Hey there,

So I'm actually pondering getting a new phone.
I don't use my phone for entertainment, so to speak. I don't play games/play video/play music.
Just never had the need, and if i do, I usually have something that does it much better.

When I had my old palmpilot, I had the mentality of getting apps for those, 'Gee, I sure wish I had a way to ____ right now' moments.
That's the kind of stuff I'm interested in.

For a good example, I recently saw that 'star map' iphone app where you point the camera at the night sky, and it tells you what
constellations you are pointing at. Brilliant.

And I 100% dig primospot, which tells you what streets currently have legal parking, and how long you can park there. It's a godsend in manhattan where sometimes you are in a area of town with no valid parking (or 1 hour parking).


So I'm wondering what other apps people are using - stuff I perhaps haven't thought of. Yes, techincally it depends on 'what phone do you have?' but that's not really the point. The point is, how are people using their phones - and what kind of apps should I consider looking for when deciding what phone to get.

Please, no gimmicky nonsense - like the app where you say something, and it says it back in a 'chipmunk voice'. Or the one where you can wave the phone around and it makes a lightsaber WHOOSH. Not interested, sorry. (yes, I'm boring)

I would also appreciate it if, when you list a phone app, you also say what it does, so if this thread gets really long, then you don't have to
hit up google 100x. That happens on a lot of app threads.


I saw a neat app where you hold up the phone and it can tell you what song is playing. If you are say, in the mall and
something is playing over the speakers.

And of course map applications+gps on the phone is a godsend. One really sucky thing about google maps is it doesn't tell you what zip code you are in,
which makes sites like moviefone impossible to use since they want a zip code. (although I suppose there are apps for movie listings too).

Anyway, what else are people using out there?


- Frank

 

Start here:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...highlight=apps

 

iphone, will work for anything and everything, once you jailbreak it which cracks apples software to allow third party apps to be used the possibilities are endless. ive had just about any phone out there and now i have my iphone and i will never ever get another phone, i used to talk crap about them as well as of they are nothing they suck, blah blah blah blah. lol, best phone hands down. and millions of apps to use as well

 

Okay, I trolled through that entire thread, and here's a basic summary:

As I said before, omitting the nobrainers: games, music players/streamers, instant messengers.


A category I hadn't really considered before:
Apps that find information you can already find with your phone's browser, but having an app makes it easier/not require a web connection.
This includes stuff like currency converters, movie listing programs, news feeders, etc. The 'not requiring a web connection' is
nice since you can save battery power that way, or use it in internet dead zones.


There is another category of apps which let you take notes (which you could in theory do on any phone's notepad), but they organize the info in a way that's useful for a particular reason. This included a 'stroke recorder' for golf, mileage/gas used for your car. I was very fond of a 'to do +' program called Brainforest which allowed you to make sublists, check things off, put 'do by' dates, etc.


A few other apps that caught my attention that don't fit in any of the above categories:

programs that use the GPS to record your route for viewing later. I would use this a lot on my vacations since I do a lot of walking/random driving.
Bar code readers for price checking stuff in stores.
dynolicious uses the accelerometer to 'dyno' your car. Clever.
app to turn your phone into a flashlight.
There are a few programs that use your GPS to tell you info about the current area - like impeding speed traps.

 

I just remembered another app which I read about which got me thinking about starting this thread:
A program which scrolled guitar tablature across the screen, so you can play the music. Simple but oh so useful.
Kind of like an ebook I guess, but for music.

- Frank