Best Transport App for Hong Kong: The 5 Apps to Install Before You Land

Ask anyone for the best transport app for Hong Kong and you'll get five different answers, and they'll all be right, because no single app does the whole job. One plans the route, one counts down the next bus, one books the taxi and one actually pays the fare. Here's the stack I'd put on a visitor's phone before the plane lands, and what each app is actually for.

The best transport app for Hong Kong is really five apps

Install Citymapper for door-to-door routing across every mode, the Transport Department's HKeMobility as the official backup, MTR Mobile for live train times and station exits, and a bus arrival app (HKBUS on iPhone, HK Bus ETA on Android) for the one question route planners answer badly: how many minutes until my bus. Then add the Octopus app, because none of the others can pay for anything. Uber earns a spot for its taxi-booking mode, and MyObservatory for the first time a rainstorm warning changes your afternoon.

Citymapper: the route planner I'd open first

Citymapper is the app I reach for when I don't know how to get somewhere. It compares routes across the MTR, Light Rail, KMB and Citybus, the Star Ferry and outlying-island ferries, the trams and the green minibuses in one search. Its GO mode breaks the journey into steps (walk here, wait for this, get off there) and surfaces each one at the right moment, which is exactly what you want on an unfamiliar bus route with no announcements you can follow. You can also share a live arrival time with whoever is waiting for you, and save a trip for offline use; the MTR has mobile coverage underground, so that's less about tunnels and more about a hotel wifi login that hasn't come through yet.

Where it falls short is depth. Citymapper tells you to take the Island line to Central; it won't tell you which carriage to stand in or which exit puts you closest to the ferry pier. That's what the next two apps are for.

HKeMobility: the government's all-in-one

HKeMobility is the Transport Department's own app, and it covers more than any private one: route search for public transport, driving and walking, with real-time traffic and estimated arrival times. The official mode list runs to the MTR, Light Rail, franchised buses, green minibuses, ferries, the tram, the Peak Tram, the cross-boundary coach to Huanggang and the Ma Wan and Discovery Bay buses. It also shows live waiting times at the land border control points, useful if you're adding a Shenzhen day.

The interface is more functional than friendly, so I keep it as the second opinion. If Citymapper suggests a minibus route that looks odd, HKeMobility is the source I trust to confirm the minibus really stops where it says it does.

MTR Mobile: for the things a route planner can't see

MTR Mobile is the railway's own app and it earns its spot on three things a general route planner doesn't do. It counts down the next train in real time on every line. It tells you which carriage and door to board so you step off right by the exit or interchange you need, which at a long station like Admiralty or Central saves a real walk. And its station layouts mark the lifts, toilets and ticket machines, plus walking times between lines. One habit worth building: pull up your station's exit map while you're still on the train, so a signal drop deep underground leaves you with a cached map rather than a frozen one.

Bus arrival apps: HKBUS and HK Bus ETA

Route planners are fine at telling you a bus exists. They're worse at telling you when the next one is actually coming, because Hong Kong's buses are run by several separate companies and each publishes an app covering only its own routes. HKBUS on iOS and HK Bus ETA on Android fold the live arrival times for KMB, Citybus, Long Win, New Lantau Bus and the green minibuses into one search, with a home-screen widget for a saved stop. The full comparison, including the official KMB and Citybus apps and where Google Maps gets minibus routes wrong, is in the guide to the best Hong Kong bus app for tourists, so I won't repeat it here.

Taxi apps: Uber Taxi, HKTaxi and the grey area

For a visitor, the simplest taxi app is still Uber, but only one half of it. The "Uber Taxi" option books a real licensed metered cab, same driver and same meter you'd get flagging one down, with your destination already typed in and billed to the card on file, which sidesteps the language barrier entirely. UberX, the private-car option, sits in a legal grey area: the legislature passed a bill in October 2025 to license ride-hailing platforms, but the first licensed platforms aren't expected to operate until late 2026 at the earliest. The local alternatives are HKTaxi and DiDi Hong Kong, both dedicated taxi-hailing apps that work like calling a cab to your pin. The price comparison, including the 4pm to 5pm shift-change window when empty cabs vanish from the street, is in Uber vs taxi in Hong Kong.

The app that pays: Octopus

None of the apps above handle money. You still tap an Octopus card at the MTR gate, on the bus, on the tram and at the ferry turnstile. The Octopus for Tourists app lets you add a digital Octopus to your phone, top it up with a foreign credit card, watch the balance update after every tap, and request a refund of what's left before you fly home. If you'd rather not queue for a plastic card on your first morning, adding Octopus to Apple Wallet is the quickest route, and the digital card still works at the gate when your data drops out.

One non-transport app worth the space: MyObservatory

MyObservatory is the Hong Kong Observatory's own weather app, running since 2010 with more than 12 million downloads as of June 2026. The feature that matters for getting around is the location-based rain and lightning forecast for the next hour or two, plus push warnings for rainstorm and typhoon signals. Those signals are what pause ferries and bus routes, so a warning on your phone is often the earliest sign your transport plan needs to change.

Set them up before you land

Every app here needs data to plan a route, so sort connectivity first. The guide to whether you need an eSIM in Hong Kong walks through setting one up before departure, so Citymapper is already working by the time you reach the Airport Express platform. Download the five apps on home wifi, sign in to Uber and Octopus, and save your hotel as a favourite in Citymapper. The rest you can learn on the first ride.

Quick answers

Which app do you use to book a taxi in Hong Kong? Uber, using the "Uber Taxi" option, books a licensed metered cab with your destination pre-filled and card payment. HKTaxi and DiDi Hong Kong are the local taxi-hailing alternatives. Street hailing and taxi ranks still work fine outside the late-afternoon shift change.

Is Uber still illegal in Hong Kong? Uber Taxi, which books a licensed taxi, has always been legal. UberX private-car rides remain in a grey area: a bill to license ride-hailing platforms passed in October 2025, but the first licensed services aren't expected before late 2026 at the earliest.

What is the HKBus app for? Live arrival countdowns for buses across every operator in one search, instead of one app per bus company. It doesn't plan door-to-door routes or pay fares; that's Citymapper and Octopus respectively.

Is Deliveroo still in Hong Kong? No. Deliveroo left the Hong Kong market on 7 April 2025 and sold its local network to Delivery Hero, the owner of Foodpanda. Foodpanda is the delivery app still operating.