Favorite App Suggestions

[blueboss]

OK, today's category for me is "Travel/Navigation."

I'd suggest trying these (all free)

Google Navigation - superior to my Magellan, my Tom-Tom, my Navigon, my Garmin and my Mio. Just the best.

Waze - have enjoyed this one a great deal. It is "user-contributed," and has terrific reporting capabilities (have found some police cars hiding with it/speed traps, hazards, and traffic slowdowns)

Orbitz & TripAdvisor - good for trips and recommendations and such

Maps - offshoot of Google Navigation, terrific

Ulysses Speedometer - neat speedometer, believe it is more accurate than my car's speedometer (and definitely than my Volvo's, which may say I am going 45 if I'm going 70, or say I'm going 50 if I'm going 15. Occasionally it operates correctly, too.) Has more features on it than just speed, as well. Cool inverse thing where you can place your phone on your dashboard, and read the speed as a reflection in your windshield so you're constantly looking on the road, too.

All free.

More later.

I searched for the Ulysses Speedometer but there are plenty others, any other recommendations on speedometers?

[Darrell KSR]

It's a typo (auto correct did it). Try Ulysse speedometer.

There are a bunch of them. I tried maybe a half dozen, and this was my favorite. Reviews are through the roof good.

I'm sure there are a bunch of good ones, but that's my recommendation. It does a ton of stuff too.

Here's a screen shot of it (I have the GPS turned off).



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[CitizenBBN]

I got a note from these guys a few weeks ago looking for dealers:

is-mgstore-content-overview-panel.jpg

That's right, an app that turns your phone into a rifle scope. Beat that one. lol.

[blueboss]

Still couldn't find Ulysse Speedometer, and whats the name of the scope app?

[CitizenBBN]

Intelliscope. I looked at it briefly but unless folks here talk me into it I don't see signing up as a dealer b/c I don't see guys taking their expensive iphones out into the woods and putting them on their rifles 10' up in a stand or out in the dew moving through the brush. Maybe I'm wrong, I would think i'd want a good optical scope and not a phone on there.

[Darrell KSR]

Still couldn't find Ulysse Speedometer, and whats the name of the scope app?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ys.speedometer

The things it can do are really cool.

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[Scout714]

I could be wrong (imagine that) but I think UK blocks IHeartRadio from broadcasting the games. I know they did last year on 630AM and 98.1FM both out of Lexington. Those stations pay the money for the rights to the game and want you to listen to their commercials. I could get pre and post game but not the game itself.

As for favorite APPS I like Google Sky Map. Just point your phone at any star and Google tells you the name.

[Darrell KSR]

I could be wrong (imagine that) but I think UK blocks IHeartRadio from broadcasting the games. I know they did last year on 630AM and 98.1FM both out of Lexington. Those stations pay the money for the rights to the game and want you to listen to their commercials. I could get pre and post game but not the game itself.

As for favorite APPS I like Google Sky Map. Just point your phone at any star and Google tells you the name.

Shh...don't tell anybody, but UK's efforts are not followed by a radio station in Somerset that several of us have listened to UK radio games on Iheartradio. It's FM93.

[Catonahottinroof]

istreamnet for watching TV on the go.

[KSRBEvans]

Mrs. BEvans and I were at Disney last week and the app we used the most was a weather app called SkyMotion. It will tell you down to the minute, up to 2 hours out, when it will start raining or stop raining, and how long it will be raining. And to quote Mona Lisa Vito from "My Cousin Vinny," we found it to be dead-on-balls accurate.

For example: we were at Animal Kingdom and getting ready to ride Primeval Whirl. It said it would begin raining in our location in 2 minutes. We got on the ride, and during the ride the heavens opened up on us. (If you've done that attraction, you know it's an outdoor attraction and you get slung around pretty good on it. So having all that happen during a rainstorm was pretty cool.)

Another example: 1 day we were at Epcot and were standing in Future World. We were heading for dinner at Chefs de France in World Showcase. It said we had 6 minutes to make it before it started raining, so we beat it to the restaurant and walked in just as the 1st drops were starting to fall. So we were able to sit inside and enjoy a nice meal and leave after the rain ended--I love it when a plan comes together.

[Darrell KSR]

I may try that Sky Motion app. I use Nooly, which does the same thing. Sometimes it has been perfect; other times, not precisely.

