In his novel The Beautiful and the Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “The stark and unexpected miracle of a night fades out with the lingering death of the last stars and the premature birth of the first newsboys."
Things may have changed since Fitzgerald's days, but going out in a city — whether it’s in a new place or in a city you know like the back of your hand — has never been easier.
Instead of standing in line to get into bars, clubs or restaurants, there's a whole range of apps that help pave the way for a stress-free and interesting night out. We've rounded up 20 of the best apps to give you one of the best nights of your life (and many more).
Google's influence in finding where to go in a city should never be underestimated, which is why the Google Maps app deserves a place at top of this list.
While niche apps can find lists of bars, restaurants and parties curated by great people and writers, Google was the giant on whose shoulders developers built those apps.
Price: Free

Image: Howl
Built on top of the Foursquare API, Howl works in the same way wolves do in a pack. A "pack leader" creates various packs from his or her phone contacts, checks into a venue and, in one click, issues a shout out to everyone in a pack to arrange a night out.
If your friends have the app, slide left or right to say if you’re coming or busy. By just one tap on a smartphone, Howl can access anybody in a user’s contact list and regular users can also pick up points for ‘howling’ and attending other people’s ‘howls’.
Price: Free
For the same reason Google tops this list, Facebook remains the biggest platform on which people like to arrange nights out, especially events such as birthdays and other special celebrations.
While its API has always been more convoluted than it should be, critical mass and the company’s new mobile-friendly strategy means Facebook is a huge player for a night in town — or anywhere, for that matter.
Price: Free
From Beirut to the Thai Islands to Portland, Barchick offers city guides to find the best bars in town. Launched in London in 2010, it now covers more than 50 cities around the world, and is a site for those who want to party, not to relax over a glass of Chablis.
Available on both Android and iOS, Barchick has an impressive team of in-house writers, and it has plans to expand to all major cities on the planet.
Price: Free
Going out isn't just about the destination; it’s also about the journey. Hailo is a great app that matches taxi drivers and customers, meaning that standing in the street hailing a cab is almost a thing of the past.
Available in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., the company also operates in Tokyo, Dublin and several other major North American and European cities.
Price: Free
Launched at the end of last year in New York, with backers such as Pharrell Williams and the ubiquitous Ashton Kutcher, Yplan is a curated site that offers the best events of the night with an option to buy tickets for those events.
While not only providing a service for spontaneous people, it also allows promoters to fill their venues with the sale of these exclusive, last-minute tickets.
Price: Free

Image: Zomato
Based in India, Zomato has a curated list of more than 200,000 global restaurants in 35 cities across 11 countries, from which customers can choose and compare reviews.
After recently raising $37 million for expansion into North America, Zomato’s restaurant discovery business has moved on from its original model of users in India scanning in menus to compare dishes.
Price: Free
Available in New York, Berlin, London and Paris, Citymapper is an Android, iOS and web app that makes it easy for people to move around a city.
Not only does it display data, such as how much it costs to travel via various modes of transportation, but it also features weather conditions and how many calories you can burn while cycling or walking.
Price: Free
Founded in 2007, Foursquare needs little introduction as an app that allows people to check in and save places they visit.
With more than 45 million registered users worldwide and 5 billion "check-ins," Foursquare is the default platform for sociable people in sociable places.
Price: Free
Used as the dating site of choice for Olympians at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Tinder’s rise has been rapid and unparalleled.
Addictive in nature and a date only a tap away, Tinder allows people in the same city to hook up with each other. But be warned for any of those of you who are married or in a stable relationship — simply signing up for this app could mean you're being unfaithful.
Price: Free

Image: Untappd
U.S.-based Untappd is a social network app accessed through Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. It's designed for those who are very serious about their beer and the places where they drink it.
Users can "check in" their beers and rate them, take pictures, and suggest similar — or better — beers based on their own experiences.
Price: Free
Forget Google, Facebook and Instagram — Time Out is the daddy of them all. Set up in London in 1968, Time Out’s magazine heritage has transferred seamlessly to digital and mobile.
Now available in 50 cities and 17 languages, Time Out is a valuable addition to the arsenal of "going out" apps.
Price: Free
Based in the UK, Bar Pass is a free mobile app that enables the customer to view menus, order, and pay for food and drinks from an expanding list of venue and events.
This obviates the need to wait in lines, and means subscribers also earn offers and rewards as well as taking it easy waiting for drinks to come to them.
Price: Free
Set up by two Stanford students, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the Snapchat phenomenon may be setting the agenda, not following it.
Sending photos and videos that can self-destruct up to 10 seconds after the recipient views them, no night out is complete without a platform that comes with no next-morning embarrassment.
Price: Free

Image: Boppl
Ordering with Boppl allows you to spend more time with friends, rather than waiting for service or in a line. It also lets you order your next round of drinks, even on your way to the next bar.
A clean interface aggregates nearby venues and pulls up the menu for customers to browse. They can then order with their credit cards through their Boppl account before tracking its status in real-time.
Price: Free
Shazam recognizes music and other media playing around you. "Tagging" has become more intuitive, and the idea of pointing a mobile device at a digital broadcaster of music is still fresh.
This app is perfect for remembering those great songs the day after.
Price: Free
A night out is usually best spent using cabs, but for those with a designated driver, easy parking is key to getting to places on time.
Best Parking is a parking search engine that covers more than 100 North American city car parks, and it has more than 700,000 monthly users finding and comparing car park prices.
Price: Free
Nights out should be remembered, and while this particular app may be a little random, it's also a beautiful idea.
Using 1 Second Every Day, users record just one second of their existence every day, so legendary nights out can be part of that. The only difficult part is choosing which second to use.
Price: $0.99
Now officially part of Facebook, Instagram and its familiar filters provide a social network where users share and adore videos and pics across other social networks.
Addictive and immersive, Instagram might be considered the opposite of Snapchat, and it's a platform on which every action of your night out can be recorded and shared ad infinitum.
Price: Free

Image: Vine
Vine, as most savvy social media users know, allows users to make and share six-second videos — an idea that probably inspired 1 Second Every Day.
The world seen as a six-second loop: Isn’t that the way every good night should be remembered?
Price: Free
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.