Country Survival Kit app icon

Country Survival Kit.

A curated travel companion for people who plan before they travel. Language, culture, currency, and everything else you'll need — for every country, offline.

See what's inside ↓ Coming soon to the App Store

Before you go

Know before you land.

Every country highlights the entry requirements — visa position, arrival cards, travel authorisations, passport validity. Each claim is sourced to the government that issues it and dated, so you can trust it's current.

Where a country needs an online form — Korea's e-Arrival Card, Thailand's TDAC, Malaysia's MDAC — CSK links the real government portal. Search results for these are full of lookalike sites charging $50 for a free or $7 official application; the app hands you only the genuine one.

The South Korea entry requirements in Country Survival Kit: visa-free 90 days, the e-Arrival Card requirement with the official e-arrivalcard.go.kr link and a warning that third-party sites charge $50 for the free application, and the K-ETA waiver with its end date

During the trip

The screens you'll actually keep open.

A widget with live exchange rates and the time in both places — home and where you've landed. A full currency converter that works offline and remembers the ones you use. A curated list of the local apps that actually matter — not the tourist-facing ones the internet promised. Three surfaces CSK travellers reach for most.

The Country Survival Kit widget on an iPhone home screen, showing the live pound-to-ringgit rate, a conversion table, clocks for home and Kuala Lumpur, and shortcuts to phrases, apps and the country page

The home-screen widget

Today's rate and both clocks at a glance — and one tap to the tools below. For a lot of travellers this is the whole app, most days.

The Currency Converter in Country Survival Kit, showing a live US dollar to Malaysian ringgit rate, saved currencies and a number pad

Live currency

The tool people open most. Real European Central Bank rates, saved currencies side by side — cached, so it keeps working with no signal at all.

The Recommended Apps screen in Country Survival Kit, listing curated local and global travel apps for Malaysia — Touch 'n Go, Grab and others — with a short verdict on each

The apps that actually work there

One app instead of ten. A curated verdict on which local apps to install before you land — rail, transport, payments — and which to skip.

What's inside

Six sections. The same six, every country.

Consistency is the point. Once you know where the tipping etiquette lives in Japan, you know where it lives in Portugal.

Language

Speak the language

Essential phrases with native script, phonetic pronunciation and audio playback — at normal speed or slowed down. The alphabet, numbers from 0 to 1000, and the signs you'll actually need to read. Plus a phrase quiz, and the history of how the language got that way.

The Language section in Country Survival Kit — speak the language
Essential Phrases in Country Survival Kit — Switzerland's three languages with a German, French and Italian selector, each phrase showing phonetic pronunciation, English translation and an audio button

Heritage

Know the country

Country facts, history from ancient to modern, and the customs and etiquette that separate a guest from a tourist. Deliberately concise — depth where it earns its place, not padding for symmetry.

The Heritage section in Country Survival Kit — know the country
History in Country Survival Kit — an illustrated timeline of Switzerland from the 1291 Confederation to permanent neutrality and the Red Cross, each era tagged and summarised

Explore

Discover where to go

Where to visit, with insider tips rather than brochure copy. Getting around by metro, train, bus, ferry, taxi, car and plane. An interactive map with themed pins that tap straight through to Apple Maps — every place tagged with whether it's an easy day trip from where you're staying.

The Explore section in Country Survival Kit — discover where to go
Getting Around in Country Survival Kit — Switzerland transport: SBB federal railways and mountain cable cars and cogwheel railways, with journey times and the Swiss Travel Pass

Food & Drink

Eat like a local

The dishes worth ordering, with native names, pronunciation and audio, and vegetarian and vegan indicators. A menu decoder so you're never guessing at a menu. And a drinks guide with the cultural context that makes the ordering make sense.

The Food & Drink section in Country Survival Kit — eat like a local
Must-Try Dishes in Country Survival Kit — Swiss dishes such as fondue, raclette and rösti, with native names, phonetic pronunciation, audio playback and vegetarian markers

Trip Essentials

Travel smart

Month-by-month weather and packing. Money and budgeting. A full currency converter with live rates that caches for offline use — the same one that powers the home-screen widget. Emergency and health information, eSIM and connectivity, and an honest verdict on which local apps are worth installing and which aren't.

The Trip Essentials section in Country Survival Kit — travel smart
Weather & Packing in Country Survival Kit — a month-by-month grid of Switzerland temperatures, conditions and what each month is like to visit

Quick Reference

At a glance

The section you'll open in a hurry. Emergency numbers you can tap to call. Tipping etiquette by context, so you're not guessing at the bill. Embassies and consulates with 24/7 lines. And a dual-country clock that tells you not just what time it is at home, but whether it's a reasonable hour to call.

The Quick Reference section in Country Survival Kit — at a glance

Works everywhere.

Every country downloads for offline use. Aeroplanes, remote regions, hotel WiFi that never quite works — CSK doesn't care. The information you need is already on your device.

Every country earns its place.

Each entry is researched, verified, and edited before it ships — no thin countries, no filler. Six regions are live today, from Europe to the Americas, and every one is growing. Oceania is next.

Europe

— live, growing
  • Hungary Free
  • Albania
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Moldova
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey

Southeast Asia

— live, growing
  • Malaysia Free
  • Cambodia
  • Indonesia
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

East Asia

— live, growing
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Taiwan

Americas

— live, growing
  • Argentina
  • Mexico
  • Peru

Middle East & Africa

— live, growing
  • Morocco

South Asia

— live, growing
  • India

Coming this year

Oceania

Nothing ships until it's ready.

One price. Every country.

Start free with Hungary and Malaysia, in full. Unlock the rest — and every country we add afterwards — when you're ready.

Free

$0

Hungary and Malaysia — free and complete. Two whole countries, not a trial: every section, every entry requirement, offline.

Everything

$19.99 / year

or $59.99 once — pay once, it's yours, no subscription.

All 40 countries, and every country added after. Same content either way — the choice is just how you pay.

No ads. No tracking. No account. Purchases are handled by Apple, and you can cancel a subscription any time from your iPhone's Settings. Subscribers keep the price they join at as the catalogue grows.