Nooly has only a 2.8/5.0 rating, although they tout Time Magazine calling it one of the top 50 android apps in 2013, and have a lot of self-serving info on its website:

Nooly is arguably the world most accurate Short-range Weather App that predicts the Exact Time Rain will Start and end (5 Minute Accuracy) for every neighborhood / road or district in the Continental US. The app covers more than 30 million different locations within a 0.4 square mile radius and can predict when light rain will become a thunderstorm, when snow will fall and when ice rain will end up at your doorstep.

Sky Motion may have them beat. They are at 3.8/5.0.

Wonder of Tech says, "In the battle of SkyMotion vs. my other weather apps, SkyMotion won by a landslide.”

Available in 16,000,000 zones across the contiguous United States and Canada, it says.


I will download it, and try both.

[PedroDaGr8]

This is ONE app I don't need in San Diego. We had two days ago it was the first time in months that it rained.

On that note tough, I have the yahoo weather app on my phone. I like it, it uses pictures from FLickr to show the area you aregetting the weather for. So for my brother in Naples it shows pictures from naples italy. My parents in Lexington, it shows pictures geotagged from lexington. Same with here in san diego.

I just realized I mentioned Swype keyboard earlier but didn't explain it:

The newest google keyboard that came out incorporates Swype like functions(as a direct response to swype) but at best its a very innacurate version of Swype. I just purchased the pay version because it was only $1 and its well worth it. To me it feels much smoother than the beta I was using and much more accurate.

Other than that, I use the dropbox app extensively. Same with the WatchESPN app (if you have access to ESPN3 its a great app to have).

[Darrell KSR]

OK, back to another category. This category is "vendor/shopping."

Have the stock eBay app, which works great. Faster to browse, bid, etc. on it than the computer. But I also had Pocket Auctions as a back-up to it. eBay app allows you to EASILY post things for sale, too; again, more easily than using the computer in my experience.

One really good one I have used just the last three days and picked up some Big Blue Madness tickets is "Myibidder Auction." It's a "snipe" bid app. I have bid 3 times with it and it has worked perfectly, placing my bid automatically with 5 seconds to go. The first one I got a really great deal because somebody placed BBM tickets at an auction going off at 1:49 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning. Not sure you can get a worse time than that, but I was asleep when my maximum bid was placed.

Placed another one, but the winning bid was more than my maximum. Then finally, got one other one later today and it worked well again.

Stock Craigslist app is working great, but I picked up Clapp (that's not THE Clapp, it is CraigsListApp abbreviation) as a backup.

Kelley Blue Book works great if you're in the market for a new (used) car to get an idea of prices.

There are a ton of scanner/shopping apps. One I use is ShopSavvy, which allows you to scan the barcode of a product in a store, and get prices online and elsewhere. Plenty more of those, too. I also have RedLaser Barcode. Had Google Shopper, too. There are others; in fact, I think there are others more highly rated, and I'm not sure why I have the ones I have.

There are a ton of retail store apps. Home Depot one is outstanding--you can plug something in after you search, and it will not only tell you if your local store has it, it will also tell you WHERE it is located in the store. (Aisle number). The clerks at the store did not know it did that first time I used it, and told them where some Defiant flashlights (thanks, Pedro) was supposed to be.

I can't recommend others, but I know they have ones from Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. in it. (Actually, I have Walgreens, but haven't really used it yet.)

Also have an Amazon app, too. Will add more later to this category; unfortunately, I have a bunch here.

[PedroDaGr8]

Reviving this thread to throw a few more apps out there:

1) Timely
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...bitspin.timely
A very beautiful intuitive easy to use alarm clock/clock app.

2)Start
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ick.lockscreen
A high function lockscreen replacement.

3) Agent
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...d=com.tryagent
Does the job of several apps by providing "agents" to handle duties. For example, car agent detects when you are driving a car. Turns on car mode. Where it can read out SMSs messages out loud, take voice dictation for responses, etc. The meeting agent sycs with your calendar and detects meetings. During the meeting time it automatically puts the phone on silent/vibrate. Plus several other agents.

[KSRdallen]

TeamViewer is awesome and free. I've got the app on my iPhone and iPad. Put the sofware on your computer from their website.

I can access my work computer (with VPN running) or my home computer from anywhere. It's like sitting at my work/home desk. The interface is very clean and it allows me access the servers at work where I store all of my files.

[KSRdallen]

Office Suite Pro is on sale for $0.99. It is normally $14.99. I just purchased it!

Some I have not seen mentioned yet.

Tweetcaster - if you are on twitter, this one is phenomenal. They have a free version and a pro version, which I gladly paid for to remove a banner ad at the bottom. I use it for personal twitter, for KSR twitter, for my school's publicity twitter account (I'm the publicity chairperson), and for my own business. The things it does are remarkable. (Side note--I love the apps that give a free version with all functionality. If you try it and like it, you can support them by buying pro, which I have done numerous times. I have also abandoned some apps after trying the full function version, and I very rarely even try one with limited function.)

