10 Vegan Smartphone Apps to Make Life Easier

There are literally thousands of products and services available to make your veg-life easier—cookbooks, websites, magazines (ahem)—but what rivals them all for simplicity’s sake is the smartphone app. Since the iPhone boom, scads of apps have hit the market, many oriented toward a cruelty-free lifestyle. We’ve scrolled through and handpicked a list of 10 that bring the best of the veg experience into the palm of your hand. The next time you’re stressing about what to make for dinner or are feeling uneasy about mysterious ingredients, don’t worry—there’s an app to cover it.

For the iPhone

Veggie Passport ($0.99)
With Veggie Passport, your veganism will never be lost in translation. Use Veggie Passport to translate your request for a vegan meal when in foreign countries or to communicate your veganism in other languages.

Vegan Recipe Finder ($2.99)
From VegWeb comes Vegan Recipe Finder, bringing its collection of more than 15,000 user-submitted recipes—and counting—to your iPhone. Make breakfast, lunch, and dinner a breeze, as this app includes grocery lists and a recipe box for on-the-go chefs.

Vegan Steven (Free)
Vegan Steven seeks out the vegan hotspots in your neighborhood, with clues to vegan discounts all over your city. For tips on where to go and where to avoid, Vegan Steven includes ratings and reviews.

Cruelty-Free (Free)
The Cruelty-Free app saves time trying to decode the back of a package and tells you upfront if a product has not been tested on animals. The shopping guide features more than 200 cosmetic and household product companies in the US and Canada.

Is Your Beer Vegan? (Free)
Through processing, filtration, or as ingredients themselves, breweries and distilleries sometimes use animal products, and it won’t always be denoted on the label. Is Your Beer Vegan? lets you drink with as clear of a conscience as you can.

VeganXpress ($1.99)
Whether you’re on the go or dining out with non-veg friends, it can be difficult to decipher which menu items at mainstream restaurants are vegan. VeganXpress is the answer, listing vegan entrées at more than 110 chain restaurants, along with info on accidentally vegan snacks and junk food.

For the iPad

VegEZ ($4.99)
VegEZ comes to the iPad from Delicious TV, and features 50 of the network’s Totally Vegetarian recipes by hostess and podcaster Toni Fiore. For guidance, the app features photos, step-by-step videos, and complete ingredients with shopping lists.

For the Blackberry

Vegan with a Vengeance ($14.95)
The famed cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, is available for your Blackberry with more than 150 recipes and anecdotes for all your veg cooking needs.

For the Palm Pre

VeginOut Guide($1.89)
The VeginOut Guide, powered by HappyCow, lets you know where to find vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants throughout the world. VeginOut is also available for the Android and the iPhone under the name VegOut.

For the Android

Vegan Recipes ($1.99)
This recently released app searches through more than one million recipes to find whatever vegan recipe you could possibly want.