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Let's talk about handy apps to have on your phone. When you come down to it, the only essential aspect of a cellular phone is the telephone function. It's been a rather short time since the cell phone evolved to the mini computer we now call a smartphone. We've talked about great apps that often prove indispensable. But there are others that are just handy to be able to call on from time to time. Ever wonder what the altitude is where you happen to be? There's an app for that. I use one called Travel Altimeter Lite. There are many other altimeters for smartphones, and I doubt there is much difference among them. After all, they all use functions built into the phone itself. Mine also has a compass. If I put altitude in the app store search box, Altimeter GPS comes up. It's not only an altimeter, it's a speedometer and pedometer. Maybe I'll give it a try. If I don't like it, I can delete it easily. And if I do, I can delete my original app. I'm willing to admit I'm metric crazy. How else would you explain writing a spreadsheet to calculate the angle of climb on a bike route? Well it turns out there is app for that too. When I search for angle meter, it seems I may have paid 99 cents for the Angle Meter app, but there's no need for you to do that. There are several free apps that appear to do the same thing. Want to hang a picture? Start the app, hold your phone on the picture frame, and use the app to level the picture. How many pints in a quart? Okay, two. But how many inches in a meter and a half? 59.05511811, or 4.9212598425 feet, or 1.6404199475 yards, or 0.00745645431 furlongs. Using the UnitConvertLT app, I can convert meters to 23 other units of length measurement. Besides length, it will convert weight, speed, temperature, volume and several other measurement units. It's a very handy app to have, although it won't tell me how many drops in a milliliter. For that I had to use Google. (There are 20 drops in a milliliter.) For 20 years, cars have come with an OBD (OnBoard Diagnostics) connector usually below the dash near the steering wheel. The original use for the connector had to do with California smog regulations. But OBD has become much more than that. Cars store enormous amounts of data that are available via the OBD connector. There are very expensive devices that smog check centers use for your biannual DMV registration. But there are also inexpensive devices that plug into the OBD connector. These interfaces need an app for you to see what's going on in your car's information center. Some of these create a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect to your app. That's what my device uses, and I don't recommend it. I suggest you get a Bluetooth unit. These devices typically refer you to an app. Sometimes they're proprietary. But most OBD plug- ins can use an app like OBD Fusion that I prefer to OBD Car Doctor recommended for my device. If you have an iPhone, have you used Siri, the personal digital assistant? Just say "Hey, Siri" to wake the function up. Then ask a question. Siri will answer verbally or give you a link on the screen. But Siri is not the best assistant in the view of many experts. If you have the Google search app on your phone, you can press the microphone icon in the search bar and ask a question. Google Assistant will reply. There is an app that I don't have on my phone, but which seems like it'd be handy to have. Waze is owned by Google, and if you use Google maps, the traffic information icons displayed are usually Waze traffic incidents. Waze has an Android app and an Apple app, and it has the reputation of being the best app for finding the quickest route to wherever you want to drive. Do you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. 8 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2017 Handy Apps for Occasional Use THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! By Steve Benoff

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