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I know there are apps for every thing. My daughters family can see where each other is located at anytime. And we all know about hiker/hunter/fisherman GPS.
But the one that knocks me out is the Bubble Level app. Set your phone on any side against any surface and it shows a bubble and digital readout of the angle.

Have you seen the earth quake app? Bang on the table and it displays the Richter scale.

Have not seen that.

There is also an app for a compass. Good for setting digital TV antennas while on the roof.

I have this newfangled Motorola Razr 2 flip phone. Sits on the charger all the time. Now and then when I drive into the big city 35 miles away, I take it with me for emergencies if I remember its there, but otherwise it sits on the charger until the battery gets too big for the case, then I have to replace the battery.

I build my own computers, program web sites without the use of web site utilities, and worked for the FAA as an electrical engineer for most of my career. Ask me what I think of Facebook. LOL! There is a place for a $500 phone, $160 a month, but its not with me, its in Truck parts! Not that I am not elated and filled with happiness for those who can afford it tho.

Deve: You are years ahead of me. I got an old 15 dollar flip phone from Walgreens. It sits next to the charger with the wire attached so I leave it at home just like my old wired to the wall phone. The kids know I won't open it on the road any way. If it is in my pocket it is below the seat belt. So it works on the counter just fine.

It has been amazing watching humans evolve between 1958 and now. I was one of the first people to embrace computers and had my first one in 1979. Built my own mods and really got into the whole thing. Made SURE my kids were kept very up to date on every new thing. Each of them today are computer geeks making great money. What they fail to understand, like most in their generation is you can decide to NOT purchase the next new thing. How about using common sense? Well, being the 28th best education system in the world, the USA using 70% of the worlds resources with only 4% of the population, why should they? What does this have to do with trucks you ask? THEY used common sense back in the day. These trucks were designed with a slide rule. Imagine a world where our kids knew what a slide rule even is. But the point of this post is really understood by me. Tools that make engineering easier I am all over if they fit in my limited budget.

....please, don't you guys get me started I don't allow the kids, or my grandkids to use them in the house and they have to leave them in the car. Period.....and yes, they still like to come to pa pa's.

Funny tis subject should come up. I was just thinking the other day how only 10 years ago, the comment "my phone doesn't take very good pictures" would have been one of the stupidest phrases I had ever heard. Now, it is totally understandable.

I was at HF one day, standing in a rather long line to checkout. The lady at the front of the line was returning something for her husband. (why the husband wasn't returning his own stuff is beyond the purview of this post). So, she is on the phone talking to a friend the whole time and making the clerk wait for her to have a moment to respond to several things. All of us in line were contemplating her demise. One thing is for certain, she really needed that phone shoved up an orifice of some sort. But all of us in line couldn't decide who was the one to do it. Because of our procrastination, we didn't make the national news. My reasoning for volunteering (I always try to do whats right) was that in prison, you get three meals a day anyway. :P

Let's veer back towards the topic.

Which is: "useful apps/interesting apps".

You are correct.

So I noticed ( a few posts ago) that nobody is stepping up to the plate on reporting apps that we all could use, thus the more light hearted commentary. Meanwhile.. there ARE things I can think of that they should make an app for that..

1) Paint ratio calculator... I cant even find this on the internet. If you ask the question.. I need a 5:1 ratio. My paint cups have everything else, just no 5:1. I have a 20 oz cup but maybe I only need half of that, or less. Think about it.

2) Metal thickness needed calculator.. I have X number of pounds of force on an item and I need to know what thickness of metal I can use.

There are others related to CAD, but too far into the future. Meanwhile, geekdom needs to get on this. I am very impatient!

Useful apps on my android is the free ones!!
The best one I downloaded is the super bright flashlight, works great when I'm under the house or truck looking for leaks.

I was recently at a swap meet and a fella had a 69 Camaro on a trailer that he was trying to sell. Apparently he had run the battery down starting it throughout the day. So while he was commiserating, another fella said I have an app for that ! That got my attention, so I went over to check it out and he pulled out what looked like an Iphone with two big alligator clips connected. He connected the clips to the dead battery, the owner turned it over, it started right away. As I looked closer, it actually wasn't a phone, but some kind of mini battery, but it did start the car, and was about the size of deck of cards.

Sounds like a flux capacitor, Doc. Did you check your calender to see if you went back to the future?

Deve,

This will make you laugh, went to the App Store they have a slide rule app, free!

And, they have an abacus for $.99, and finger counting for $1.99

Go figure . .

I have to admit that I do like technology, especially computers and having a phone in my pocket or a tablet at my side. And recently my eyesight was restored in cataract surgery -in and out of a clinic within a few hours. But I find myself becoming more and more nervous about where all of this computing is going to lead. What with Big Brother watching and hackers hacking, insurance companies and credit rating agencies snooping, I have a feeling that this is not going to end well. If I were in my twenties, I would really be nervous. But at 58 I will likely not be around when the people see where the pied piper led them. It ain't gonna be pretty... -

{Sorry, I veered. I was replying to Deve's post and did not finish the thread. } -Alden

A little veering is okay. That's how you have discussion. Otherwise, it's just reporting.

Don't know if you have to have it, but ... I love the Soundhound app. With my antique brain, I'll often hear a song I like in the store or in a restaurant. I click on Soundhound, it listens for 10 seconds and then tells me the song, artist, year, and album. Love it.

Don't know how many guys around here would use them but there are quite a few apps that with an adapter allow you to read codes off the vehicle.

Someone mentioned the compass app. I have it on my phone. I was recently in a cave 200 some feet below the surface and the compass worked. It agreed with what the guide said was north anyway. Made me wonder how it gets it's bearings. I had assumed it used satellites. But I don't think satellite signals could penetrate 200 feet of earth and rocks.

most smart phones have magnetic sensors in them now that just need the app to "read" it - pre-sensor, there were apps that used the magnetic speaker coil somehow, but otherwise the phone needs to be able to access the GPS system

Bill

I have a few useful ones that I have used. I like GasBuddy for finding cheap or any fuel depending on the area. I have ConvertPad for converting from US to Metric and vice versa. Fuelly tracks my fuel mileage. I use Waze for GPS as it is social and people can report traffic jams or speed traps. One I have not used but probably will when I buy a OBD2 adapter is Torque which allows one to access more vehicle data in modern cars.