Going to Bali with your family and wondering which Bali app you really need for a smooth trip? Finding your way in a new place can be tricky. But with the right apps on your phone, your Bali adventure can go from stressful to super easy. If you get WhatsApp, Grab, and Gojek ready, your Bali trip will be much more convenient. Here’s what I learned from using them myself.
Why These Apps are Your Phone’s Best Friends in Bali
Today, phones and apps have totally changed how we travel. In Bali, things like how people talk or get around might be different from home. So, having the right apps is super important, not just nice to have. These apps help you talk to people even if you don’t speak their language, make planning easier, and help you find local services. This means less time stressing and more time having fun in Bali! Whether you need to talk to your hotel or get a ride from the beach, the right Bali app really helps.
WhatsApp – The Must-Have Bali App for Talking to Everyone
Think of WhatsApp as the main messaging app in Indonesia – almost everyone uses it! If you don’t have this Bali app, it’ll be hard to connect with people. The good news is you just need a phone number to join. It’s smart to put it on your phone and set it up before you leave home. Most places in Bali, like small restaurants or tour companies, like to use WhatsApp for bookings and questions, sometimes even more than Instagram.
My Real-Life WhatsApp Experience in Bali:
For real, WhatsApp was a huge help on our Bali trip. Before we even got to Indonesia, I used it to talk to our hotel. When we were in Bali, it was the main way we talked to everyone. It wasn’t just helpful; we really needed it.
Key Ways We Used WhatsApp in Bali:
- Talking to Your Hotel: We used it for everything: confirming our stay before we arrived, checking in and out, asking for more towels, or telling them if something small was wrong. They answered fast on WhatsApp.
- Booking Tours: We booked some day trips and fun things to do by talking to local companies on the app. It’s good for fast questions and making sure things are set.
- Talking to Drivers: If we had a driver we booked before or a Grab driver, WhatsApp was great for saying where to pick us up, making sure they knew where we were going, or telling them if we were a bit late.
- Talking to Restaurants: Some small local eateries (warungs) or cafes sent us menus on WhatsApp. We even used it to order food to pick up.
- Laundry: We found a laundry place and used WhatsApp to plan when to drop off and pick up our clothes.
- Chatting with Guides or Locals: It’s super useful for quick chats if you’re meeting a guide or need to ask a local person a question.
To use WhatsApp or any other Bali app well, you need good internet. To stay connected easily, think about how to get internet data in Indonesia with a local SIM card or an eSIM.
Grab – Our Favorite Bali App for Rides and Food!
For getting around Bali, Grab was the clear winner for our family. We put Gojek on our phones too, just in case, but we almost always used Grab for our rides. Besides rides, we also used Grab to get food delivered on nights we felt lazy. A cool thing was finding cheap gift cards for Milk Tea at a mall in Sanur using the Grab Bali app!
Why We Say Grab is the Best Bali App to Use:
- Easy to Use (Supports English): Gojek sometimes felt more for locals, but Grab is super easy to use in English. This means you don’t have to worry about not understanding the language in this Bali app.
- Know the Price Before You Go: You don’t have to bargain or worry about paying too much. The app tells you the price before you book. Even if there’s traffic (and there’s often traffic in Bali!), the price stays the same. This is really calming.
- GrabUnlimited Free Trial Goodies: We tried the GrabUnlimited free trial for 90 days and got some nice extras. If we signed up earlier when we were taking more rides, we could have saved more money. It was easy to cancel, so you should give it a try. You can find out more on the Grab official website.
Tips for Families Using Grab in Bali:
- How We Used It: We booked our first airport pickup and a ride from Padang Bai port to Sanur with our boat company. But for everything else, we used Grab.
- Easy Food Delivery: It was super easy to order food when we were too tired to go out, especially with the kids. GrabFood has lots of choices.
- Getting a Grab Ride: Make sure your phone’s location is on. It’s usually better to ask for a ride from a main street or a big building, not from a tiny back alley (called a ‘gang’).
- Chat with Driver: The app has a chat feature to talk to your driver. This is good for telling them exactly where you are or sending a quick message.
Gojek – The Bali App with Lots of Features, But Not Our Top Pick
To be honest, we didn’t use Gojek much at all. I first got it to check if its ride prices were different from Grab, but that’s pretty much all we used it for. This Bali app has many features, but it wasn’t the best for us.
Why We Didn’t Use Gojek Much:
- Language Problems: Even when we set the app to English, lots of ads, service names, and notes were in Indonesian. Gojek mostly uses English and Indonesian, but the Indonesian words popped up a lot.
- Hard to Find Deals: It was tough to know if there were any discounts or special deals. We didn’t want to keep using a translation app just to understand them.
