Taiwan Travel Apps 2026: 13 Apps to Download Before You Go
Taiwan travel apps to install in 2026, by trip stage: Go! Taipei Metro, Google Maps, Uber, 55688 and T Express, plus the arrival card and paying for the MRT by card.
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Once the flights to Taipei are booked, the next question is what to put on your phone. Several lists of Taiwan travel apps start with booking apps and eSIMs, and most of the ones we checked leave out the arrival form almost every foreign visitor has to file.
Before you fly, submit the Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) online within the 7 days before you arrive. Taipei Metro gates now take a contactless bank card or phone. Install Go! Taipei Metro and Google Maps for getting around, Uber or the 55688 taxi app for rides and T Express for the high-speed rail. LINE is optional, for contacting Taiwanese businesses.
Each app other than Aizzie was updated in 2025 or 2026, is in the US, UK and Australian App Stores, and has English in its listing (YouBike is the one exception). Booking, eSIM, banking and shopping apps are left out. Details come from app store listings, operator websites, Taiwan, UK and Australian government pages, TWNIC's internet report, LINE's business pages and a TNGlobal news report, all checked in October 2026. Aizzie, under trip planning, is this site's own planner.
Key Takeaways
File the Taiwan Arrival Card online within the 7 days before you arrive, on the National Immigration Agency's free official site. It replaced the paper arrival card on 1 October 2025.
Since 1 July 2026, Taipei Metro gates take contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover cards, and Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. Foreign cards work.
For rides, use Uber or a taxi app such as 55688. Grab does not operate in Taiwan.
The table covers the 13 travel apps for Taiwan in this post. The language column lists interface languages from each app's App Store listing, not the languages it can translate.
App
What it's for
Languages in the App Store
Notes
Aizzie
Trip planning
English
Web and mobile app (sign-up required)
Go! Taipei Metro
Taipei Metro routes and live arrivals
English, Chinese
Switches to Japanese or Korean in the app
Google Maps
Directions, places
40+, including English, Chinese
YouBike
City bike share
Chinese
Single rental for visitors with a credit card
Uber
Rides, taxis
40+, including English, Chinese
Uber Taxi is metered; cash or card
55688 Taiwan Taxi
Taxis
English, Chinese
English option; some report sign-up trouble with foreign numbers
T Express
High-speed rail tickets
English, Chinese
Book and collect tickets in the app
Taiwan Railway e-booking
Railway tickets, live train info
English, Chinese
Covers the east coast
Uber Eats
Food delivery
30+, including English, Chinese
foodpanda
Food delivery
17, including English, Chinese
LINE
Messaging
17, including English, Chinese
Google Translate
Text, camera and conversation translation
70+, including English, Chinese
Offline after you download a language
Taiwan Weather
Forecasts, typhoon and other alerts
English, Chinese
Central Weather Administration
Languages and store listings change. The table reflects the App Store as of October 2026.
Map apps tell you how to get from A to B. Before the trip, you also have to decide where to go each day and in what order. A first trip to Taiwan is often split between Taipei and one or two other cities, such as Taichung, Tainan or Hualien, and where the train leg falls shapes the rest of the trip. Aizzie is an AI trip planner for that step. Enter a destination and dates, then pick a travel style and interests, and it drafts a day-by-day itinerary.
You can change a single day or optimize the route in its copilot chat. Place data comes from Google Maps, with opening hours and ratings. Each leg shows the travel mode, time and distance, with a Google Maps link for directions.
Tripmates can co-edit in a browser without installing the app, though each needs an account. Core features are free after sign-up with no credit card. The mobile app shows your trips offline.
On the day, Go! Taipei Metro and Google Maps show the way, and Uber or 55688 takes you between stops. For other AI planners, see the best free AI trip planners in 2026.
To draft a day-by-day plan for Taipei and the rest of the island before you go, start a trip here.
The Taiwan Arrival Card is a website, not an app, and almost every foreign visitor needs it. Submit it within the 7 days before your arrival date, counting the day you arrive, at twac.immigration.gov.tw (National Immigration Agency). The online card replaced the paper arrival card on 1 October 2025, and it is free. The National Immigration Agency says the official site never asks for card details, so a site that charges a fee is not the official one (same source).
Each traveler files their own card, children and infants included. Foreign nationals with an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) or a resident visa don't need to file one. If you have no phone or internet access, you can complete it on a tablet in the arrival hall (same source).
The National Immigration Agency widened the window from three days to 7 on 15 July 2026 (National Immigration Agency), but UK and Australian travel advice still says to file within three days before arrival (GOV.UK, Smartraveller). Filing in the last three days before you land meets both.
How long you can stay depends on your passport. UK nationals can visit without a visa for up to 90 days, and GOV.UK says your passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the day you arrive (GOV.UK). Check the requirements for your passport in your government's travel advice before you book.
Since 1 July 2026, you can tap a contactless bank card or a phone at every Taipei Metro gate, and cards issued abroad work (Taipei Metro). Taipei Metro accepts Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover cards, and bank cards in Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay (Taipei Metro).
