Category: Apps

Cosmic Watch is a clock of the future, a virtual planetarium for mobile devices. #AR #Cosmos #App #Space

Remember Cosmic Watch? They have not gone away and if you have not seen this app now is the time to do so. The Cosmic Watch is a high quality simulation app that renders the earth and the sky in real time. It shows the positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars from the earth’s point of view, telling the time according to the motion of the cosmos,not only that it has fantastic graphics and brings AR to the table.

Today there is great news for the app and Jeevan Ram is here to tell us about it..Jeevan explains what is new.

– New Sky View: Point your phone or tablet to the sky and get a real-time look at the constellations, stars, and planets in space.

– Events and Notifications: the Cosmic Watch calculates the next astronomical and time related events and sends notifications. Rise, transits and set times for the Sun and Moon, lunar phases, equinox and solstice, lunar and solar eclipses, daylight saving time

– New Solar System View: see the complete solar system, change between heliocentric and geocentric views

– New equatorial clock face: a contemporary and comprehensible visualisation of the 24 hours of the day.

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ABOUT THE APP

Using it as a clock reminds us that we are on a planet surrounded by a fascinating universe. Furthermore, the actual lunar phase, planets and constellations are shown to observe in our local sky.

The user can switch between the Sky, Earth and Solar System view, traveling in time and watching planetary movements in the past, present and future. Informative layers like names, equatorial coordinates, clouds and interstellar dust can be displayed. The new Sky view is an augmented reality experience.

VERSION HIGHLIGHTS

The Cosmic Watch 2.0 has many improvements towards usability.

The new sky view to watch the sky in augmented reality helps you locate planets and constellations from your location. The reworked solar system view can be zoomed and switched between heliocentric and geocentric for increased educational value. The Cosmic Watch calculates important astronomical and time related events and informs via notifications which the user can customise.

The Cosmic Watch is a milestone in the history of astronomical instruments as it is the worlds first and most advanced 3D interactive astronomical clock of the digital age.

Unique features are the clock’s ability to show the concept of the celestial sphere and display the geocentric movements of the planets. The app is designed with exploration in mind, while stunning visuals fuel the imagination and provide inspiration to search even further.

More info:  http://www.cosmic-watch.com

 

Find.Exchange – Skyscanner for the money transfer world. #Money #Travel #App #Fintech

The perfect companion for travellers has arrived: the Find.Exchange app finds and compares the best exchange rates for money transfer companies, travel money and soon, prepaid currency cards around the world – in real time. So wherever your journey takes you, you’ll always find the best rate and the nearest bureau. In an always-on world, it really can make a difference for everyone – from travellers, expats and students to businesses that are always on the go.

Money transfer made easy with Find.Exchange: Transferring money and spending abroad has traditionally been a minefield of hidden and confusing charges, and the volatility of fast-changing currency rates around the world adds to the complexity. With an abundance of money transfer options saturating the marketplace, users simply cannot easily identify the best deal for them. The app from Find.Exchange is transforming this experience. Positioned as the ‘Skyscanner’ of the money transfer world

Find.Exchange simplifies the process and finds the best rates by comparing banks, FX exchange bureaus, travel agents, post offices and online money providers and can, uniquely, provide direct live information from the merchant to the user – a vital component when speed and rates matter. It’s simple, easy, fast and does all the work for you. Taking the stress out of the travel money experience means you can relax, and spend the money you’ve saved on enjoying your holiday.

Features:

• Compare money transfer companies all in one place
• Find and locate Currency Exchange Bureaus with live up-to-date rates
• Choose companies that suit your needs easily with an elaborate filter system
• View live interbank exchange rates with the currency converter and live rates
• Create alerts so you’ll know when your currency reaches your desired rate
• Historical currency charts – track and compare any exchange rate pairs for the past week or month going up to ten years

• Over 160 currencies available for exchange

Top selling points:

It’s live: The easy-to-use currency converter is ideal for real-time live rates, analysing historical data, and creating alerts for specific currency pairs. Having all this in your hand, on the go, means you can stay one step ahead of the currency exchange curve and beat the ups and downs of unpredictable markets.

