Tag: Apple iPhone

Apple makes it easy for you to switch from Android to iOS

Articles

Opinion: With iOS 9, Apple Is On A Warpath For Google’s Users | Gizmodo

Apple’s other Android app will help you switch to iOS, “recycle” your Android for free | Android Authority

My Comments

Increasingly most operating-system vendors are reaching in to competing platforms either to allow your computing environment to be centred around their platform or simply to shift you over to their platform.

Microsoft was achieving this through supplying apps for Android and iOS to connect your smartphone or tablet to a Windows-10-centric computing environment.

On the other hand, Google and some Android smartphone vendors were developing apps that import data that exists on an iPhone or iPad to your Android device. Now Apple has written an Android app to simplify the process of moving over from Android to iOS.

But what Apple has done is not just export your contacts, messages, photos, music and videos from your Android device. Rather they have used this app to take an inventory of the apps you have installed on your Android phone and purchased from Google Play, correlate them with their iOS equivalents that are in the iTunes App Store and either install the free apps or add the paid apps to your iTunes App Store Wishlist so you can buy them there. Then they make you feel good by inviting you to hand your old Android phone to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store for recycling.

It is part of Apple’s effort to reach to the “opposing” platforms to bring them to their own platforms by using “halo” products and services which convey the positive image about the brand. In this case, it is all of the iOS devices that are Apple’s “halo products” and having these devices work with Windows or Macintosh regular computers courtesy of the iTunes program.  This same practice also ties in with the iTunes Store available on both these platforms along with the iOS platform and is leading to the Apple Music service, seen as an answer to Spotify, with the companion app being ported to Android.

This was also underscored with some Apple fanbois saying that they headed over to the Macintosh platform once they experienced Apple’s iPod, iPhone or iPad products and even them underscoring that people who use iOS devices as their mobile devices should jump over to the Macintosh platform for their regular-computing needs.

What we are seeing here is the existence of a highly-competitive marketplace affecting both the mobile and regular computing platforms with the platform vendors pulling out the stops to get people to switch. In some cases, it could become a reality where multi-platform computing will become the norm for sessile and mobile computing needs both at work and at home.

Tech support scams now affecting the Macintosh platform

Article

Mac users: Beware of increased tech support scam pop-ups | MalwareBytes Unpacked blog

My Comments

The Apple Macintosh has been seen by its users as a safe regular-computer (desktop / laptop) platform mainly because it didn’t have as much of a foothold as the MS-DOS / Windows platform. Now this platform is starting to appeal to malware authors due to the fact that more people are heading towards it as a regular-computer option along with the fact that Microsoft has been continually hardening the Windows platform.

Windows users had suffered the bane of various unsolicited “tech-support” scams ranging from Website popups through to phone calls. Now the Mac platform is under attack because these scams implement JavaScript to take over the machine in a similar way to what happens with Windows. Also the same scam targets iOS devices due to their use of Safari with the same codebase and JavaScript implementation.

Of course, don’t follow through with the prompts to call these numbers or download the software because this involves activities like malware downloads or paying exorbitant fees to dodgy overseas-based businesses. But what do you do to close these nag screens?

On the Macintosh, you would have to kill the browser session by using the Force Quit routine. The best way IMHO to do this is to press Command+Option+Shift+ESC together if the browser has the foreground. You can also press Command+Option+ESC to bring up the Force Quit menu and use the mouse or trackpad to select the application to stop. The reason I suggest using the keyboard shortcuts is because some of the nuisance dialog boxes can effectively “take over” the pointing device.

iOS users can stop the browser by double-clicking the Home button and swiping the window representing the troublesome app to kill that app.

On both platforms, you clear out the browser cache and history to stop the fake tech-support Website cropping up. This is more important for the iOS platform because if you open up Safari, it will come up with the last-opened Website. For the OS X implementation, you click the “Clear History” option in the “History” menu, which also clears the cache. For the iOS implementation, you go to the Safari option in the Settings app and then tap the Clear History button to stop it from reopening.

