It is known that modern smartphones are now not only multifunction mobile phones that do many things and are almost miniaturized computers capable of taking photos, surfing the internet, sending and receiving emails and many other things. Among the predefined applications in modern smartphones there are those predefined and classic accessories such as the radio, the flashlight, the calendar, the calculator, the notepad and other minor tools.
In addition, smart phones such as iPhones, Windows Phones and Android phones also have different sensors inside them that allow them, for example, to recognize when the screen is turned or when the ear is close to the microphone.
In some phones these sensors are present: Accelerometer, microphone, magnetic field, light, gravity, orientation, pressure, gyroscope, proximity, temperature.
There are therefore applications that, using these sensors, implement some important accessories and tools that can be very useful for many people, both for craftsmen and Swiss knives suitable for many occasions.
The best free accessory applications for everyday life, to make the Android mobile phone a multifunctional tool are:
1) Led Flashlight is the best flashlight ever for Android.
Even if the flashlight is already present in the phone, with the Flashlight app you get a diverse range of possibilities to use it, either by using the phone screen, or by using the flash on the inside. You can illuminate the screen with bright white light or with other colors. You can activate the stroboscope, the flashing roadside aid or the police light. Flashlight also provides a widget to turn the light on and off with a tap.
2) Metal Detector is capable of detecting electromagnetic fields and therefore can function as a metal detector to find pieces of magnetic metals such as steel or iron (not aluminum) Be sure to calibrate the application away from electromagnetic sources such as the computer and far from metals.
Now you can search for treasures and coins using your Android phone.
3) Telemeter is an instrument to measure the distances and the height of an object that goes from 1 to 50 meters in length. Make sure that the height of the device is correctly entered by calibrating it according to your height. To measure the distance from one point to another, you need to take a picture by pointing the camera at the ground. Always using the camera you can measure the height of a building, a tower or any other object.
4) Level is a simple level to find slopes in a plane and see any inclinations. From classic graphics, it is a level emulator used by electricians and bricklayers. Also in this case it is necessary to calibrate the application and set the sensitivity.
5) The magnifying glass allows you to enlarge objects and texts using the camera, like a normal lens. Thanks to the flash, you can use the magnification even in dark places with little light. The live view mode is rather blurry and flaky so it is much better to take the photo, save it and use the magnifying glass on it.
6) Smart Ruler is a smart team ruler . You can put any object to be measured next to the screen of the Android phone and touch the corner to detect its width and length.
7) Sound Level Meter - Sound Meter is a sound volume meter in decibels. You can use the graphical display and detect the noise level you are subjected to daily in the city or workplace.
8) Swiss Army knife is an all-in-one tool that contains: Torch, Ruler, Timer and countdown timer, stopwatch, Compass, Level, Calculator and magnifying glass, all in one application. As for quality, the various accessories are lower in terms of potential compared to specific applications but, being all together, it can be comfortable.
9) Compass is the normal compass with many additional functions.
10) Speed detector is mostly experimental and would allow you to measure the speed of a moving object as if it were a speed camera.
11) Runtastic is the application to manage your workouts and works as a support tool for dieting and losing weight.
12) Another category of accessories are the Alarm clock applications for Android with personalized alarms reported in another article.
13) Compass is a magnetic compass .
14) GPS Status to optimize the phone's GPS receiver is a great app with all the tools such as compass and radar to detect acceleration, speed, position of satellites and much more.
15) Ultimate StopWatch and Timer is the best application with stopwatch with lap time and countdown timer for Android, precise and professional, you can install it for free.
16) Decibel is an app to measure the level of noises and sounds using the microphone, to be used as a sound level meter.
17) Calcu is a very elegant and very powerful calculator, customizable in appearance that supports quick gestures with the finger to do operations.
18) Wonder Timer is a timer app to have a countdown on your mobile phone. Compared to similar apps, this one has timers already set for different waiting times such as cooking pasta, work breaks, repeated in the gym etc.
19) Measure is a simple Android application that turns your phone screen into a meter for measuring small distances.
20) App to have widgets with date and clock, in another article.
To these accessories and tools, we can add applications to scan barcodes and QR Codes, Android widgets that activate some functions from the phone screen and other accessories such as the document scanner mentioned in the article on the best Android applications .
Finally, don't forget the apps for measuring distances with the camera, which are very useful.
The Android device cannot replace a serious tool or professional accessories like some of the list, but many of the applications are surprisingly accurate and I can imagine how useful they can be in some circumstances, since most of them are not usually carried in the pocket.
What is your favorite tool?