On an iPhone, set your card as the Express Transit Card in Wallet to tap through without unlocking the phone (Taipei Metro). Tap the bank card reader on the gate, marked with the Tap to Pay logo, and tap out the same way. Each card or phone covers one passenger, so everyone in your group needs their own (Taipei Metro).
Where
How to pay
Notes
Taipei Metro
Contactless bank card or phone wallet, or an EasyCard or iPASS
Bank cards are charged the single-journey fare
Taoyuan Airport MRT
Contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB or UnionPay, or a phone
Use the gates marked for bank cards
Taichung MRT
Contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB or UnionPay, a phone, or an IC card
Bank cards and phones at the accessible gates
Kaohsiung MRT
Contactless bank card or phone, or an EasyCard or iPASS
Use the gate's credit card reader
Taiwan High Speed Rail
A ticket from T Express or the station
Foreign bank cards and ordinary IC cards don't open gates
Taiwan Railway (most trains)
EasyCard or iPASS
Bank card acceptance not covered here; check at the station
City buses
EasyCard, iPASS or cash
No bank cards on Taipei and New Taipei buses
A bank card gets no transfer discounts (Taipei Metro). It also earns no Frequent Rider discount, which stored-value cards such as the EasyCard still qualify for (Taipei Metro).
The Taoyuan Airport MRT takes contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards and phones at its dedicated bank card gates. Use the same card or phone to enter and exit (Taoyuan Metro).
Taichung MRT takes contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards, and phone wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay (Taichung City Government). Tap bank cards and phones at the accessible gates, and use the same card or phone to exit (Taichung MRT). Kaohsiung MRT takes contactless bank cards, and phones with a Visa, Mastercard, JCB or UnionPay card, at a separate credit card reader on the gate (Kaohsiung MRT, Kaohsiung MRT).
For buses and Taiwan Railway, carry a stored-value IC card: an EasyCard or an iPASS. iPASS is Taiwan's other main transit card. It works on the Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung metros, the Kaohsiung Light Rail, Taiwan Railway and many city and intercity buses (Tourism Administration). You can buy one at Taoyuan and Kaohsiung airports, at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart, and at metro station counters (iPASS).
An EasyCard works on the whole Kaohsiung MRT, light rail included (EasyCard). On Taiwan Railway, it works at every station between Suao, Keelung and Pingtung, on all trains except tour trains, group trains, the Taroko Express, the Puyuma Express and other designated reserved-seat services (EasyCard).
Taiwan High Speed Rail is the exception. Its gates take EasyCard and iPASS co-branded credit cards with autoload switched on, which are charged the non-reserved-seat fare (Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan High Speed Rail). An ordinary EasyCard or iPASS and a foreign bank card are not on that list, so book in T Express or buy a ticket at the station.
On city buses, pay with an EasyCard, an iPASS or cash. In Greater Taipei, tap your card both when you get on and when you get off (Taipei Department of Transportation). Taipei and New Taipei buses don't take bank cards, apart from the EasyCard function of a co-branded card (Taipei City Government).
Go! Taipei Metro (台北捷運Go) is the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation's own app. It has the route map, fares and travel times, a journey planner, first and last trains, live arrival times, service updates, and how crowded each line and train is. You can also buy Maokong Gondola tickets in it (App Store). Tap the globe icon at the top left of the home screen to switch the interface to English, Japanese or Korean (same source).
YouBike is the public bike share in Taipei and many other cities, including Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung (App Store). Visitors without a Taiwan mobile number can still ride: in the official YouBike app, tap "Rent via QR Code", choose "Single Rental" and link a Visa, Mastercard, JCB or UnionPay credit card. Then scan the QR code on the bike's screen to unlock it (YouBike). Full membership needs a Taiwan mobile number and a Taiwan ID or residence certificate number (same source).
The app's App Store listing and description are in Chinese only (App Store), which is why it is the one exception to this list's English test. YouBike's English FAQ walks through the single-rental steps.
Uber and the 55688 taxi app cover Taiwan's cities. Grab, the ride-hailing app many readers know from Southeast Asia, lists eight countries on its own site, and Taiwan is not one of them (Grab).
Uber operates at Taoyuan International Airport, with options including UberX, Uber Taxi, UberXL, Comfort and UberXXL. Uber Taxi charges by the meter, and you pay in cash or by credit card (Uber). Uber's Taiwan page lists cities including Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan and Tainan (Uber). The app's interface includes English and Chinese (App Store).
55688 Taiwan Taxi books taxis by GPS, by address or by searching for a landmark such as Taipei 101. You can pay in cash or with a linked credit card, LINE Pay or an EasyCard, among other methods (App Store). Its listing includes English. A 2022 App Store review said not every screen was translated, and a 2025 review said the app was now in English, so keep your destination's Chinese name handy either way. Some App Store reviewers also say sign-up failed with a phone number from outside Taiwan (App Store). If that happens to you, use Uber instead.