You can deregister iMessage if you move away from your iPhone

Article

iMessage deregister Webpage

Deregister iMessage from your number without your iPhone

Apple finally offers an easy solution to its missing text message problem | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

Apple

Deregister iMessage site

My Comments

If you are moving towards another non-Apple platform for your smartphone or have decided to change your mobile phone number, you may run into issues with Apple’s iMessage “over-the-top” message service which you used as your enhanced messaging service with iOS.

The default setup for iMessage is to route all your regular inbound and outbound SMS and MMS traffic via this service. This can cause problems with you or your contacts not receiving messages if you are moving off the iPhone platform or phantom messages coming through from your old number when you are changing phone numbers.

To deal with this problem, you would typically use the iPhone’s Settings control panel to deactivate iMessage and is something you may have to do before you move off to the other platform or arrange to have your mobile number changed by your carrier.

On the other hand, Apple has provided an answer for those of us who have done the switchover without deactivating iMessage on the iPhone. This can happen when you are in a hurry to switch over or have your mobile service immediately provisioned on your new non-Apple phone.

Here, you visit a page on their Website and key in your mobile phone number to deregister it from iMessage. You will receive a “confirmation number” on your new phone as an SMS, which you then subsequently key in to the Website to set this deregistration in stone. If this doesn’t work, you may have to contact Apple’s technical support to make sure this happens. You may also have to contact Apple’s technical support if you are not receiving SMS or MMS messages on your iPhone after a number change.

This doesn’t affect other iOS or Mac OS X devices that use iMessage because these work on your Apple ID (email address) as being your iMessage address. It primarily detaches your existing mobile number from your Apple ID as an iMessage address.

It could be improved by providing iMessage management through an Apple-hosted Web dashboard that allows you to do things like deregister your phone number or manually add, change or delete phone numbers associated with your iMessage service. This can be of importance with situations like travellers and expats who use SIM cards from providers local to where they are travelling in order to dodge roaming fees or have local-mobile-number presence.

Apple to launch large-screened iPhones

Articles

Apple to unveil iPhones with 4.7in and 5.5in screens on September 9 | The Australian

Apple sets Sept. 9 for new iPhone debut, report says | CNet

My Comments

Pure Jongo T6 wireless speaker and Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Apple now has intentions to supply a smartphone as large as most desirable Android smartphones

Personally, I have noticed Apple iPhone users become enamoured over the larger screens offered by the recent crop of Android-based high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S and Note series. For example, a friend of mine liked the fact that my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 had a large screen and thought that this could be a mobile phone solution for her older mother-in-law if this was available in the iPhone range because of the iOS platform being the preferred operating environment for that family.

Apple is feeling worried that the competition are offering better devices than them and the rumour mill that floods the American tech press started to flow with talk about an upcoming iPhone to be launched this year. This has been augmented with Apple having the iOS 8 nearly ready to release at effectively “8.0.0”, which tends to lead to talk of a major revamp for at least one iOS-based product range, usually the iPhone rather than issuing one or more variants or product refreshes. As well, the press were running reports about the manufacturing plants being required to start manufacturing runs of at least 70 million units long, if not 80 million units.

At the moment, the report reckons that September 9 will be the time Apple premieres this product range with typically 2 weeks later being the time that the faithful can line up outside the Apple Stores and mobile phone resellers to get their claws on these devices. Questions I often think of are whether Apple will provide a large lineup of these devices to suit different user needs and requirements.

What I like of this news is that the large-screened phones are becoming available in all of the smartphone operating platforms rather than some of these platforms. It may also be a chance for Apple to answer the wishes of their faithful who have been pining at the larger-screen phones offered by the competition and allow these people to stay loyal to the Apple ecosystem while satisfying the large-screen desires. Could I also see this as a chance for Apple to investigate the idea of touch-screen computing for the Macintosh platform and make computers and displays that have the touchscreen interface.

Malicious USB charging stations–how to protect your mobile devices

AC USB charger

It may come to a point where a USB charging device offered by a stranger may be treated with distrust

I have seen some recent press coverage generated especially by the security-software industry about the concept of USB-based charging devices stealing data from smartphones and tablets that normally charge from these devices. This issue was brought to public attention at the start of the World Cup 2014 where the fear that an increased number of travellers pouring in to Brazil for the soccer may be a breeding ground for threats to the safety of personal and business data kept on mobile devices owned by these visitors.

