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Ask HN: What “special” app you are using?

33 points by yonisto ↗ HN
Out of curiosity, other than the trivial use cases of smartphone (digital swiss army knife as my FIL calls it) what else are you using it for?

My examples: Sky Map - Point your phone at the sky and it will show you the names of the stars, planets and other celestial objects that you can see.

Sound Meter - uses your built-in microphone to measure sound volume in decibels

Chwazi Finger Chooser - Random Finger Chooser (before anyone asks it helps me to decide random stuff with the kids, like who takes the first turn in any game)

56 comments

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emsixteen
> Sound Meter

Not sure what you're using this for, or which exact app it is, but I use the app put out by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for this, NIOSH Sound Level Meter[1].

I use Network Ping Lite[2] often to just check if the network I'm on is stable/up.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/app.html

[2] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/network-ping-lite/id289967115

Agraillo
Just to save the time for others, NIOSH Sound Level Meter is iOS only
HWR_14
Which makes sense, because it's reasonable to test every iPhone model and the microphone qualities. Less so for every possible android device.
ggeorgovassilis
- WiFi prioritizer: connect to the best wifi when multiple are in reach

- Shelter: implements Android work profiles [1]

- Fuelio: automobile fuel tracking

- Survive: free survival game. Hard AF, spent way too much time on it. Bought the pro version as a token of appreciation.

- Shortcut creator: Android shortcuts to hidden/burried functions

- Super Star Trek: free, open source offline PWA game. I'm the author, case of eat your own dog food I guess. [2]

[1] https://blog.georgovassilis.com/2022/09/11/my-android-work-p... [2] https://github.com/ggeorgovassilis/superstartrek

vmurthy
- AutoSleep (iOS + watchOS) [0]

I bought it when my Apple watch didn't yet have a sleep tracker and have used it for the last 2 years. Good one! Has helped me understand what works for me and what doesn't. I use the iOS app for analysis.

A sample of my findings :

1. I sleep very well when I have done some hatha yoga exercises + eating early

2. I sleep pretty well when I eat early and eat mostly salads

3. Beer ruins my sleep (no surprise, really!)

4. Cheesy/foods heavy in spices make my sleep bad and my energy levels in the morning low

[0] https://apps.apple.com/au/app/autosleep-track-sleep-on-watch...

dusted
Apart from the social media and streaming stuff:

- Spectroid: A spectrum analyzer to help me identify "that annoying sound I hear" or "what's wrong with the sound in this place?" I'm not good at ignoring sound, but it helps me when I understand something about it, like "oh, that's a 10 khz harmonic" still annoying but slightly less.

- DiggieDog: Gopher client, extremely fast, good for when I'm somewhere with REAL bad Internet.

- Ulysse Speedometer: For driving.. I don't like the ones in cars because they're always somewhat wrong.

- Color Note: Maybe not a special app..

- Podcast Addict: Maybe also not..

gregoriol
How could an app ("Ulysse Speedometer") be better at measuring the vehicle speed?? This seems so wrong!
milderworkacc
Off topic but this is a real gripe of mine - analogue speedos that go all the way up to 240 kmph (~150 mph). I am only ever going to do half that speed, so why not just make the dial go to only 120/(80) and give the needle (and me!) twice as much precision!
gregoriol
You probably would better like a digital display that shows a number instead of a needle
HeyLaughingBoy
Maybe limit the dial at 100mph?. Doing 80 on the Interstate near me will get you passed by the impatient. But the real question is why do you need that much precision?
swixmix
Many gauges are typically designed to work best in the center 50% of their range.
paintbox
Vehicle speedometers are factory made to display wrong info. I believe they add about 10% to your actual speed.

The reason is error-margin of speedometers, it's about 10% so they err on the side of caution.

dusted
My car is using the rotation of the front wheel axle to infer the speed. So it depends on tire diameter (tire type and wear), air pressure, temperature, and the precision of the mechanics involved, and it's generally nonlinear (difference gets larger at higher speeds).

My phone is sampling GPS position at a few Hz, and while the position itself may not be absolutely precise, the relative position from one sample to the next is very good.

aidomi
I created a simple browser extension to help me organise my links. It solves a problem I had where there was a middle ground between keeping a tab open to read later and saving something to my bookmarks.

It's under 200 lines of JS, not available on the Webstore and not complicated (or even well-written) at all, but it's a nice feeling to use a little piece of software I wrote that's purely customised to my specific use case(s).

moonshotideas
Care to share this? - I’d love to see how you approached this
aidomi
Happy to DM you the github repo if you'd like!
KomoD
Why not just post the link to the Github repo here?
aidomi
I'd rather not share it publicly just yet.
awelxtr
Notin - Creates a simple notification with the text you input. Pro version makes the notifications persist across reboots and unswipable. I use it to make reminders or task lists. I like that is simpler than the alternatives
danr4
is there a version for ios?
shubb
Evie - Ebook text to speech reader - there are many but this one is good.
thensome
inaturalist- photograph and track organisms you see, and submit their location to relevant research projects
shellfishgene
And identify them from the picture with the AI feature!
mrbadger
MyLifeOrganized ; it's the last Windows app I use (on Linux with WINE and Android)
baohwang
DroidCam. It allows me to use my phone as a Webcam on Linux by streaming over WiFi (or cable). Good stuff
mkj
Sun Surveyor - shows an overlay on a live camera to see where the sun will be in the sky in summer or winter. Good for gardening and house design.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ratana.sun...