- Grab Was Just Easier: Grab did everything we needed so well that we didn’t see a reason to use Gojek. We know Gojek has lots of services, like GoFood (for food delivery), GoMassage (for massages), and GoClean (for cleaning). But when you’re a tourist with family, an app that’s easy to use is more important than an app with tons of services that are hard to figure out.
Good to Know: Some Places Don’t Allow Ride Apps
Watch out: in some parts of Bali, like the Padang Bai port and some busy tourist areas, you might not be able to use Grab or Gojek. This is because they have deals with local taxi groups. When we went to the Gili Islands from Padang Bai, our boat company arranged a car for us. This happens a lot, so check for local taxis if you can’t use these apps. This is a good reminder to plan ahead when choosing a Bali app for transport.
Bali App Face-Off: Which Ones We Used Most and Liked Best
Here’s a quick look at how much we used each Bali app and if we liked them:
| App | How Much We Used It & Liked It | Short Review |
| ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Used all the time) | A really important Bali app; you’d be stuck without it. | |
| Grab | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Used every day) | The best Bali app for all our rides and food. |
| Gojek | ⭐ (Used once or twice) | Has lots of features, but language problems made it hard to use. |
What to Do Before Your Bali Trip: Get Your Apps Ready!
From what we learned, here’s what you should do to get your apps ready before your trip:
- Install and Sign Up for WhatsApp: Use your current phone number from home. Get it set up and try it out.
- Install, Sign Up, and Add Payment to Grab: This is super important so you can use it as soon as you land. Add your bank card.
- Install Gojek: Keep it on your phone just in case you need a backup.
My Honest Tip: It’s okay to have Gojek on your phone as a backup, but really focus on learning WhatsApp and Grab. Just these two apps will make your Bali trip much easier and more fun. These are the top Bali app choices for a good reason.
Cool Facts: How People Use Apps in Southeast Asia
Lots of people in Southeast Asia use apps now, and this really changes how you travel in Bali:
- Lots of People Have Smartphones: A company called Statista said that in 2023, about 3 out of 4 people in Indonesia had a smartphone. By 2028, almost 9 out of 10 people will! This means most local people and shops know how to use apps, so using a Bali app to talk or buy things is normal.
- Ride Apps are Super Popular: In 2023, a report showed that Grab was the most used app for rides in Southeast Asia (more than half the time!). Gojek is also very popular. This shows that these apps are trustworthy and lots of people use them.
Your Questions Answered (FAQ) about using a Bali App
- Q1: Can I use my phone number from home to set up these Bali apps?
- A: Yes, you can set up WhatsApp with your phone number from home before your trip. You can also sign up for Grab and Gojek. But to use the internet all the time in Bali without paying a lot for roaming, it’s best to get an Indonesian SIM card or an eSIM. This will make using your Bali app choices easy and cheap.
- Q2: Is Grab or Gojek cheaper for rides in Bali?
- A: Prices can change depending on how busy it is, the time of day, and special deals. For us, the prices were often close. But Grab showed the price clearly before the ride and was easier for us to use in English. So, we liked Grab better, even if it was sometimes a tiny bit more. It’s good to check both apps if you have them.
- Q3: Do I need to speak Indonesian to use these apps?
- A: For WhatsApp, many places that tourists go to can talk in English. The Grab Bali app is very good in English. Gojek can be set to English, but sometimes it still showed Indonesian words, which was a bit tricky. You can usually use basic English with drivers, but saying “Terima Kasih” (Thank You) is a nice touch!
- Q4: What’s the best Bali app for food delivery?
- A: Both Grab (using GrabFood) and Gojek (using GoFood) are great for getting food delivered. They have lots of restaurants. We mostly used GrabFood because we liked the Grab app better overall. But GoFood is also very popular and good. You might choose based on which restaurants are on each app or if one has a special deal.
- Q5: Is it safe to use ride apps like Grab and Gojek in Bali?
- A: Usually, Grab and Gojek are safe to use in Bali. The apps show you the driver’s name and car, you can see where you are on a map, and there are safety buttons in the app. Like with any ride app anywhere, it’s smart to check that the car’s license plate and the driver look like what the app shows before you get in. This is an important safety tip for any Bali app you use for rides.
Last Words: Make Your Bali Trip Awesome with These Smart Apps
Putting these three main apps—WhatsApp, Grab, and Gojek (as a backup)—on your phone and learning how to use them before your trip can make your Bali vacation much better. They make things so much easier, especially when you’re with family and have kids, bags, and plans to manage. Getting these apps ready is a small thing that makes a big difference in how smooth and good your trip is.
So, download these helpful Bali app tools, set them up, and get ready for an amazing, easy trip to Bali!