The devices that are being considered of concern are “walk-up” charging facilities installed in commonly-accessible places or made available for everyone to use. The concern was brought about with a laboratory experiment involving a small “homebrew” computer circuit connected to an iPhone running iOS 6 and this computer discovering the data on that device. They said that this device could be concealed in a box the size of a “wall-wart” or built in physically or logically to a “walk-up” charging facility. Here, the device could gain access to your data on an iPhone or iPad running iOS 6 or earlier because those earlier iterations of the iOS operating system don’t indicate in a user-facing manner what kind of host device you are connecting your mobile device to.

USB symbol that indicates that your Android device is connected to a computer device

USB symbol that indicates that your Android device is connected to a computer device

Android user are luckier because all of the iterations of that operating system indicate whether your mobile device is being plugged in to a computer device rather than a power-supply device and tell you how they are presenting themselves to the host device i.e. a “Media Transport Protocol” device, a “Picture Transport Protocol” device or a “Mass Storage” device.  You have the ability to determine how your device presents itself by tapping on the “Connected as” message in the Notification Screen which will show the possible modes. As well, you will see the USB trident symbol in the Notification Bar at all times while the connection is active.

The “Media Transport Protocol” mode primarily exists to allow the host access to the media content on your device and may be exploited by entertainment setups like home AV devices, in-vehicle infotainment setups and airline in-flight entertainment screens for playback via the device’s screen and speakers or headphones. On the other hand, the “Picture Transport Protocol” mode allows access to the pictures and videos in the default folders on your device and is exploited by PictBridge-capable printers and printing kiosks for “walk-up” printing of digital pictures. As well, the “Mass Storage” device mode presents your device to the host as a USB “memory key”.

USB device type notification on Android

USB device type notification on Android

iOS users can protect themselves by bringing their iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches up to date with the latest version of that operating system. Here, iOS 7 and newer versions will pop up a dialog box asking whether the user trusts the computer device that they are plugging in to and if they don’t assent, the Apple connection port just becomes a power-and-audio port rather than a power-audio-data port.

Device types supported on your Android device

Device types supported on your Android device

Other suggestions to deal with this issue include properly shutting down your mobile device when letting it charge up at a public charging facility or someone else’s computer, or charging it from an AC charger or external battery pack that you own and bring with you. Even ideas like being frugal with the way you use your mobile gadgets in order to “spin out” their battery runtime like cutting back on multimedia or gaming, or turning off functions like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth unless you actually are using them have been put forward.

New iOS 7 dialog box that identifies if the other device is a computing device

New iOS 7 dialog box that identifies if the other device is a computing device

The main issue here is keeping your mobile devices on the latest version of their operating system and paying attention to situations where your mobile device identifies that what is ostensibly a charging device is infact a computer device and the host device doesn’t come clear on its functionality.

Personally, it could become the time for the USB specification and other host-peripheral connection specifications to be revised to factor in “privilege levels” and trust ecosystems when it comes to device connectivity. This could mean that a connection may only be a “battery charging / power delivery” connection unless a level of trust is established between both devices as regards their functionality and it could even just lead to a removal of the “plug-and-play” features of these systems.

It’s “Game on” for the two major mobile platforms

Article

Apple: New ‘Metal’ Platform to Improve iOS Gaming | Mashable

My Comments

Android has come a long way ahead with mobile games performance courtesy of the NVIDIA Tegra chipsets and similar high-performance chipsets being implemented in the top-end tablets. This has also be brought up with variants of that operating system being compiled and shoehorned to exploit these chipsets leading to tablets showing up with the kind of performance expected of by hard-core gamers.

Now Apple’s not leaving itself behind with their iOS platform. They have written in to iOS 8 some code that takes advantage of their latest A7 chipsets by implementing the “Metal API”. This allows the operating system to have the games work directly with the iPhone’s or iPad’s processor to yield smooth performance rather than using OpenGL for this purpose, which could allow game developers to target the latest iPads as a games platform for the “full-on” titles. There was even a “demo” of this being shown today at the WWDC Apple-platform developers’ conference based on the Unreal Engine 4 gaming engine to prove what this was about.