Its user-centric: CEO and founder of Find.Exchange, Ricky Lee was part of the founding team at Revolut and has architected apps for the major banks in the UK. His background is as a product designer in cross-border payments, gateways, FX and digital currencies – and his commitment to the user experience really comes to the fore in this app. With a user-centric approach, the app has a clean but fun interface that allows the focus to stay firmly on delivering on the promise: to find the best rates for you.

It’s convenient: It’s simple, it’s fast, it’s easy to navigate – when speed and rates matter, this is vital. There’s no clutter or gimmicks or flashy interface either – they’ve really worked to strip back the friction of a money transfer experience and make it a seamless journey.
It’s a next gen currency aggregator: Finally, a model for the money transfer world that is based on the ‘Skyscanner’s and ‘Booking.com’s of the world.

It’s far-reaching: Find.Exchange doesn’t just cover the typical currency corridors – but the harder to reach currencies too. In fact, there’s over 160 currencies available for exchange.

The CEO – Ricky Lee was part of the founding team at Revolut and has architected apps for the major banks in the UK. His background is as a product designer in cross-border payments, gateways, FX and digital currencies.

Who they are – in a nutshell
Find.Exchange is an innovative currency comparison aggregator – think ‘Skyscanner’ of the money transfer world: they help users compare and save, based on their needs – e.g. best price, fastest speed, method of payment.

So what makes this aggregator more enticing and simply better?
Ricky Lee explains that they not only cover typical currency corridors however more harder to reach currencies as well. Also the volatility of exchange rates does mean that some services are going to be cheaper with some companies on some days and at different hours. Therefore while some might argue that traditional players like Western Union, Moneycorp or Moneygram… are expensive, this might not be the case, it’s a competitive market and Find.Exchange’s partners know this.
However the biggest difference is that it is simple, easy and fast, Find.Exchange does all the work for you.

https://find.exchange/

 

Park secrets: Kerb is a new app set to change parking in Ireland. #Parking #Ireland #App

If you’ve ever had a parking ticket, been towed or even just been late because you couldn’t find a space, you’ll know that parking can be stressful – and expensive. That’s changing – thanks to a pioneering new app from Down Under called Kerb, which has already solved a lot of parking problems for thousands Australian and New Zealanders.

So how does it work? It’s a bit like ‘Airbnb for Parking’: homeowners or businesses can rent out their spare spaces to make extra cash – and drivers can use the app to park more easily AND more cheaply. But unlike Airbnb, councils love Kerb because it reduces congestion and environmental impact by getting cars off roads, makes use of existing infrastructure – and means more money for locals to spend in the economy.

A Kerb parking space will save the average commuter anywhere between €10 and €40 a day, depending on where they park. Those who park with Kerb use the extra cash on anything from house deposits to holidays, or their kids’ school or university fees. The app isn’t just for parking cars either – Kerb is also for renting and leasing spaces for motorbikes, boats, trucks – even helicopters…

You might be thinking you’ve heard of parking apps before. And you’d be right, but Kerb is different. That’s because it also offers a car park management solution – Kerb Bays – which lets churches and schools use their car park to fundraise, allows universities and shopping malls to better manage their parking, and businesses put their car parking spaces to work and generate extra cash. Residential committees even use Kerb to monitor visitor parking spaces and manage the allocation of parking spaces in apartment buildings.

Kerb leaser, Dee Marshman says, “I have founded KERB to be an awesome way to make use of my car space when I’m not parking my car there! The app is user-friendly and makes the whole process super-easy. The staff at KERB have great communication, too! There’s no downside to using KERB and I recommend it to all of my friends!”

Kerb launched in October 2016 and is live across Australia, New Zealand and will be rolling out in 16 languages later this year. “We’re really excited about the benefits that Kerb is going to have for Irish users”, says co-founder Rob Brown. “The app allows you to list an entire car park up in minutes, and each individual bay can be customised by availability, price and vehicle type.”