T Express is Taiwan High Speed Rail's official app. You reserve a seat, pay, change or cancel the booking, and collect the ticket in the app, so you can board with your phone instead of queuing at the station. Timetables and fares stay readable offline (App Store).
Taiwan Railway e-booking is the railway's official app. It handles seat reservations, online payment, changes and cancellations, and shows live train information and timetables (App Store). It is the app for the conventional railway, including trains to Hualien and Taitung on the east coast.
Taiwan's two food delivery apps are foodpanda and Uber Eats. Both work in Taiwan with an English interface (App Store, App Store). Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission describes the market as effectively a duopoly between the two. On 21 October 2026 it blocked the sale of foodpanda's Taiwan business to Grab, so for now both apps stay as they are. The seller, Delivery Hero, can appeal (TNGlobal).
You can get through a trip without LINE. Install it if you'll contact restaurants or other Taiwanese businesses, many of which take questions and bookings there. In TWNIC's 2025 Taiwan Internet Report, 90.26% of Taiwan's internet users named LINE as the instant messaging app they use most (TWNIC). LINE says Taiwan had 3.4 million LINE official accounts in 2025, with restaurants among the five fastest-growing industries (LINE Biz-Solutions). In a 2024 Nielsen survey that LINE cites, 85% of users had made a booking, ordered food or shopped through an official account (LINE Biz-Solutions). LINE's interface includes English and Chinese (App Store).
Google Translate translates Chinese (Traditional) and English by typing, through the camera and in conversations. Feature support varies by language (App Store). To translate without an internet connection, download the language in the app while you are on Wi-Fi (Google Translate Help). Naver's Papago, which also translates Chinese, is in the same stores (App Store).
Taiwan Weather is the Central Weather Administration's app. It shows 7-day and 3-hour forecasts, radar and satellite images and air quality, and it pushes weather alerts. The interface is in Traditional Chinese and English (Central Weather Administration). From 1911 to 2025, three or four typhoons hit Taiwan in an average year, most of them from July to September (Central Weather Administration).
Save the emergency numbers before you go: 110 for police, 119 for ambulance and fire, and 112 when your phone has poor reception. For other help, call the Foreigners in Taiwan Hotline on 1990, or the 24-hour travel information hotline on 0800-011-765 (Tourism Administration). The 1990 hotline replaced the old 0800-024-111 number, which closed on 1 July 2022 (National Immigration Agency). From outside Taiwan, the number for the 1990 hotline is +886-800-001990 (National Immigration Agency).
Earthquakes are frequent in Taiwan, and strong ones occur quite often (Central Weather Administration). When a typhoon approaches, each city mayor or county magistrate decides whether offices and schools close (Laws & Regulations Database), and the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration lists each area's status (DGPA). Check the Taiwan Weather app and your train app before a travel day.
Lists that suggest Grab are wrong for Taiwan, because Grab does not operate there. Use Uber or 55688.
Lists that tell you to fill in a paper arrival card are out of date. The online TWAC replaced paper cards on 1 October 2025.
"Buy an EasyCard before you ride the Taipei Metro" is out of date too. Since July 2026, a contactless bank card or phone opens the gates. An EasyCard or iPASS still helps on buses and outside Taipei.
At minimum, install Go! Taipei Metro and Google Maps for getting around, Uber or 55688 for rides and T Express for the high-speed rail. Add LINE if you'll contact restaurants or other Taiwanese businesses. Before you land, submit the Taiwan Arrival Card online within the 7 days before you arrive (National Immigration Agency).
Yes. Foreign visitors submit the Taiwan Arrival Card online at twac.immigration.gov.tw within the 7 days before arrival, counting the arrival day. It is free, and each traveler, children included, files their own (National Immigration Agency). It replaced the paper card on 1 October 2025.
Yes, since 1 July 2026. Tap a contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club or Discover card, or a card in Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, at the gate. Foreign cards work (Taipei Metro), and each card covers one passenger (Taipei Metro).
No. Grab lists eight countries on its site, all in Southeast Asia, and Taiwan is not one of them (Grab). Use Uber, which operates at Taoyuan Airport, or a taxi app such as 55688 (Uber).
T Express, Taiwan High Speed Rail's official app. You book, pay, change or cancel, and collect the ticket in the app, then board with your phone (App Store).
Not for the Taipei Metro, where a contactless bank card or phone opens the gates (Taipei Metro). An EasyCard or iPASS still works on city buses and most Taiwan Railway trains, and it also works on the Kaohsiung MRT, which takes bank cards too (Tourism Administration, Kaohsiung MRT). Taipei and New Taipei buses don't take bank cards (Taipei City Government). On the Taipei Metro, an EasyCard also still qualifies for the Frequent Rider discount that bank cards don't earn (Taipei Metro).
To have each day's stops and the legs between them laid out before you land in Taiwan, build the trip in Aizzie.
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