There are questions that have to be raised about the “Metal” API regarding battery runtime because some of the games may ask more of the iOS device when in full flight. Similarly, games for the mobile platforms may only be seen to work well for “short-play” casual or strategy titles where continual interaction may not be seen as important.

Could this mean that all of the main mobile platforms could come up with the kind of gaming expected of console and regular-computer platforms, where there is the high level of responsiveness being expected?

Computers or other devices perform better after a reboot–why this?

Article

Why Rebooting Your Computer Fixes Problems | Lifehacker Australia

My Comments

Why is it that your laptop, tablet or smartphone performs so much better when you restart it? Why is it that some devices implement a watchdog circuit to force them to restart by themselves when they are critically underperforming?

This is typically to make sure the computer is working on a clean slate as regards to its primary storage (RAM – random access memory). Most software, especially if it is poorly written, can take up more of this memory as it is used. But when you close that program, it releases the memory it used. But a lot of recent regular-computer and mobile operating systems encourage the ability to run multiple programs at the same time, with the ability for programs to “sink” in to the background when they are not being used.

If this situation is allowed to get out of control, most operating systems undertake “paging” or “virtual-memory” procedures where they use space on the secondary storage as primary storage. At this point, most computer start to underperform and become devilishly slow. The worst-case situations that come about include programs or the computer simply “freezing” or “locking up” thus becoming unresponsive, a situation commonly described as “hanging”.

Even placing that PC or other device in to a “sleep” or “hibernate” mode or allowing the device to fall to sleep wouldn’t really rectify the problem because these modes cause the device to preserve its current operating state either to the RAM or its secondary storage (hard disk or solid-state drive). This is typically to provide a quick start-up for the device.

But when a computer or device is restarted using the operating system’s restart option or having it then shut down properly before you restart it, this causes all the programs it runs to start on a clean slate. For mobile devices, it may require the user to press the hardware Power button for a long time to bring up a “power-option” menu with the shutdown or restart option or pressing two buttons together for a long time to force a full shutdown or restart of an obstinate device.

You know when this restart has occurred when you see a longer boot time and see the startup screens or other startup graphics appear on your device’s display. You typically will then notice that the device is performing with a bit more “pep” in it. This is because the device is working on a clean slate with fresh “known” data.

A good practice to do in order to keep your computer running smoothly is to have it restart at least once a fortnight. This may be something you have to do when you install or update software. I also see this being more important for laptop users who typically close the lid when they have finished with their machine, causing it to go to a sleep or hibernate mode, or desktop users who turn off the monitor or use the sleep or hibernate modes at the end of a computing session.

This is also a good practice with well-used smartphones and tablets, especially if these devices are being used with poor-quality apps from the app store.

A rush to release software can leave gaping holes for bugs and exploits

Article

iOS 7.0.2 Is Here, And It Fixes The iPhone’s Major Security Hole | Gizmodo

My Comments

The recent release of the iOS 7 operating system, like with the iOS 6 operating system with its Apple Maps product, has shown something that is very real with the way computer software and hardware has been developed.

In the case of the iOS 7 operating system, there was a gap concerning the lockout system which required the user to key in a PIN number in to their iOS device but someone could bypass that requirement easily. Apple had released the iOS 7.0.2 update just lately to fix this bug that was missed through the development process for this operating system. This operating system and the devices it runs on are at an increased risk of this behaviour because Apple keeps the marketing hype high as possible for as long as possible because they see it as the consumer-facing mobile operating system for most people.

Similarly various functions in Windows 8 weren’t as polished as most of us would like them to be so we are expecting great things out of Windows 8.1 with some improved “polish” to these functions.

As well, the Apple Maps program which was to oust Google’s Maps from the iPhone and iPad was rushed and there have been issues where there has been misnavigation going on with this program.

This happens more so with anything that affects popular consumer-facing devices and programs. Here, the software developers are put under pressure by the vendor’s marketing team to get the operating system update, firmware or other programs released as soon as possible so that the product can be marketed and sold while the hype surrounding it is still alive. Then the vendor has to wait for the bug reports to come in, whether via their support channels or the technology press, so that these can be fixed and released as part of a point update.