If you’re envious of your neighbours paying off their mortgage earlier or going on great holidays because they list their home on Airbnb – this could be your easier, greener way to cash in on the sharing economy!

Facts

  • https://kerb.works/
  • Kerb was launched in 2016 by Rob Brown (one of Australia most prominent marketers), and Matt Salmon (a highly regarded technologist and app developer).
  • Kerb allows leasers to list an entire car park up in minutes: each individual bay can be customised by availability, price and vehicle type.
  • Currently leasers approve booking requests. With Kerb Bays, leasers have the option to apply instant book to all your bays.
  • If leasers prefer long-term users in some car parks, they have the option for the user to pay by the week as a direct debit. The user is then provided to give notice to end the lease.
  • Kerb allows leasers to add their own terms to the app, which the user must accept when they click to book.
  • Registration is collected on all bookings – other documents can be collected if required.
  • Car park access – provided boom gates or doors are online, Kerb should be able to trigger them open via a button on the app which appears to the user when they book. There are other devices like GSM openers which can also be integrated with.
  • Kerb is happy to provide signage for any bays listed on Kerb, free of charge.
  • Kerb will be available around the world and is already in Australia, New Zealand, and just arrived in the UK and Ireland.

WeatherKit is your pocket weatherman. #Apps #Weather #IndieDev #Android #iOS

There is plenty of weather apps out there today and we have covered many over the last two years here and I always like to see something new, WeatherKit is an updated version of the App called Aerium which we featured before by Indie Dev Raul, Check it out below the app is available on both the Android and iOS platforms. It has a really nice minimalistic design and looks great.

 

Features

5-day forecast
During our beta, we heard lots of voices saying that we should support at least 5 days of weather forecast. To do so, we invested heavily into how we can make that experience as seamless as possible and our whole team is stoked with the result. Did someone say hourly forecasts? They’re next.

· RainAlert
We love RainAlert only because sometimes it’s invisible. It was designed to only get in your way when you need it more. 

· Subscriptions
To provide you with the best weather data, we’re using the best weather API’s available – and boy, they’re not cheap. We’re a small indie team committed to this project and to the people using it, without turning a profit. In all fairness, we’d love to push the limits on the affordability and in this update, we added multiple Pro subscriptions. You can subscribe to our monthly or yearly plan, or get the best deal available and buy the lifetime in-app purchase.

· Interface & Experience
We updated the on boarding alongside with the interface for a better user experience. You’ll notice major changes to the swipe-up weather card, both in smoothness and content. It’s a small redesign with a focus on accessibility.

 

Stop Your Smartphone Addiction with Social Fever App. #Apps #Addiction #Mobile

With emerging smartphone addiction people are glued to their smartphone devices like never before. While smartphones are considered to be one of the best inventions of all time it is not immune to common problems usually associated with largely used technologies. Here, it has not only given a medium to people to communicate and stay connected with their near and dear ones but it is also full of other apps & services. In fact, you unbox your smartphone bundled with a lot of apps & services that come pre-installed on your device. While some of these apps you use rest remain idle on your device.

Time to Intervene: Well, the time has come when we should stay vigilant to issues arising due to addiction to smartphones & social media accounts. Here, we should limit phone usage to save our time and to reduce smartphone dependence. To do this, Systweak Software offers you one effective tool in the form of Social Fever.

Features of the App

Track Goals: Under Track Goals option, the app helps you set individual goals for yourself and further track them. Using this option, you can reduce your smartphone dependency considerably. In this option, you need to go to individual app to set maximum time you want to spend on it. You can set your goals under tracking module and further track them when needed. You can use this effective feature to track time spent on phone efficiently.

App Usage: You can use this one of the best apps that track phone usage to monitor and limit phone usage significantly. Under app usage option, you can instantly view the information related to app usage. Further, it displays the total time spent on the specific app from tracking module.

History: It displays information related to the total time you have spent on different apps in last 7 days. Here, you will find history in a geographical format for easy understanding.

