UrbanBuddy Mobile App: Staying local while travelling around the world

A mobile travel app, Urban Buddy helps travelers draw wisdom from veteran city residents in real-time. The Chicago-based mobile app offers their on-demand concierge services in different cities all over the world.   

Urban Buddy is a travel  app that helps tourists have knowledge of the veteran city residents whether they are on the other side of the continent.  Paul Brogna and Pete Stam created the UrbanBuddy so people would relate to their travel experience. The user may ask questions into Urban Buddy and in just a few minutes later, a genuine local provides you honest, real-time, and personalized recommendations and advice.

The Chicago-based duo, Paul Brogna and Pete Stam debut Urban Buddy last fall as just a website. But the pair quickly realized that the app would be more accessible if the app could provide answers on the go. This spring Brogna and Stam just released a beta app that sends answers to users via email. That program will be developed anytime soon, as claimed by the duo. Brogna and Stam stated that they've already yielded the latest version of the app to the iTunes store that features in-app communication in a format similar to a text message.

And in a way, the travel app has earned the anti-Yelp."This is a really accessible way to talk to locals," says Brogna. "You're getting someone's personal experience. That's more valuable than reading through ten pages of links or reviews." Brogna and Stam didn't really confessed the secrets of the successful app, what with Google's City Experts turning into a similar domain. However, the pair did give a simple introduction of how they link these travelers with the locals. The first step to the success of the app is searching for a dependable resident, known to them as a "city team leader," who builds the core buddy network.

While the app remained accessible, it is still flooded with questions.But so far the internal selection process is working. Animal New York recently challenged the app to a series of tricky questions, yet they found out that it is more than willing to answer the questions. "It's not just a random mass of locals," claimed by Brogna.

To date, the Urban Buddy has already launched in six cities, including Chicago, New York, Mexico City, Barcelona, Paris, and Berlin. But Brogna and Stam promised that they prepared an expansion plan that will extend to 25 more cities. Meanwhile, the travel app remains significant for tourists. A lot of them even developed friendship with the local residents who have aided them with their travels.