Evernote--king of the note apps. From data saving, to voice saving, to pic saving, to calendaring, docketing and tickler applications, to you name it. Tremendous.

Office Suite--if you have any need to edit documents prepared in Word, etc. Pretty pricey in terms of apps costs ($9.99 or $19.99, I don't remember), but very solid.

Dropbox, Box.net and Drive (Google Drive)--great storage apps. I routinely access client files or teaching materials from my phone with one of those apps.

Chrome & Opera--try them out, see if you prefer one over the stock browser. I have all three. Some also like Dolphin for minimalism.

Iheartradio and TuneInradio--great for finding ballgames and listening to the UK radio call.

Sirius/XM app--if you have the internet subscription. I use this often while running.

Gmail apps are great--particularly love the ease of swiping to delete one after another email.

Boomerrang for gmail--love scheduling emails to go out, and this works well, although I have only used it a handful of times.

More to come....

[Darrell KSR]

Great price, good PSA!

I use it frequently enough; it's very solid and a good price for software at the $15 price. At $1, you can't go wrong.

[KSRBEvans]

This is not in app form (yet), but it's a great site that I highly recommend for Netflix streaming users.

A Better Queue allows you to filter streaming movies by Rotten Tomatoes rating, number of movie reviews, year made and about 27 different genres. I played around with it for a few minutes this afternoon and found a lot of movies I didn't know were available on Netflix.

http://abetterqueue.com/

[PedroDaGr8]

This one isn't an app as much as it adds functionality to Google Now. With Commandr for Google Now you can add control to a variety of functions on your phone. All via Google Now voice commands. Now you can use Google Now to control your flashlight, toggle settings, control music playback, and much more. Plus custom commands via tasker. You can do things like read unread SMS messages outloud, skip tracks, turn your bluetooth on and off, etc.

[KSRBEvans]

Spotify has upgraded their app so you can now create playlists and play any song in their library for free. The premium plan ($9.99/month) allows you to play those songs in the order you want. But the free plan allows you to play the same songs, just on shuffle.

Comparing it to Pandora, Spotify has fewer songs in their library than Pandora (e.g., no Beatles, among others), but Pandora doesn't let you pick the specific songs.

[Darrell KSR]

Most of the apps here have stood the test of time, great suggestions.

[PedroDaGr8]

Reviving this topic to add an a couple apps I have found very useful.


Scanbot (soon to be called ScanPro)

I have been needing to sign and/or scan a lot of documents recently from a number of places where a scanner isn't an option. Based upon the advise from others I downloaded this app and purchased the Pro version. I have to say that I am blown away by how good it is. The Pro version is very much worth it for the MagicColor image processor it includes.

Unlike old systems, pretty much everything with this is fully automated. It can determine the document boundaries while taking the picture. Their MagicColor Image Processor then processes the image to correct skew some, remove almost all shadows, and color correct it. It gives you a chance to manually tweak the settings if you want before saving. Once saved, it then converts the image to PDF and OCRs any text in the image into digital text. The only thing it doesn't do is correct for documents which aren't flat.


Original (a photo I took of the document):
Attachment 9366

A screen capture of the scanned PDF:
Attachment 9367

You can see some artifacts of the correction (text in the shadowed areas is a bit more bold) but compared to the original (and compared to other apps I have tried) this is exceptional. The pdf version looks very good and I can select pretty much all of the text and paste it into a new document, etc.


phybox

Admittedly, this is a very niche app. It basically converts the various sensors on your phone into useful tools (some more useful than others). Some of the tools: digital level, applause meter, light sensor, sonar distance meter, stopwatch (with acoustic, motion, optical, or proximity triggers), a digital level, audio spectrum, etc.

[Darrell KSR]

Pedro, following your lead... I abandoned my phone scanning app a couple of years ago due to some issue... Privacy or something that was significant. I don't remember, but my tolerance is pretty high and I don't like to move when I have something working, so whatever the issue, it was pretty big for me to move.

Anyway, I got Simple Scan.

Check it out in the Play Store. I haven't checked in a couple of years, but just checked... Over 5 million downloads, over 146,000 reviews, with a 4.8 star rating.

I only use it for PDF scanning and haven't used the OCR and fax settings, but the PDF scanning is incredible.

Free app, but ads. I don't think there's a Pro version. I almost always buy the Pro version of any app like this that I use frequently (and I use it a ton) to support the developer and save myself an ad. I'll go back and check.

