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Naver Corporation, a rival company to Kakao, handles more than 75% of all web searches in Korea. While many Koreans still use Kakao’s services for many of their online needs, Naver holds first place for many categories.
Why are Naver apps popular in Korea?
Launched in 1999, Naver was the first Korean web portal to develop its own search engine. When searching for information about specific places in Korea, Naver normally has more accurate information than Google. Top search results not only include websites but popular blog posts as well. Using Naver apps to searching for places like restaurants will return maps, hours of operation, menus, and reviews.
With increasing users and high accuracy, Naver provides a wide range of apps for user convenience and extensive learning. One useful tip for Naver, is to search using Korean as opposed to another language. Now, let’s check out the top 5 Naver apps to simplify your life in Korea!
1. Naver Weather
If you have ever travelled to Korea, you will find that the weather in Korea is pretty unpredictable. The temperature difference is vast during the day and at night. Especially when the season changes, the temperature does rise or drop drastically overnight. The Naver weather provides a good overview of the daily temperature, it also shows the humidity and air quality (dust level) based on real-time updates.
This is why checking the weather on Naver app is one essential thing to do almost everyday. It also helps one to decide the outfit for the day!
2. Naver Dictionary
A widely used dictionary application. Naver dictionary features translations and examples of Korean words and phrases. It will show multiple definitions of words along with the Hanja (한자, Chinese characters) and the Korean word in a foreign language of your choice. As other translation applications sometimes provide incorrect definitions, this is the most trusted dictionary application for Koreans.
There is also a Naver application for translation known as Papago (파파고). It boasts a translation system which is less robotic and designed to learn from mistakes. This helps the AI to adapt to how people communicate naturally and in turn, increases the accuracy when translating into other languages. Hence, Papago has become one of the most popular apps among travellers and foreigners in Korea.
3. Naver Map
The Naver Map provides a diagrammatic representation of all areas in Korea. Both street view and overhead satellite views can be toggled to see even more details in the app. You can search for a location by using addresses or even phone numbers. From finding information on points of interest nearest to your current location to viewing live schedule information on buses and subway trains, the Naver Map is definitely one app you need to have.
Do you know that they even have the option for downloading maps to your device in case you don’t have internet access? When it comes to finding your way in Korea, you can be assured that the Naver app will surely come in handy!
4. Line
Line is a freeware communication application under Naver Corporation. While KakaoTalk is the most popular messaging application in Korea, Line is also popular. Line has over 600 million users globally and it is apparently the most popular free messaging application in Japan!
Line has many features similar to KakaoTalk such as voice and video messaging, emoticons, location sharing, and contact sharing capabilities. If you meet students from other countries while studying at Go! Go! Hanguk partner schools, they may prefer Line instead of KakaoTalk.
5. Naver WebToon
Webtoons are becoming more and more popular due to its fresh and appealing storyline. With plentiful visual images and easy to read content, webtoons have gained a massive readership in recent years. Do you know that these famous K-dramas; True Beauty, All of us are dead, Sweet Home are also adapted based on Naver Webtoons?
Keep up-to-date with the most recent and popular webtoons using this app. You can easily search, browse, and find your favorites and sort by views, recently updated, or title. You can continue reading from where you left off as well as temporarily download webtoons for offline enjoyment. Simply get notified as soon as your favorite webtoons are updated via the Naver app!
Naver now offers a variety of services such as news, cloud storage, webtoons, shopping, maps, dictionaries, and blogs. What are some of your favourite Naver apps?
For more information, follow the Go! Go! Hanguk blog and be sure to contact us about living and studying in Korea!
