Yukitabi, an offline travel guide to Japan for iPhone and iPad, is free on the App Store through 31 December 2026, according to its listing. The Hong Kong tech site New Mobile Life reported on October 25 that the app normally costs US $0.99.

What the app includes

Yukitabi is aimed at people planning a first trip to Japan who want answers on their phone without hunting for a signal. According to the listing, all content is bundled in the app, so no network is required once it is installed.

  • Step-by-step arrival guides for Narita and Haneda airports, covering immigration, customs, SIM activation, IC cards, luggage forwarding and getting into the city
  • More than 30 Japanese dishes explained, with allergen notes and ordering phrases in Japanese, romaji and English
  • A phrasebook for restaurants, transport, shopping, hotels and emergencies, with Japanese text, hiragana reading and romaji, plus a “show card” mode for handing your phone to someone
  • 16 cherry blossom viewing spots with bloom timing, crowd levels and access notes
  • 28 in-depth guides on topics such as IC cards, the JR Pass, money, connectivity and luggage forwarding
  • Cultural tips on bowing, chopstick etiquette, train manners and onsen rules
  • Interactive checklists that save your progress, plus favourites

The latest update

Version 1.1 arrived on the day of the offer. The developer lists support for iPhone Duo, with guides and related phrases shown side by side on the open display. It also adds Fieldbook pages that keep guides, phrases and personal notes together, a dietary card reachable from supported widgets and controls, and better restoration of your reading position.

Privacy and limits

The listing says there is no account, no tracking, no analytics and no ads, and that favourites and progress stay on the device. It also states there are no subscriptions and no in-app purchases, so the free offer is not a trial for a paid tier.

A few things to check before you download:

  • The app is in English only.
  • It is 52.4 MB and requires iOS 17.0 or later, or iPadOS 17.0 or later. The listing marks it as designed for iPad and not verified for macOS.
  • The developer is listed as Hassan Sami Adnan, and the description says the app was built in Oxford by a Japanese developer.
  • The listing shows a single rating of 5.0, so there is very little user feedback yet.

What it means for you

For readers in Canada and the United States, the sources give only the US $0.99 normal price. Canadian pricing and availability have not been stated, so check the listing in your own App Store region. Anyone with a Japan trip coming up has until 31 December 2026 to pick it up at no cost, according to the listing.

To get it, open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad, search for Yukitabi and tap Get. Offers like this can change at any time, so confirm that the price shows as Free before you download.