I often deem a software version number of x.x.x, preferable with a middle number greater than 1, such as 8.1.1 or 7.1.2 as being a “mature” version of the software in question. This is because bugs including security exploits and performance weaknesses have been identified and rectified since the original release of the program.

As for iOS devices, I would recommend that those of you who are running iOS 6 to run iOS 7.0.2 or hold off upgrading until a higher version number, preferable a 7.1 number appears.

Google Maps has now come back to the iPhone

Article

Google Maps is now available for iPhone | Official Google Blog

App Store location

Google Maps

My Comments

Previously, people who used the iPhone or iPad had the Google Maps provided as an integrated mapping solution for their devices. Then, when iOS 6 was launched, Apple decided to pull the Google Maps from the operating system and substitute it with a poor-quality mapping solution.

This has led to situations like people ending up in the wrong location and nearly dying, and the Victoria Police advising against using Apple Maps because of this poor-quality mapping.

There was so much criticism of this mapping solution that Apple had to bow to public demand and create an app group for third-party mapping apps for their iOS devices. Now, the Google Maps mapping solution has been made available to iOS 6 users through a downloadable app. This has the advantages of the Google Maps such as vector-driven maps, 3D views, turn-by-turn navigation and Street View but ported to the iOS platform.

For those of you who are still working with that trusty old iPhone 3GS, this app can work with that phone. Infact, any of you who are updating an iPhone or iPad to iOS 6 should infact factor in deploying Google Maps along with YouTube on the device as part of the update plans in order to gain the full benefit of these popular services on that iDevice. Similarly, when you buy that new iPhone or iPad, it may be a good idea to make these apps your first downloads from the App Store as part of commissioning that new device.

App Essentials for your smartphone or tablet

Introduction

You may have just bought your first smartphone or tablet computer and are starting to browse around the iTunes App Store or Google Play app store using your device.

At this point, you may hear from your teenage son, other family members, friends or workplace colleagues about what apps to start off with as you get in to the world of the mobile-computing platform. In some cases, your teenage son who has that ultra-cool iPhone that is full of apps to impress others with, grabs your phone, asks for your platform username and password and starts filling your phone or tablet up with various apps.

It is also worth exploring the app store for those apps that are essential to your profession or hobby so you can make your mobile device earn its keep in your work and leisure life.

Communications

One main app class that suits the mobile computing platform very much are the communications apps. These encompass the social-network apps as well as other chat, VoIP and messaging apps.

They work best with the smartphone but some of the apps can be used with most tablets in a speakerphone form. But if you want privacy or better call quality, you would need to use a wired or Bluetooth headset.

Social Networking

(Smartphones, Tablets)

Facebook Android

Facebook for Android

If you have presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networks, you can have your experience with these social networks extended to your smartphone or tablet.

This is typically provided for in the form of platform-native mobile apps that you use to interact with the social network. Most of these apps are written by the social-network but some are written by third parties, typically as multi-social-network amalgamation tools.

The ones written by the social network are primarily a mobile user interface for most tasks that you do with this service such as browsing activity, adding posts or uploading photos. Some social networks such as Facebook and Google+ also write “messaging” apps that work primarily on the messaging and presence functions that the social network offers.

Chat, Messaging and VoIP

(Smartphones, Tablets)

Skype Android

Skype for Android

This leads me to apps that work as front-ends for various chat, messaging, presence and VoIP subsystems. Examples of these include Skype, Viber and various SIP user interfaces or softphones; or even gateways to Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger.

These apps provide a touch-friendly view for writing messages or engaging in VoIP / chat sessions. If the communications subsystem has the ability to know whether one is online or offline, there is the ability to look at a glance to see who is online at a given moment.

Banking and Finance

(Smartphones, Tablets)

If you use Internet banking services regularly, an Internet banking app would be a good idea for your phone. Most of these apps are Web links to the bank’s mobile site but an increasing amount the apps are client-side apps which run on your phone and link to online banking APIs that are used as part of your bank’s Internet-banking setup.