Interest: App not only allows you to track and limit your smartphone usage but it also helps you know how much time you have saved to spend your favorite activity. Under Interest, you need to set interest for yourself.

Ear Health: Under this feature, app will send you alerts when you spend long hours using earphones on your device. This feature is meant to reduce over usage of ear/headphones to keep your ear health intact. Using this app, that track phone usage also helps you keep your health well.

Eye Health: Like ear health, the app also helps you keep your eyes in good condition in addition to limit phone usage. Here, the app will send you warnings when you spend a long time on your smartphone starring at the device screen. You can use this feature to relax your eyes and mind.

Other features

  • To view app usage in real-time use Show App Tracking feature. Here, it will display a time tracker with selected app to help you know the time you have spent on any app.
  • You can change daily delivery report time by heading to app settings. Here, default time you get reports is 22:00 hours.
  • To view and manage daily goals click on “Show daily report” option. It will help you track time spent on phone effortlessly.
  • To clear tracking, history click on “Clear History” option.
  • To change interest, you have set click on “Show Interest” option.

The Verdict of the App: Social Fever offers an intuitive solution to deal with smartphone addiction. Using this smart solution, you not only manage to track and limit phone usage but you also save lot of your valuable time. This powerful tool offers lot of useful features to offer improved user experience. We can recommend you try this app to get best results in no time.

 

Irish Apps – Princess Boo is a 3D runner game for boys and girls. #Apps #Irish #Gaming

If you have no gaming apps to test out and  for something to keep the kids entertained for a while this new app from MoffApps could be something to check out. The App is made by MoffApps and is available on the Android and iOS platforms and is FREE and is in short a 3D runner game which most kids would be familiar with on how they work.

About the app.

Test your reflexes as you run, jump and slide through the kingdom with Princess Boo (dress and all) dodging crazy obstacles to escape the Wicked Witch.

Be careful to avoid obstacles on this thrilling adventure. Swipe left and right to avoid obstacles, swipe up to jump and swipe down to slide. See how many stars you can gather and how far you can run with Princess Boo. Earn coins to unlock Princess Boo’s Princess friends. Earn coins by watching videos to unlock some of Princess Boo’s princess friends to help her on her quest to escape the witch.

Some of Princess Boo’s besties include Leah, Laura and Abbie. When you become a pro, you are free to choose which princess will save the day and defeat the witch.

Apps for home improvement projects- Infographic #tech #home #apps

If you need some apps to help out around the home you are in for a treat,many might not know such apps are out there or simply not think of looking for such but as they say there is an app for everything these days,literally everything. Check out this infographic below broken down into sections for your convenience, with thanks to Jane Crosbie, Marketing Manager with Senator Windows based here in Ireland. Enjoy and let us know if you find any of these apps useful.

Nearly 60% of People Are Worried About Their Data Being Used by Mobile Apps #GDPR

Research from The App Developers has discovered that whilst 58% of the population are worried about mobile Apps stealing personal data, they still went on to download as many as 100 paid apps each, over the course of 12 months.

Surprisingly 73% of respondents said that, despite being worried about their data, they would still only download free apps – which were far more likely to be monetised with targeted advertising or by capturing their data.

When asked about how they preferred to access premium content within free apps, more than a thirdof those worried about their data said they’d prefer to access premium content in exchange for being subjected to “un-skippable” in-app advertising, this compares with just 13% who preferred to pay for the content directly or as an upgrade cost.

Sam Furr, founder of The App Developers said: “Despite the fact that such a large concern exists, the public continue to download free apps in abundance, meaning that companies should make efforts to keep their apps free if they want to reach the largest possible audience”.

He goes on to say “Luckily, only a tiny minority of apps are capturing data with the intent to sell on, most will fall foul of the new GDPR rules, demonetising lots of the less trustworthy apps and allowing those to cut through the noise who genuinely add some value”.

New GDPR legalisation will mean hefty fines for those found in breach of data protection laws. Of those who have only downloaded 1-5 apps in the last 12 months, 67% admitted to being concerned about apps using their data for marketing purposes.

