ZIP Code Tools offers users a handy reference tool for looking up zipcodes. In addition, users can also look up area codes for phone numbers, making this app perfect for trying to determine where unknown calls to your phone are coming from.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

ZIP Code Tools allows users to look up both zip code and area code information for the United States. Additionally, it provides links to additional postal code information for some foreign countries. There are multiple ways to look up information, including standard search, GPS-based search, and state-by-state search. Additionally, the app allows you to look up the location of the nearest post office, and calculate the distance from your current location to any given ZIP code.

Pros

• Multiple ways to look up ZIP codes
• Easy to navigate
• Search history is easy to access, helping you to pull up previous ZIP codes you’ve looked at with ease
• Phone lookup tools include both area code and prefix for numbers
• Area code and prefix search includes city, state, county, time zone, whether the code is used for cell phones or landlines, and even the phone carrier for the area
• ZIP code lookup provides bonus info on population, demographics, geography, and even links to Census data

Cons

• Postal codes for countries outside USA (including the UK and Canada) are limited (but links to where that info can be found are included in the app)
• After entering lookup info, you have to hit “done” and then the “lookup” button: in essence, you have to hit two buttons to search
• Back button icon is unconventional in design
• Hard to imagine when you would need certain tools, like the Zip Code Radius Finder

Discussion

It’s clear to see from the short list of “cons” above that ZIP Code Tools is a pretty solid free app. While it is kind of a bummer that it doesn’t include more global info, the average American really only needs info for US locations.

The sheer variety of ways to look up ZIP code info is really great, and suits any number of possible scenarios. Know a street address, but not the ZIP? There’s a search tool for that. Traveling and not sure what your current ZIP code is? You can look it up with a GPS-based search tool. Want to see a list of all the ZIP codes for a major metropolitan area? That’s easy, too.

The real surprise is the ability to search for phone number info, something that you might not have expected, given the focus on ZIP codes in the app’s title. I am constantly looking up numbers of people who call me, but looking up that info online doesn’t always deliver the most accurate results…so it’s nice to have this tool on my phone now.

Conclusion and download link

Download this handy app now: you’re sure to have a good use for it this holiday season when you’re standing in line at the Post Office, trying to remember the full address for your parent’s new house. And the next time you get a call from a number you don’t recognize, you’ll have a handy, reliable tool for determining where the call originated from.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.6.3

Requires iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, iOS 

Download size: 9.3 MB

ZIP Code Tools on Apple App Store