Top 3 Bathroom Finder Apps to Use While Traveling
We’ve ranked 3 different bathroom finder apps according to their usefulness in different situations. Whether you’re traveling abroad or going on a road trip, these restroom finder apps will point you in the right direction…
When we started researching this topic, we thought we’d have to sift through dozens of mobile apps to find the best ones. It turns out that one app rules the day. However, there are a couple of other apps that are still worth a mention, especially for different forms of travel and ease of use.
Furthermore, we were surprised to realize that many other blogs highlight apps that rank poorly or don’t even exist anymore! Tsk tsk on those blogs for not doing their due diligence. They seem to be simply regurgitating what another misinformed or out-of-date blog wrote.
So, here is a researched list of the best bathroom finder apps and when you might prefer one over the other.
Best Bathroom Finder App Worldwide
The “app that rules them all” I mentioned in the intro is Flush Toilet Finder & Map. It is a free app with no in-app purchases available on Apple and Android devices.
This app has a simple map and list display of over 200,000 public restrooms around the world. You can click on one of the nearest toilets, and the app will direct you from your current location using your phone’s default GPS.
If you read the reviews, you’ll see a mix of pros and cons. In truth, this is a very basic app. It doesn’t have as many filters and features as you might expect for the top app. But I guess the simplest way is the best way when it comes to toilet finder apps because others don’t rate well or don’t survive. Perhaps Flush Toilet Finder managed to dominate the top so quickly that newer and potentially better apps just couldn’t compete.
Does Flush Show Clean Restrooms?
It’s worth noting that Flush Toilet Finder does NOT show you the cleanest restrooms. It only shows you nearby restrooms. This is true for both the paid and free version (which I’ll get into more soon.)
However, you can swipe left on a toilet in the list view to rate and report a toilet. Presumably, this means they might exclude toilets that repeatedly get bad ratings or reports. But they do not claim that directly. So, perhaps they’re simply collecting that data for a future update. Being able to view the ratings would be an excellent update.
It does offer a simple search filter where you can click to find public loos that require a fee, requires a key, or has disabled access. The first filter is most used outside of the United States, where many a public bathroom require a fee to use. Beware that some also require you to provide or purchase toilet paper, too.
Flush Toilet Finder vs. Flush Pro
When searching for Flush Toilet Finder in the Apple App Store, you might have noticed two different versions. There is the free version and the paid Flush Pro version. There is no significant difference feature-wise; they both give you the same information. The only differences are the pro version is ad-free and includes Apple Watch support.
If you use Android devices, you only have the free option. Flush Pro is currently not available in the Google Play Store.
Best Bathroom Finder App for Road Trips
The best app to find clean public restrooms on a road trip is not a bathroom finder app (not specifically, at least). It’s actually an app designed to help you find the cheapest gas prices. So, it’s a win-win for road trips.
IEXIT INTERSTATE EXIT GUIDE tells you what’s at upcoming exits on the highway, including gas stations, rest stops, restaurants, and hotels. It also has a nice search feature where you can search for specific chains, like a Peet’s Coffee shop, or a specific amenity, like WiFi.
That all sounds great, but what about finding a clean bathroom?! Unlike Flush Finder, IEXIT does display a rating system. It’s linked with one of the best systems for user-generated ratings: Yelp. You can see the Yelp star rating of each location that you can then click on for more information.
That rating display and clickability help you determine which nearest public restroom is the cleanest.
The biggest downside to this app is that it’s only useful for road trips in the U.S. If you’re traveling outside the country, you’ll have to rely on the basic interactive map in Flush Finder. Or, you can use another go-to…
Best Bathroom Finder App You Probably Already Have
For convenience’s sake, many would argue that the best mobile app is the one you already have. That’s especially true if you need to use a restroom NOW. In that case, you can refer to the ultimate go-to finder app: Google Maps.
There’s a good chance you already have Google Maps on your device. If you don’t, it’s available on Apple devices and on Google Play service.
You can search specifically for toilet types, like “accessible restrooms” or “clean public restrooms near me.” However, these results tend to be more limited.
I suggest using a different tactic with Google Maps to get the most options and rated results. Instead of searching for restrooms specifically, search for fast-food, gas stations, or restaurants. That way, you have many more options and can see their star rating and select accordingly.
To take that one step further, you can search specifically for places known for clean restrooms! Here’s a quick summary of those places.
CLEANEST TRUCK STOPS
CLEANEST GAS STATIONS
CLEANEST FAST FOOD JOINTS
- Chick-fil-A
- In-N-Out
- Culvers
What Are NOT the Best Apps Despite What Others Say
Are you curious about what we said in the intro about misinformed and out-of-date blogs highlighting bad apps? I know we would be if we were you, so here is a link that tells you why apps like Bathroom Scout and Charmin Sit or Squat aren’t on our list.
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