Who said Apple's iPhone was down the dunny?

Cartoon / Rod Emmerson

Tired of getting caught short? A new iPhone application will tell you where to go when you really need to go.

Aimed at people with a bowel disorder that can cause diarrhoea - as well as travellers and parents of young children - the "iToilet" maps will show users the way to more than 1300 public toilets nationwide.

The iPhone, because it contains a GPS receiver, "knows" where it is and can be loaded with maps, such as the toilet map app, a first for New Zealand.

The application will highlight the public toilets near the user - or for any location they key in - as well as identifying any that are male- or female-only and those designed for people with disabilities.

The map will also be available on a website, allowing users to print off sections to plan their toilet stops before they visit an area.

A prototype of the application has its first public showing today during the launch, at Parliament, of a national support and advocacy group for people with Crohn's disease or colitis, the two forms of inflammatory bowel disease.

"The toilet map and toilet map app are a little bit quirky, but they really do address the day-to-day issues people with inflammatory bowel disease have," said Brian Poole, chairman of Crohn's & Colitis New Zealand.

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people in New Zealand suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic auto-immune disorder whose cause is uncertain, which can result in abdominal pain, frequent diarrhoea and fatigue. The new group said the disease could affect patients emotionally, too, through anxiety and stress.

A free basic version of the application will be available in a fortnight. A premium version will follow.

Loucineh Mardirossian, of Abbott Laboratories, which supports the maps project, said the premium version would show how many cubicles a public toilet had.