Similarly if you maintain a share (stock) portfolio, you may want to install a stockmarket app so you can see the state of your shares. Some of these apps may allow you to buy or sell the shares or submit orders to your stockbroker.

Entertainment

Internet radio and music

(Smartphones, Tablets)

TuneIn Android

TuneIn Radio for Android

Most subscription Internet-media services like Pandora have a mobile app for them so you can benefit from your media subscription through your smartphone or tablet. As well, the TuneIn Internet radio app allows you to have the same kind of access to Internet radio stations such as your favourite local and overseas radio stations as you can on an Internet radio.

Most smartphones and tablets come with a music player with some platforms like iOS offering a comprehensive take on this form. But you can purchase improved music players for Android devices like the PowerAMP music player which I use. These ones provide better control over your music playback and some of them even have their own “tone controls”.

Video apps

(Smartphones, Tablets)

Similarly, one or more video apps may help you with having access to video content. This could be fulfilled by a video player which would be important if you download or rip video content and sync it to your device. Of course, the platforms would come with a video player app but there may be some better third-party apps available in the app store.

The one that a smartphone or tablet shouldn’t be without is a YouTube front-end. For iOS 6 users, this can be fulfilled by you using the Google-supplied YouTube ap. If you also visit other video-on-demand sites, it may be worth looking for mobile front-ends for these sites.

DLNA network media software

(Smartphones, Tablets)

TwonkyMedia Android

TwonkyMedia for Android

Programs that work with DLNA Home Media Networks typically are either controllers, players or servers. The former function allows you to push content to a DLNA-compliant receiver or smart TV using the phone’s or tablet’s screen as the control surface. Some of these programs also allow you to “throw” Internet-sourced resources like Facebook photos to DLNA-compliant TVs.

A variant on this theme, supported by different media players, is the DLNA media player which allows you to play content held on a DLNA Media Server like your network-attached storage. Some of these programs such as the Android variant of TwonkyMobile, allow you to download the media files to your phone so you can play the media on it without being on the network.

Another class is simply a DLNA Media Server which shares content held on your phone with other DLNA-compliant devices. This may be part of the DLNA Media Controller, like TwonkyMobile, but could be its own app, thus allowing you to play music to DLNA-compliant Wi-Fi speaker docks.

Song Identification Software

(Smartphones, Tablets)

Shazam for Android

Shazam song-identification for Android

You watch a favourite show on TV or you hear that piece of music being played over the speakers in that bar. But you want to know what it is or who performed it.

There are two mobile-platform apps that can help you identify the titles and artists of songs that are played. These are Shazam and SoundHound and they are accurate on most popular music including some jazz. But they don’t work well with classical and opera where you want to know what it is “composer first, work (including movement or aria name) second”.

These apps also provide further information on the music such as lyrics, or a biography or discography for the performer. They also allow you to buy and download the music from an affiliated store like Amazon or, for iOS devices, iTunes. Of course, they keep a history of the songs you used the software to identify so you can use this when buying the music from your favourite outlet and on your favourite media.

Games

(Smartphones, Tablets)

Of course, no smartphone or tablet is complete without a collection of games installed on it. They can range from card, casino and board games through the classic pinball and arcade games to newer game styles such as the unforgettable Angry Birds. There are some games which you can play online across the world and are typically based on a social-network infrastructure but there are others where you simply play against the computer.

These games allow you to fill in the time while travelling on public transport or waiting for that appointment and, in some cases, can be an ice-breaker for conversation with others.

Information on hand

Reading / reference apps and electronic bookstores

(Tablets)

IMDB Android

IMDB movie app for Android

If you want to use your tablet for reading. you won’t go far when finding the reading apps. Some of these work alongside electronic bookstores and newsstands so you can buy and download books, newspapers and magazines to your device, with a few of them like Amazon Kindle available across all platforms.

This extends to dictionary, translation, Bible and other reference apps which have the information at a glance. The apps may work with the information locally stored on the device or may obtain the information online.

Public-transport timetable apps

(Smartphones)

Most public-transport authorities and operators are building apps that work as information sources about their public-

TramHunter Android

TramHunter for Android – Melbourne trams

transport systems. Typically these provide access to the latest timetables and information concerning cancellations or delays affecting the public transport service.

