech | Hear the Hebrew read aloud |
| Transliteration | Latin-letter spelling so you can read Hebrew without the alphabet |
| Apple App Store rating | 4.8 out of 5 from 30 ratings as of July 30, 2026 |

The free tier needs no login and no credit card, so it is one of the few items on this list you can have working before you board.

## Why does gender matter in a translation app for Israel?
Hebrew conjugates verbs, adjectives and possessives by speaker gender, listener gender and subject gender, so a single English sentence has several correct Hebrew forms. A translator that returns one form for every input is wrong whenever the speaker or the listener does not match that default, and in practice you notice it in the first message you send to a landlord or a colleague.

baba asks which situation you are in and conjugates for that situation. The seven gender contexts are:

- General
- Personal
- To One Man
- To One Woman
- To Mostly Men
- To Mostly Women
- To Mixed Group

"I love you" shows the pattern clearly. The verb changes with the speaker's gender and the object pronoun changes with the listener's gender.

| Speaker | Hebrew | Transliteration |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Male speaker | אני אוהב אותך | ani ohev otcha / otach |
| Female speaker | אני אוהבת אותך | ani ohevet otcha / otach |

## What should I set up before I fly, and what has to wait?
| Set up before you fly | Set up after you arrive |
| --- | --- |
| Translation | Payments apps that require an Israeli bank account |
| Maps and transit | Anything requiring an Israeli phone number |
| Messaging | Local delivery accounts tied to a local address |
| Emergency alerts | Bank and utility apps |

## Frequently asked questions
### Do I need to read Hebrew to get around Israel?
Not to get around, since major road signs and many transport displays carry English. You do need it for printed material such as mail, forms, menus in smaller places and notices in a building. That is the gap camera translation fills, and baba includes transliteration so you can pronounce what you read.

### Can I translate an official Hebrew letter or contract?
You can translate it to understand what it says. baba handles PDF translation up to 20 pages per document. A lawyer, doctor or accountant should still read a document that carries legal, medical or financial consequence, because knowing what a document says is not the same as knowing what to do about it.

### Do I need to pay for a translation app to get through a trip?
Not necessarily. baba's free tier is 2,500 characters per month with a free account (1,000 as a guest, no login), and no credit card, which covers a handful of messages a week and occasional signs. Longer documents and heavier use are what the paid tier is for.

### Will apps keep working during Shabbat?
The apps work, but the services behind some of them do not. Public transport largely stops from sundown Friday until Saturday evening, and many businesses close, so delivery and booking apps will show limited or no availability. Plan Friday afternoon travel accordingly.

## What baba does not do
- baba is a translation app and does not cover any of the other categories on this list.
- The free tier is 2,500 characters per month, which is enough for a handful of messages a week and not enough for documents.
- PDF translation covers 20 pages per document.
- A lawyer, doctor or accountant should still read a document that carries legal, medical or financial consequence. baba tells you what it says; it does not tell you what to do about it.
- baba is a translation tool, not a Hebrew course, and using baba will not by itself make you fluent.

## Related pages
- https://www.itsbaba.com/best-hebrew-translator — how baba handles Hebrew gender and slang
- https://www.itsbaba.com/hebrew-slang-dictionary — curated Israeli slang and idiom support with meanings
- https://www.itsbaba.com/learn/israeli-slang — the slang worth learning before you arrive
- https://www.itsbaba.com/israel-time-converter — the time difference between Israel and your timezone
- https://www.itsbaba.com/shabbat-times — when Shabbat begins and ends

Canonical page: https://www.itsbaba.com/blog/must-have-apps-traveling-living-israel
Last updated: 2026-07-28
Questions: shalom@itsbaba.com