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IRL (In Real Life) => Tech Talk => Topic started by: TheCommandTent on August 28, 2014, 02:21:49 PM

Title: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: TheCommandTent on August 28, 2014, 02:21:49 PM
I just recently sold my sold and upgraded to a smartphone and now it is time to find some productive and not so productive apps for it.


So I am curious, those of you who have smartphones (mine has an android OS) what do you find to be the must have and best apps for the phone?
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: GDS_Starfury on August 28, 2014, 02:48:43 PM
Google sky is fun.  Shazam for identifying music.  Kindle for books.  Iheart radio so I dont have to carry a box to job sites.  I also gave a decible meter and altimiter.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: DoctorQuest on August 28, 2014, 03:20:42 PM
Your phone may already have it but a good map app is helpful when travelling. My phone also came with a nifty compass app.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: GDS_Starfury on August 28, 2014, 03:43:36 PM
A flashlight app is useful.  For maps I havd google maps and Waze.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: bayonetbrant on August 28, 2014, 04:19:52 PM
Get a good email app, unless Gmail is your main thing.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: mirth on August 28, 2014, 04:54:52 PM
TuneIn for streaming music/radio. Possibly the best app I have.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: MikeGER on August 29, 2014, 02:33:34 AM
...may sound trivial: but don't forget to put some 'bookmarks' of favorite websites direct on the display
(i most check 2 weather radars. one is from a weather site
but also one from a local radar station nearby itself, which has 5min increments and high res data of last hour http://www.meteo.uni-bonn.de/messdaten/radarbilder/aktuelle-bilder-1/az_100_z_ani ... as a physicist i like to study raw data from instruments ;))

a news app of your choice (don't use the news alert feature  ...they only nag also with BS-news about Brangelina n' such)

a TV schedule App

i have a different clock, which has also countdown timer alarms, (glue that has to half-dry before fixing items and such) 
and also let me use mp3s as alarm tones, and that can also be set to slowly rise the volume of those mp3.
(on vacation i use an ' environmental sound file' ...and wake up by chirping birds, church bell in the far distance, crickets and all natural sounds ...sloooowly getting louder and louder until i wake up)

also i have a sophisticated weather station as a hobby with indoor outdoor modules and even a rain-volume sensor
which 'talks and stores! to the internet' and i see all my data in two widget on the display
and with a fingertip the app opens up  and i get graphs of the history of all data. (https://www.netatmo.com/de-DE/produkt/wetterstation#view1) at home, but also abroad! (CO2 , temp, humidity  and median of noise level is measured indoor... i can define alarms on sensors, and could actually detect if someone has entered, also fire, or a water leakage)           

if you have boring waiting time to kill ...and don't want to do any other things
you should try Angry Birds and Candy Crush at least once ... its not as mindless/chilidish as it sounds when the puzzle get though in later levels (never use money to buy 'helpers' or 'more lifes' in those games ...never! Its a test of will :) )   

i have an app that reports prise of gas / fuel oil at filling stations nearby
(in Germany its insane atm: the price is jumping up an down about 15 cents or more daily at different hours and in different places...)
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: bayonetbrant on August 29, 2014, 05:26:37 AM
I should have mentioned that the app that probably gets more use on my phone than almost any other is Androminion.  I can't tell you how many conference calls I've survived because I could play Dominion on my phone instead of dozing off and cranking my head open on a desk/table.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: TheCommandTent on August 29, 2014, 01:35:38 PM
Thanks guys.  I am downloading a number of those.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 01:58:35 PM
And all the free john tiller games.  Check the mobile games forum.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: mirth on August 29, 2014, 02:26:28 PM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 01:58:35 PM
And all the free john tiller games.  Check the mobile games forum.
Having a Windows phone sucks :(
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 03:52:45 PM
More proof of your somewhat poor decision making abilities.    ;)
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: Staggerwing on August 29, 2014, 07:38:15 PM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 03:52:45 PM
More proof of your somewhat poor decision making abilities.    ;)

"Hello, Kettle? Yes, this is Pot. Sorry but you need to hear this..."
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: Steelgrave on August 29, 2014, 10:52:47 PM
Ditto on the flashlight app. I probably use that more than any other app on my phone.

Google Maps is great but can get bitchy, considering that it's still a Beta. I keep Mapquest next to it just in case.

Kindle reader for when you're bored.

Urbanspoon to help you find a decent place to eat nearby.

I also have news sites, games, etc..... but the above are my "go-to" apps which get the most use.

Oh and....Plants vs. Zombies. I downloaded it when I was visiting family and ended up buying a copy for my PC and even my wife plays it now.
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 11:24:10 PM
waze is way better then mapquest.  originally developed for the IDF.   O0
Title: Re: Must Have Smartphone Apps
Post by: Steelgrave on August 30, 2014, 09:08:42 AM
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on August 29, 2014, 11:24:10 PM
waze is way better then mapquest.  originally developed for the IDF.   O0

Yeah? I will definitely try it. And who knows....maybe it will route me through the secret underground tunnels in my neighborhood  8)