What are your favorite Smart Phone Apps?

[bronze_10]

No one has life 360 for the android... if u have a family with and everyone has smart phones it's a must have .. it tracks the phones and marks them on a map in real time.my wife travels without me sometimes and I can watch her progress right non the map. It's a great app and it's free.. of course I am.sure there are some on here that don't want their wife to see where they are but that's for another thread.

 

[biffdotorg]

No one has life 360 for the android... if u have a family with and everyone has smart phones it's a must have .. it tracks the phones and marks them on a map in real time.my wife travels without me sometimes and I can watch her progress right non the map. It's a great app and it's free.. of course I am.sure there are some on here that don't want their wife to see where they are but that's for another thread.

I have used Glympse for this type of purpose. Glympse will work on iPhone, iPad, Android, and even has a browser interface for Windows/Macintosh.

Rather than tracking anyone all the time, this works when you send a Glympse to someone or group of people. These tracking apps do use your GPS and data plan to constantly upload location. They can be battery intensive and use a very minimal amount of cell data. So it's nice to time them.

When I want to share my location I send a Glympse via Text Message, or email from within the app. The viewer can open the glimpse in the app, or web browser. They will see me on the map for as long as I choose to share it. It will show my location and current speed.

When I send the Glympse, I can add a message, add as many people as I like and even set an expiration time. That's nice if I know I will be on my motorcycle for two hours on my way home, then it shuts off.

If the receiver decided to send a Glympse back, we see each other on the map. This is great when I am trying to find someone at a festival, show or even driving towards each other on the highway. It makes it easier to meet up with each other. We used this recently when our 14 year old went to her first Dome concert without an adult. She sent a Glympse and we were able to find her outside the venue as her location was more determined by the flow of the massive crowd.

Cool app, enjoy!

 

[Julian]

A recent Droid app I've been enjoying is "Mysms" (Apple doesn't allow what this does). It allows you to link your tablet and PC to your SMS address so that if you get a text it duplicates on your PC or tablet. For example, if I'm in a meeting and my phone is in my pocket, rather than pulling it out and typing a reply on my phone, I can go to MySMS on my PC and type a reply on my PC and send it without even pulling out my phone! Same when I'm at home...my phone might be plugged in on the counter and gets a text, and I might be on the couch with my tablet, and I can see and reply to the text without getting up to get my phone. Really liking this app....but again...Droid only....

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I am hooked on Periscope lately! You can watch video from around the world in real time. I've seen video feeds from a student in a high school on lock down to raids on a terrorists apartment in Paris. There also some interesting people who "Scope" daily and show their world or just talk.

 

[Julian]

Another of my favorite apps is "Wifi Analyzer"....great simple tool to see what channels your neighbors are using and which channel to set your Access Point to. I'm considering buying a broad spectrum analyzer for my escalation team as we are seeing more and more problems with clients complaining about poor performance, when often it ends up being because they (for example) are using some 2.4ghz wireless speakers in their office!

Here is a screen shot of Wifi Analyzer:


Here is an old CNET article on it (the UI has changed some since this article):
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-optimize-your-wi-fi-network-with-wifi-analyzer/

This company makes a full spectrum analyzer rather than just an SSID analyzer - which means it would see wireless speakers, which the above app doesn't.
http://www.metageek.com/products/inssider/
Curious if anyone has used the metageek product?

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Another of my favorite apps is "Wifi Analyzer"....great simple tool to see what channels your neighbors are using and which channel to set your Access Point to. I'm considering buying a broad spectrum analyzer for my escalation team as we are seeing more and more problems with clients complaining about poor performance, when often it ends up being because they (for example) are using some 2.4ghz wireless speakers in their office!

Here is a screen shot of Wifi Analyzer:
View attachment 32739

Here is an old CNET article on it (the UI has changed some since this article):
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-optimize-your-wi-fi-network-with-wifi-analyzer/

This company makes a full spectrum analyzer rather than just an SSID analyzer - which means it would see wireless speakers, which the above app doesn't.
http://www.metageek.com/products/inssider/
Curious if anyone has used the metageek product?

Android only ..... bummer!

 

[Julian]

No one has life 360 for the android... if u have a family with and everyone has smart phones it's a must have .. it tracks the phones and marks them on a map in real time.my wife travels without me sometimes and I can watch her progress right non the map. It's a great app and it's free.. of course I am.sure there are some on here that don't want their wife to see where they are but that's for another thread.

Just started using life 360 and love it! So much better than the iphone default "find my iphone" app. Life360 gives you history and realtime updates. It will notify you when your spouse arrives home etc.

