By: Blonde One
I don’t know about you but I know for sure that my smart ‘smart phone’ is vastly under-used. I’m certain that it can do all sorts of clever things that I don’t get the benefit of. In my mind I need to spend several days stuck in a lift with a teenager to be able to use it to its full potential. Since I don’t plan to get stuck in a lift any time soon I’ll have to make do with my limited capability. What I do know about my phone is how to install apps. I have various apps that I use frequently such as Instagram and Google maps. I have recently discovered some that I plan to use when next on Dartmoor.
The OS Locate app will give an instant grid reference, your altitude and a compass bearing. The best bit about it is that it’s free.
Another free one is the Star Chart. All you do is point your phone at the starry night sky and the app will identify the stars, planets and constellations.
If you wanted to spend £2.29 you could install the Peak Scanner app. It identifies any peak that you point your phone at apparently. It will tell you how high the peak is, how far away it is and how much height climb you can expect to get to it. It seems really clever and I would love to try it out on Dartmoor.
The clever botanists at the Natural History Museum have designed the Leafsnap UK app which identifies leaves. However this only works on a fruity themed phone!
There are various Munro bagging apps where you can get instant info about Munros and log each one that you climb.
I hope to get a bit better at making fuller use of my phone and the apps that I have installed. Watch this space!
Almost, you convince me that I need a smart phone – – – star chart sounds fun and leafsnap would be right up my street – I’m never sure what plant I am looking at unless I have a flower and even then, I need copious quantities of books to check everything. Knowing for sure how much climbing one had to do might serve as a deterrent to mountain walking, though – would I be able to face the information or would I take one look and give up?
But no. On my lovely, ordinary, ancient unsmart phone I still can’t remember how to do everything, so I think a smart phone would defeat me before I began. Besides, I am not patient enough to spend a week in a lift with a teenager.