[KentuckyWildcat]

OneDrive will scan and maybe all the Office apps will scan as well. I just have everyone use OneDrive because they are supposed to be saving their files there anyway.

[KSRBEvans]

Wow, old thread! I like to see what we were into way back when.

The Sky Motion app I liked in 2013 got sold to AccuWeather which basically killed it. I bought another (Dark Sky) which basically does the same thing. But I heard it just got bought by Apple so I expect that will go away at some point. The Weather Channel app now does a real-time precipitation alert and it works pretty well, so I'll probably just go with that once Apple kills off Dark Sky.

There's a bird-watching app (Merlin Bird) I mentioned in another thread and it's fun.

Now that I'm working from home I'm using Google Voice to speak with clients without them having access to my actual cell number. It has lots of good features and I'm pleased with it.

I've got 6 list-making apps plus the actual iPhone Lists app and none of them really do what I want them to do, but the closest for me is Any.do.

The game I'm into the most right now on my phone is Golf Clash. I probably play it more than I should.

[PedroDaGr8]

Pedro, following your lead... I abandoned my phone scanning app a couple of years ago due to some issue... Privacy or something that was significant. I don't remember, but my tolerance is pretty high and I don't like to move when I have something working, so whatever the issue, it was pretty big for me to move.

Anyway, I got Simple Scan.

Check it out in the Play Store. I haven't checked in a couple of years, but just checked... Over 5 million downloads, over 146,000 reviews, with a 4.8 star rating.

I only use it for PDF scanning and haven't used the OCR and fax settings, but the PDF scanning is incredible.

Free app, but ads. I don't think there's a Pro version. I almost always buy the Pro version of any app like this that I use frequently (and I use it a ton) to support the developer and save myself an ad. I'll go back and check.

There are a few well regarded scanner apps (Notebloc, Camscanner, Scanbot, Google Lens, Office Lens, etc.). I might throw together a comparison to evaluate a number of them since it seems a few people in this thread use them. Would be good to see how they all stack up.

Wow, old thread! I like to see what we were into way back when.

The Sky Motion app I liked in 2013 got sold to AccuWeather which basically killed it. I bought another (Dark Sky) which basically does the same thing. But I heard it just got bought by Apple so I expect that will go away at some point. The Weather Channel app now does a real-time precipitation alert and it works pretty well, so I'll probably just go with that once Apple kills off Dark Sky.

There's a bird-watching app (Merlin Bird) I mentioned in another thread and it's fun.

Now that I'm working from home I'm using Google Voice to speak with clients without them having access to my actual cell number. It has lots of good features and I'm pleased with it.

I've got 6 list-making apps plus the actual iPhone Lists app and none of them really do what I want them to do, but the closest for me is Any.do.

The game I'm into the most right now on my phone is Golf Clash. I probably play it more than I should.

Haha yeah, I am not sure if I bumped the wrong thread or if my memory is failing (either is possible at this point) because I didn't think the thread was THIS old.

I am VERY angry that Apple purchased DarkSky. That was my go-to weather app on Android and now it isn't an option. There really isn't one similar that I have found.

Out of curiosity, what do you want from your list taking app that they don't do well?

[KentuckyWildcat]

Any favorite astronomy apps? Android and free

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[CitizenBBN]

Good idea to revisit this one.

And yes, I do have one for astronomy, though it's the only one I've tried so I can't compare.

SkyView. It maps the constellations and stars on your phone so you can click and find out about any star you want, and shows the constellations as you look at the sky. not perfect IMO but very fun and cool.

I need a good measurement app. I downloaded one to try but it's complex as heck, will let you know if I figure it out and it's any good. lol.

[KSRBEvans]

There are a few well regarded scanner apps (Notebloc, Camscanner, Scanbot, Google Lens, Office Lens, etc.). I might throw together a comparison to evaluate a number of them since it seems a few people in this thread use them. Would be good to see how they all stack up.



Haha yeah, I am not sure if I bumped the wrong thread or if my memory is failing (either is possible at this point) because I didn't think the thread was THIS old.

I am VERY angry that Apple purchased DarkSky. That was my go-to weather app on Android and now it isn't an option. There really isn't one similar that I have found.

Out of curiosity, what do you want from your list taking app that they don't do well?

I really like the any.do interface and wish they hadn't bloated it out so much. You can get really granular with tasks/subtasks/dates/etc., but I'm not looking for something that heavy for everyday list making. So a lighter version of it, like they had in early iterations.

[catmanjack]

Has anyone found the real app that makes you money?