Comparatively, 69% of participants who have downloaded 51-100 apps in the last 12 months revealed they were content with handing over their personal information to apps. This could suggest app-addicts are unsure of the potential consequences of carelessly handing over their personal information, or are comfortable with the way their data could be used.

However, the overall perception of apps asking for personal information is negative, with 60% of participants being against it; meaning apps who request this might be unpopular to download.

About The App Developers

The App Developers are an award-winning mobile led design & development agency, working with corporates and start-ups across multiple sectors. All products are created adopting a user-first methodology, and solutions are designed taking an expert think-tank approach to business pain points and objectives.  Everything is built with ROI in mind.  The App Developers have worked with brands such as Fujifilm, Exxonmobil, Sainsbury’s, Walkers & many emerging and disruptive start-ups.

Survey Methodology

The App Developers surveyed over 300 men and women within the UK between 07/02/2018 – 12/02/2018 to discover their opinions and thoughts on mobile apps. Respondents were asked 10 questions such as which marketing channels encourage app downloads, how much they spend on downloading apps or in-app purchases and whether they would choose an app over a branded website. The App Developers then analysed the results.

 

Boots Ireland App update has a host of features and New Digital Advantage Card #Boots #Apps #AdvanatageCard

The Boots Advantage Card is used regularly by 1 million Irish customers and is one of Ireland’s most loved loyalty programmes. The Boots Digital Advantage Card is now available via the Boots phone app which we have covered before and will enable customers to earn points simply and swiftly at the till via the phone app, with a host of additional new functions also available. Boots Advantage Card customers earn 4 points for every €1 spent. Boots customers that download or upgrade the app can avail of a bonus 400 points when they spend €20 in store or online.

The generous points system remains unchanged, with Boots Advantage Card customers earning 4 points for every €1 spent, and members of the Boots Parenting Club, and the Over 60s programme, earning a boosted 10 points for every €1 on a selected range of products.

The new version of the Boots Ireland App has a host of features other than the New Digital Advantage Card, including:

  • A range of personalised offers for each customer
  • Online shopping and appointment booking service
  • New vitamin reminder and health advice function
  • Store locator to quickly find nearest Boots store and the services offered
  • Wide range of photo printing services

As a special offer, Boots customers can avail of a bonus 400 points when they spend €20 in store or online.

Insights from the Boots Advantage Card programme reveal that the most popular item to be redeemed via points is cotton wool pads, followed by bottled water and Boots cucumber face wipes. Looking further at the spending habits of Irish Boots Advantage Card users, Christmas is the most popular time of year for Boots customers to choose a points purchase, and Fridays top the table as the most popular day of the week for customers to pay with points – allowing a little more spending power heading into the weekend.

Commenting on the launch of the Boots Digital Advantage Card, Mark Barry, IT Director for Boots UK & Ireland said: “We are always looking to bring our customers new and exciting ways of getting better value for their purchases and bringing the Boots Advantage Card into the digital space is an important step in making it easier than ever to collect and spend points. The new app also offers a range of new services that were developed with the Boots customer in mind, which we hope will be really popular.”

Commenting on the new launch, Gillian Hennessy, Head of Marketing at Boots Ireland says: “We are really proud of what the Boots Advantage Card has offered to Irish shoppers over the last decade, and this new launch introduces the easiest way ever to carry your Boots Advantage Card. The insights show that a million Irish people regularly benefit by using the Boots Advantage Card points system, and we’re delighted the new digital version provides a streamlined way to earn and spend points.”

How to get the Boots Digital Advantage Card:

  1. Download the Boots app on the Apple App Store or on Google Play
  2. Customers who have a Boots Advantage card then click ‘My Advantage Card’
  3. Click ‘Add my card’ and enter your Boots Advantage Card number and details
  4. You’re all set! Your Boots Digital Advantage Card barcode, points available to spend and personalised offers will appear in the app

For more information on the Boots Digital Advantage Card and how to download, visit boots.ie/advantage-card