Some of the apps even have a “journey-planner” function which works out the best journey for your needs. If the public-transport provider has the ability to track its vehicles as they are providing the service, their app may also provide real-time information on the public-transport service so you can know how long the wait is for your service.

It is worth having one of these apps for each city you travel in. In some cases, you may need the apps that are specific to a transport mode like the bus or tram services.

Sports scoreboards

(Smartphones, Tablets)

London 2012 Official Results App

London 2012 Official Results App

One app class that can help you enjoy the sports events that you follow better are the scoreboard apps. This is something I have covered previously on this site more as a tool that augments how you follow those fixtures rather than using them as something to follow them on.

One example is using one of these app to keep tabs on the scores while you are watching that football game in that packed-out bar. Another is gaining a quick glance at the cricket or baseball score as you hear that major event like a run or batter-out being called on the radio while you are outside, so you can decide on whether to run inside and see the replay on the TV.

The good apps in this class are typically developed by the sports broadcasters or the leagues and codes themselves. For Australians, including “Aussie expats”, I would recommend the “Footy Now”, “League Now” and “Super Rugby” apps for AFL, NRL and Super Rugby Union leagues respectively.

Calculators and Converters

(Smartphones)

Most smartphones come with a basic four-function calculator as part of the “supplied” apps. But the app stores are full of better calculator apps such as some that may provide an “adding machine tape” view, more functions like scientific, statistic or financial functions or the ability to support different data-entry methods like “Reverse Polish Notation”. These then position your phone as an alternative to the scientific calculator that you would have had for school.

An app class that I would consider important is a unit conversion app. This is where you can enter a quantity that is in one unit so you can find out what it is in another unit. This is important if you are think in Imperial / US units like pounds or inches and you see references to quantities in metric units or vice versa.

Utilities

Mobile-phone torch app

(Smartphones)

One app that I would consider essential for a smartphone owner would be the “mobile phone flashlight”. These work with the phone’s display or flash LED to turn your phone in to a flashlight (torch). Here, they can be useful as an on-hand source of light for many different situations — think of having to check out what’s wrong with the engine when your car plays up at night; checking which circuit breaker had tripped when the power went out or simply letting yourself in to your home at night.

Emergency info app

(Smartphones)

ICE In Case of Emergency Android

ICE In Case Of Emergency for Android

Another Important app that is worth having is the emergency info app. This keeps essential emergency information on your phone like your doctor’s details, medication information and next-of-kin and even has direct access to the contact details so you can contact then directly from your phone.

This is more important if you have a chronic illness like epilepsy or diabetes but can be of benefit for anyone, especially if you travel in to foreign areas.

QR code reader

(Smartphones, Tablets)

One important app class for your smartphone and tablet is the QR-code reader. These apps use your phone’s or tablet’s rear-facing camera to read and interpret QR codes.

But what are QR codes? These are a common form of two-dimensional barcode that is printed on flyers and other artwork, most often as a link to an online resource.

The good QR-code readers like i-Nigma do have a high accuracy rating no matter what the code is printed or shown on. Some of these readers can also read the standard barcodes on merchandise so you can look up further details on the product that the code is on.

Mapping and distance log apps

(Smartphones)

Endomondo Pro Android

Endomondo Pro for Android

Most smartphone and tablet platforms come with a good GPS-driven map but the app store may offer better mapping solutions. This may be important if the platform didn’t come with a really-good map solution or there is a solution that suits your needs better like a “hiking-specific” solution.

A distance-log app that uses the GPS functionality and / or the accelerometer in the phone can be a great boon if you are walking. Programs like Endomondo can work well if you track your outdoor workouts and some of them may work as “breadcrumb tracking” apps.

Client apps for electronic notebook services

(Smartphones, Tablets)

If you use cloud-based services like Dropbox or Evernote, it is worth having a mobile client app for this service. This allows you to review and update the information that you have at these locations from your smartphone or tablet in the same way that you can from your computer.

Conclusion

Once you know of the essential apps to have on your smartphone or tablet, no matter the platform that it runs, you can find that you will end up gaining a lot more mileage out of your device as you use it through the day.