McNutty
Sounds like that would be useful when buying a house
mobilio
Camo - helps me to use iPhone as webcam for macOS.
paco3346
DriveDroid- an Android application that allows mounting disc images and causes the phone to appear as an external optical drive or USB flash drive.

I essentially keep an Arch and Windows 10 boot disc on me at all times.

You can also create blank images and it'll act as a flash drive.

jacooper
KDE connect - basically apple's handoff but open source and for Linux and windows.

Libretube - YouTube without ads, trackers or an account.

syncbehind
> KDE connect - basically apple's handoff but open source and for Linux and windows.

AND Macs :)

h4waii
You should also check out NewPipe Sponsorblock.
jacooper
I used to use it, but the non stopping crashes since 0.24 made me switch to libretube, and I actually find libretube to have a better UI.
Nazzareno
Input Director (win64): use the same mouse and keyboard across multiple laptops

AutoHotKey: create custom hotkeys (ie CTRL+RightArrow to skip to the next Spotify song)

Chromacam: add a custom background in MS Teams videocalls

prithsr
Ableton Note - essentially, make music. fun little passtime.

Ada - like webmd, but more interactive. gives me a rough idea of potential scenarios based on xyz symptoms i'm having.

Cone - not every day use, but identifies colour hex codes using your smartphone camera

seized
Pushover - Push alerts from anywhere, one time $5 purchase. API to push alerts from anything, so server alerts from my homelab, alerts from Node-Red, stuff down, etc, has email addresses so you can forward to it. ROI wise this one is mind-blowing.

SyncThing - Specifically Syncthing-Fork on Android which has better rules to prevent battery drain. Syncs all my photos to my NAS and syncs my Obsidian vaults.

Todoist - Would be lost without it. Not that "special" except for its positive impact.

ObsidianMD - Posted about a lot here. It's amazing.

Stellarium - AR sky maps with a nice UI, my wife uses it as well. The kids love it.

HTTP Shortcuts - Create shortcuts, not just "http", can also create obsidian:// shortcuts and use the Advanced URI plugin.

Automate - Automate tasks on a phone, I use it to turn a smart outlet off when my phone charges to 80%.

The Photographers Empheris and/or PhotoPills - Plan landscape photos

rom16384
Nightcap - iPhone camera app for night photography, star trails, etc.

Star Rover - Star maps

rdegges
Day One - A journaling app for iOS, iPad OS, and MacOS that lets you write journal entries, keep multiple journals, sync everything (encrypted) via iCloud, and even lets you print physical copies of your journals if you'd like.

I've been journaling with it for two years now nearly every day and it's 100% wonderful. At the end of each year I order a physical copy of the journal for my personal archive. Highly recommend.

customname
Auto Text : Can schedule texts, including reoccurring ones. Also great for reminders in the notification bar. Use it every day.

Joplin : Notes

Macrodroid : mostly to keep my files tidy. Way back in the day of SD cards in phones it helped transfer things over nightly in preparation for my sync job with...

Syncthing : Magical and finicky software

Loop Habit Tracker : Notification pops up, "Did you exercise today?" You answer yes or no and it logs it. I have several questions throughout my day, one of which being how I felt for the day. It's interesting to go back and see which habits improve my day.

Tasks.org (app) : simple to-do app

RaspController : manage local raspberry pis

Wireguard : Selfhost a VPN to "remote" into my home network

Quickimgur : this one is hard to find now. Adds a simple option to the "Share" button on photos. It uploads to imgur and copies the link to my clipboard. No account required.

Aurora Droid : A nice skin for F Droid

YouTube Vanced : Removes YT ads and enables background play. Also restores dislikes and works with Sponsorblock

Privacy.com (app) : Let's you spin up temporary credit card numbers when purchasing things online.

Zone Launcher : shortcut launcher. I swipe from the bottom right of my screen from anywhere on my phone and release over the app I want to launch.

Probably others but I don't even know if these are "special". Just some of my first downloads on a new phone.

ragingroosevelt
Is it still possible to get Youtube Vanced? Last I'd read it got taken down.
customname
It was DMCA'd, yes... but there's still a way. When I last needed to install it the method involved using the wayback machine. If I needed it today I'd start by looking at the subreddit AfterVanced
rg111
- xplore: the best ever file manager I have seen

- Syncthing: free sync among devices/servers

- Newpipe: YouTube without ads. Subscribing to channels without logging in. One click downloads of videos and audio.

- VRTV Free: see any video in Cardboard-like VR headset

- Gforth: runming FORTH in android

- Scrambled EXIF: scrambles EXIF data before sharing to anyone

- Smart Audiobook Player: best free audiobook player out there

- Binaural Bits: what it sounds like. no ads. nice UI.

- Bodhi Timer: simple times that is lightweight and cool

- Notes, Calendar from Simple Mobile Tools- all paid versions (some cents per app for forever)

- Feeder: open source rss reader, unlimited feeds, free

- Showly: tracking movies and shows. auto syncs with Trakt

- Simple Soroban: best abacus learning app out there

- Switch: one tap wifi server launcher. can access phone files from any machine with nice GUI

- X11 Basic: runs BASIC on android

After reading much of the thread, I am now using Pushover and notin, too.

BWStearns
Foreflight is the best app-for-purpose I've ever used. The smart ruler function is amazing on so many levels and I hate [Google|Apple] Maps every time I use them and want the smart ruler.
sacnoradhq
macOS: Fork of Breakaway that instantly mutes audio when the headphone jack is removed. I only use the headphone jack while charging wireless headphones because they fallback to regular wireless ones when unpowered.