Apple (iOS) apps I use

[David Harrison]

Let me start with Parking apps. These are some of the most annoying apps you need to have on your phone because sometimes you arrive at a Car Park that doesn’t accept a Card, but does accept cash – who has the right amount in coins these days – or allows you to use an app, or ring a service. The NT car parks are especially bad at this, and because of their location are not able to pick up a good 4G or 5G signal to allow you to download the app. So I encourage you all to download and install these three apps for your phone.

Ringo

PayByphone

JustPark – this one is different because it allows you to book a parking space in a town or city. Did you know that you can hire out a parking space on your property??? Especially useful if you want to park in London!

Now some apps I’ve found interesting and useful for Reference purposes.

Open Railmap (on Apple, but Android also) – I’m a retired geographer and when driving around and I see a disused/dismantled railway bridge, I get fascinated by the thought –  where did the line go? This map is a collective effort by loads of railway nerds (just like me) who have re-created the old railway networks on a map. Great fun, and of some interest as well. [There’s a companion app Open Canal Map, if that’s of interest?] You can use it in a browser as well from this link. [There are other sites around that allow you to track trains as well – Open Train Times and Signalbox (if you’re interested)]

Yr – my preferred Weather app, when I’m away on holiday. The interface is very good, and I find it as good, if not better than the Met Office app when I’m away from a place I know and am able to interpret the forecast with local knowledge. I don’t use the BBC Weather (or the provided Weather app on the iPhone), apart from looking at long-term forecasts. Also available on Android.

Units Plus – a really useful app, and one I paid a paltry sum to get. It converts just about everything from one set of unit to another.

Stellarium – occasionally I look up in the sky and see some bright stars and wonder what they are. Point the camera from within the app at the sky and it works out orientations, etc and gives you a map that allows you to recognise the celestial element you’re curious about. There’s an Android version as well as browser versions and tutorials on how to get the most from using.

A Tool you might find useful

Authy is now my preferred 2FA app, replacing Authenticators from Google, Microsoft and others. It is not too difficult to move from one service to another, and Authy is just nice to use, and I rather like its independence from the “big boys”.

Finally a couple of Photography apps. Although the apps supplied with iOS and Android are getting really good, and you can now “shoot in RAW”. If you want to turn your iPhone into the closest possible representation of a “proper” SLR Camera then Halide is the one to look for.

I’ve mentioned Photoscan before. This is a Google app that allows you to do easy scanning of images into Google Photos. They go via the Camera Roll on your iPhone, so can also be viewed in the Photos app, and in iCloud Photos. Really nice way of capturing old family photos, and comes with some editing features as well. Android version here.

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