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32 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2022 By Steve Benoff When is a smartphone app better than the original? When I say original, I mean that same function on your desktop or laptop computer. For example, I subscribe to the digital version of the New York Times. Every weekday I get a morning email and an evening email; I even get an email called California Today. I also have the New York Times app on my phone. All of these avenues give me a curated version of paper. But the most complete source of NYT information is contained on the website. So as good as the app is, the website I access on my computer is better. Interestingly, there is no location where I can see a replica of the actual daily newspaper. I also subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. (For the record, I'm a Press Enterprise subscriber also, but I never access it digitally.) The LA Times website is much like the NYT's – very complete. But subscribers get a unique opportunity to see a replica of the actual paper each day via a daily email link. Technically this isn't viewed on The LA Times app itself. But it comes to me thanks to two other apps on my phone – Mail and Safari. Since I get and read the paper each day, I only use this email link when I'm away from home. But when I am away, I can see every page of the actual paper. What I first see on my phone is the entire first page of the paper. If I click on a story, I'm taken to that story in whole. I can click back to the paper and page through it. Or I can go to a section and page through it. This is a case where the app is better than the website on my computer. Another example concerns my sprinklers. Like most of you, my sprinklers are automated, controlled by a unit in my garage. Because my controller is connected to my home network, via Wi-Fi in my case, I can program each of my six zones to run on any day of the week for any period I choose. In fact, there are no controls on the main unit; everything is done over the network. Best of all, I have an app on my phone that duplicates all the functions of the sprinkler system, some of which are better done on the phone app rather than my computer. For example, when I need to check whether a sprinkler is working properly, I can turn on the appropriate zone while I'm in the yard with my phone. If I'm in New York and it starts to rain in Beaumont, I can use the app to suspend the program for as long as I want. Even though I love to read my daily printed newspapers, I don't read physical books any more. I'm fully into e-books which I buy 10 at a time and store on my Kindle. I also have the Kindle app on my phone which syncs with the Kindle. Whichever I read last will result in a prompt on the other to advance the page to coincide with one I was reading. The fact is, when I'm home, I almost always read on the Kindle itself. But the app has certain advantages. Since I always carry my phone, when I'm away from home I always have a book with me to read. Furthermore, the prompt to advance to the last page read is easier to use on the app. Curiously, photos and maps are shown in color and with a better resolution on the phone app than the Kindle. Most of us have cable or fios or even satellite television. And most of us also have a DVR to view and record shows. Of course, when we want to watch television, there is no getting around interacting with your DVR. I have cable but use a TiVo DVR. But for our purposes, it functions like any other DVR. TiVo also has an app as most DVRs also have. Let's say you learn of a TV show you'd like to record. You can go to your TV, turn it on, call up the guide, find the show, and set a recording. If you use the app, you can do all that just by grabbing your phone. Just about every part of the process is easier and faster on your phone. And if I learn of a show when I'm away from home, I can set a recording schedule on the app. The app also has the ability to download a show you've recorded to your phone for viewing on your phone. Now I haven't used this feature so I don't know its limitations – whether, for example, you can watch that show on an airplane. I guess I'll have to test that myself. I'm sorry to say that one example where the computer is better than the phone app is our own DwellingLive front gate entry app. Try adding a vendor to the list of temporary entrants on the app. Using Manage Vendors won't do it. You can do it using Manage Guests and Invite a Guest but you can't designate them as a vendor. Going to the website on my computer is much better – it's easier and faster. Too bad. If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Phone Computer or Desktop Computer: Which Works Better For You?

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