When was the last time you actually opened a copy of the Thomson’s Directory to find a local business? If you own an iPhone then the chances are your copy is now either in the recycling or being used to prop up a wonky table; Apple’s device has rendered such old-fashioned ways of obtaining information somewhat pointless.

As well as boasting Google’s impressive directory of locations (which is neatly tied in with the pre-loaded Google Maps application) the iPhone has been inundated with several different “Point of Interest” programs, all of which allege to offer the best method of quickly locating nearby places.

At least Yelp can call upon a fairly impressive pedigree – it’s based on the website of the same name which was founded in 2004, which makes it a grizzled veteran in internet terms. It’s basically a way for people to review the amenities around them, therefore offering other people an idea of whether or not a place – be it a restaurant, dentist or record store - is worth bothering with.

Although it’s not a requirement, it does help to have registered with Yelp and set up an account before diving in. This enables you to save searches, submit your own reviews and generally make the application a little more personal.

And to be brutally fair, what Yelp badly needs is more user-generated content, because at the moment it’s a long way from being the best way to find local places on your iPhone. For one, it’s rather difficult to accurately locate your position using the app. When we tested it, Yelp decided that we were located about 40 miles north of our actual position – although later in the test period it did decide to behave and give us a more precise idea.

However, even when you’ve successfully pinpoint where you are, there’s no guarantee of actually finding what you want. Because Yelp is a US-based site, the vast majority of its users are obviously on the other side of the pond. The UK side of things is still very much evolving, and as a result you’ll find a lot of places aren’t actually tagged yet.

Naturally, as more and more Brits flock to the Yelp banner it will offer more information and thereby become a more tantalising prospect; there’s certainly lots to like here, including an “augmented reality” browser which allows you to view search results using the real-time feed from your iPhone’s camera (it should be noted this feature is only available to those of you lucky enough to own a 3GS).

Sadly, Yelp is outdone by other more established apps, and the fact that Google Maps already offers a more successful search tool means that this is slightly unnecessary.