 

[Julian]

Some other apps I've begun using"

• Life360-family tracking....just started using this and love it. My wife likes it too...better than basic iphone tracking.
• Navonics (Has a round white circle logo with USA above and below now) was my go to app for the bimini trip. Can download maps (so you don't need cell coverage) and easy to enter destination points.
• Keyring to store loyalty card info like grocery store, airline miles, hotel etc
• MyRadar is my go to radar app...
• WhatsApp is my chat app for staff outside the US (in Israel and India). Used BIG time there! Group texting much better than the standard text apps
• Spotify for music
• Words with Friends to play scrabble mostly with my dad
• Audible for listening to books on the road
• Harmony app - control my entertainment center
• Alexa app - for configuring all things she does (lights, apps etc)

 

[justason]

I am hooked on Periscope lately! You can watch video from around the world in real time. I've seen video feeds from a student in a high school on lock down to raids on a terrorists apartment in Paris. There also some interesting people who "Scope" daily and show their world or just talk.

what the hell is this all about ? people just openly sharing ....whatever is happening.......

 

[Murf'n'surf]

what the hell is this all about ? people just openly sharing ....whatever is happening.......

Most post bs but there are many good scopers that broadcast meaningful and educational stuff.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I just started using one called "Acorns". It rounds up all my purchases and puts the money into an investment account. Nothing crazy but I have always wanted one of those cards that rounds up and puts into savings, this does it for all my cards. I don't expect to become rich from it, but I just set it up to round up and pull out $5 a week... I hope to just forget about it and in a few years see what is has gotten up to.... maybe buy something nice for the boat. If anyone looks into it and wants it too, give me a shout, if I give you my code we each get $5.

 

[DidierAubin87]

Google Drive )
It helps my work run well haha

 

[Julian]

Still very impressed with Life360...anyone with teens should get this app! My daughter has it installed and it wont come off her phone, and I may even upgrade to "Premium" when she becomes a driver (or starts riding in other teens cars). It will tell you if they are:

1. In an accident-and can call 911 automatically (it detects speed drops with no distance change--ie...you hit something)
2. Drag racing - same principle...fast acceleration
3. Hard stops
4. Phone use while driving

And of course all of this regardless of the car she is in. A neighbor took the kids for ice cream the other evening, and when he got back I said....55 in a 35 dude? The basic app shows the max speed the phone went on each trip! LOL I was kidding him...but he installed it for his kids! LOL

 

[Julian]

Here is a screen shot of Life360 (free version). You can see the bottom drive had 2 alerts, probably my wife texting at an intersection.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I can't do the Life360 thing. People have to have freedom. Kids are going to drag race, they are going to get tickets, and they are going to learn. People need to learn things the hard way when they are young.

Plus don't ever forget when it comes to tech - they will always be smarter than you and find a way around it.

 

[Julian]

I can't do the Life360 thing. People have to have freedom. Kids are going to drag race, they are going to get tickets, and they are going to learn. People need to learn things the hard way when they are young.

Plus don't ever forget when it comes to tech - they will always be smarter than you and find a way around it.

I get that....but teens are also stupid as hell all to often....I know I was! Not going to stop that, but having some awareness of it can provide some teaching moments. Not to mention it is simply a great convenience for someone like me who travels a lot to know when I can and can't call my wife to ask a question (dont call while she's in the gym or at the boyfriends house LOL)

 

[vanmurray]

I’m digging Circle. Detects and monitors all devices on your network. Allows filtering of specific sites/apps, time limits, bedtime, etc. Uses MAC spoofing and other technology so you don’t have to install anything on devices (like agents, etc)

Hardest part is identifying devices by name. Used MAC address to find some devices. Once setup, amazing.

http://meetcircle.com

 

[GTBRMC]

I recently started using Waze on my ~8" Android tablet running from my phone set as a mobile hotspot. Bigger screen makes it much easier to use (and likely safer). Awesome app optimized for me!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I get that....but teens are also stupid as hell all to often....I know I was! Not going to stop that, but having some awareness of it can provide some teaching moments. Not to mention it is simply a great convenience for someone like me who travels a lot to know when I can and can't call my wife to ask a question (dont call while she's in the gym or at the boyfriends house LOL)

Good to hear, when I think of tracking kids, I think of that new Black Mirror episode where the girl ends up running away.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I just started using one called "Acorns". It rounds up all my purchases and puts the money into an investment account. Nothing crazy but I have always wanted one of those cards that rounds up and puts into savings, this does it for all my cards. I don't expect to become rich from it, but I just set it up to round up and pull out $5 a week... I hope to just forget about it and in a few years see what is has gotten up to.... maybe buy something nice for the boat. If anyone looks into it and wants it too, give me a shout, if I give you my code we each get $5.

So in two months - the app does what it says. I have about $100 in the account that I am not missing at all. I think the investing part of it is extremely weak, but is does pay a (very) small dividend. I think it was up a few bucks and it just has gotten back to even after going a few bucks negative when the market dropped a few weeks ago. All-in-all I am going to keep it going and just see how much it can build up. Never hurts to have a secret savings account lol, especially when I don't even notice the money going into it.