A new version of the popular North Korean mobile app “My Traveling Companion” was released recently, Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Aug. 25 that version 4.0 of the smartphone app has been released, explaining the app is “very popular among young people and drivers.”
North Korea’s “My Traveling Companion” is a navigation app like South Korea’s Kakao Navi or TMAP.
Early this year, North Korea’s English-language newspaper Pyongyang Times reported that “My Traveling Companion 3.1” was North Korea’s most popular app last year in terms of users. It appears last year’s Version 3.1 was updated to Version 4.0 this year.
The source said the app is convenient — drivers can find where they need to go without a map as long as they have the app on their phone.
“Drivers love it because they can instantly find areas and regions they are visiting for the first time,” he said.
The source added that in North Korea, you cannot go wherever you like without a travel certificate or an authorization number, so people like opening the app’s map just to look at it and imagine going to places they have never been.
North Korea restricts freedom of movement to better control its population. All North Koreans who travel beyond the borders of their province of residence must carry a certificate issued by the authorities. Sensitive regions designated as “authorization number zones” require travelers to receive an authorization number first before entering them.
North Koreans who cannot freely travel due to travel restrictions can take digital trips as they gaze at the navigation app’s map, said the source.
“Many kids use the app almost as if it were entertainment,” he added.
However, users living in areas that don’t have good reception to the country’s data network find that the app doesn’t work that well.
The source said many drivers say the app freezes in places with poor quality signals. Only people going on long journeys or to unfamiliar places really need it, but “people going to places they always go don’t use it,” he said.
“They say the new version improved the signal reception issue, but I don’t really know yet,” he continued, adding, “The Rangnang Information Technology Exchange Center plans to take charge of developing the app and distributing it to mobile phone service centers.”
North Koreans are making daily use of different apps as more and more of them have smartphones. Popular apps differ from region to region, the source said.
“The apps people use the most slightly differ in each region, but in Pyongyang, people use office suites and foreign exchange apps,” said the source. “People in Yanggang Province like the Chinese language learning apps that are continuously being released, but they also use support apps and secret apps.”
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