Phone Friday: Google Places, a parent's best friend

Google Places for Android (known on my phone only as Places) answers the simple question: what's nearby. Right. This. Second.

I'm sure it's useful for finding trendy cafes and hipster boutiques. But, I have to admit I've repeated found it useful for one key thing: finding the nearest park in an unknown area (say, Boston, for example). Because where there are parks, there's often playgrounds. And where there's a playground, there's an instant fun activity for our little one.

Of course, as a parent, it's useful for more than just park hunting. You've got other attractions, as well as restaurants and other local businesses you might need. It makes on the fly planning as convenient as possible.

In many ways, this app is one of those game changing uses for your phone. Like a GPS, suddenly a stream of information is available to you that tells you just what you need to know, at just the right time.

While I thought I installed the the app separately, apparently my memory is incorrect. It seems that Places is part of Google Maps. You'll want to make sure you have the latest version of Google Maps, which should insure you have the Places app.

So tell me - as a parent - what resource is most important for you to be able to find in a hurry?