Press

Last updated 27 October 2026 · Published by Tally Sphere Limited, a New Zealand company

In one paragraph

Queenstown Pocket is a free app and website for a Queenstown trip: every Orbus bus route with the next departures, 50 walking tracks on a map that works with no signal, opening hours and prices checked at their source with the date shown, the four ski areas as facts, what is on, and the weather, roads and flights. It is made in New Zealand by Tally Sphere Limited, an independent company with no tourism-board funding, and it earns a commission on some bookings, which it says on the card before you tap. It is on Google Play now and launches on the App Store on Sunday 1 November 2026, free on both.

The facts, with the date each was checked

• What it is. An offline-first app for iPhone and Android and a website of sourced guides at queenstownpocket.com. The website went live in September 2026.
• Where it is. It is on Google Play now and launches on the App Store on Sunday 1 November 2026, free on both.
• Buses. Every Orbus Queenstown route, with the timetable stored on the phone and the next departures from the nearest stop; the airport bus is $2.50 with a Bee Card. Timetable data from the Otago Regional Council under CC BY 4.0 (27 October 2026).
• Walks. 50 sourced walk guides on the website, 49 tracks in the app, 25 of them with the track line drawn on the offline map; distances and times from the Department of Conservation and the Queenstown Trails Trust (27 October 2026).
• Places. More than 150 venues with opening hours verified against the venue’s own source, each with the date it was read (27 October 2026).
• Offline. The map of the Whakatipu basin is a 16.5 MB download and works on the Glenorchy road, the tracks and the ski roads with no coverage.
• Money. Free to use. Some tours and activities can be booked through partners (Viator, Klook, DiscoverCars) and the card says so; the rest link to the operator with no commission. Listings are free and never sold. An optional Trip Pass in the app lets one other person plan a trip with you for 14 days. Details on How we make money.
• Independence. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Queenstown Lakes District Council, Destination Queenstown, the Otago Regional Council, Orbus, NZSki, Cardrona or RealNZ. Public data is credited where it is used.
• Who. Built by Isaac Vicliph, the founder of Tally Sphere Limited, in New Zealand, with AI coding tools and a published editorial policy that every number is checked against its source and dated.

Three story angles

• Queenstown has no official app. A district with about 3.3 million visits a year has an incumbent guide app with eight App Store ratings after nine years. Queenstown Pocket is a utility first: the bus, the track and the hours, built to be opened every day of a trip.
• Built for the dead zones. Coverage drops on the Glenorchy road, the Routeburn and the ski roads. The map, the timetables and the walks are on the phone before the signal goes.
• Every number has a date. Prices, hours and track times are read at their source and shown with the day they were read, and a public corrections page records every fix.

Assets

Free to use alongside coverage of Queenstown Pocket. Photos on the website are credited to their photographers on each page and are not ours to pass on.

• Queenstown Bay at dusk with the lockup (opens in a new tab) (JPEG, 1200 by 630)
• The app icon, the ridge-pocket mark (opens in a new tab) (PNG, 512 by 512)
• Screenshot: the next Orbus departures (opens in a new tab) (WebP)
• Screenshot: a walk on the offline map (opens in a new tab) (WebP)
• Screenshot: what is on (opens in a new tab) (WebP)

Coverage

None yet. Articles are listed here as they appear.

Contact

For interviews, facts or assets email hello@queenstownpocket.com. We reply within one working day. Corrections to anything published go through the corrections page.