Review : Magnifying Glass with Light

App Name : Magnifying Glass with Light
Developer : Falcon in Motion LLC
Compatible with : iOS devices (iPOd, iPhone, iPad Mini, iPad)
Link : Magnifying Glass with Light
Price : Free ad Supported version or $1.99 for Pro edition
Reviewed On : iPhone 5

Features :
This has a lot of features in an App that would bring it into line with many dedicated Video Magnifiers.  The feature set includes  :
- High Contrast Mode
- Switch LED light On/Off
- Control for light intensity
- Crystal Clear Mode
- Image Stabilisation
- Focus Locking
- Screen capture/Photo
- Freeze Frame

First Impressions :
At first, the scren appears a little cluttered as many of the features appear directly via icons/bars.  In portrait mode along the top you have the Camera switch (for switching between front and rear facing cameras), focus lock and settings button.  At the bottom you have the photo button, zoom intensity slider and light on/off and along the right edge you have a light intensity slider.  Entering the settings lets you switch on/off image stablisation, crystal clear mode, remove the light level adjustment from the display, turn LED light onto Auto mode and whether you want Freeze frame mode on or off.

A simple but powerful set of tools.  Despite feeling cluttered to start with (I was used to an App with only a Zoom slider) it becomes easy to navigate very quickly and you can memorise where various functions are.  I did have some minor niggles making sure I pressed the smaller icons like the Light switch.  This is where the ability to override Apple's settings of the buttons on your phone might come in handy (ie dedicating your Volume buttons to zoom in and out) but as far as I'm aware Apple does not allow this.

A Closer Look at the Features :
The Magnifier :
The Magnifier itself has a maximum capacity of 5x so it's not all that powerful but it does stay well within the feasible range of the Digital Camera's zoom capabilities.  The focus is generally quick although it suffers the same problem as most phone based magnifiers (a difficulty to focus on very close objects).  The ability to turn the LED light on/off is a much needed feature missing in most phone based magnifiers to assist in darker areas or even the problem with your phone casting a shadow.

Image Stabilisation/Crystal Clear Mode :
In my testing I didn't notice that much difference between standard modes and having these switched on.  There did appear to be a greater lag in focussing though when they were turned on.

Other Features :
The other features work as I would expect them to.  I'm not too keen on the High Contrast mode but then I've always preferred the natural colours (it generally inverts colours).

Overall :
I'd have to say it's ne of the better magnifiers I've seen on a mobile phone.  The limitations it does have I would associate with the camera in the iPhone (difficulty with close focus, a little bit of lag and difficulty maintaining focus).  For $1.99 it does have to compete with many Free Apps on the iPhone that claim to do similar things but its feature set makes it stand out as one o fthe better of the bunch.  My only complaint is that it only reaches 5x Magnification and my glasses have 6x but there's nothing stopping me from using them together (some dedicated Video Magnifiers go much higher).

Rating : 4/5 (Good but needs a little improvement)

App'y Independance

The boom of the App which combines with an internet enabled Multifunction device has seen an explosion in things you can achieve easily with your Smartphone or Tablet.  Here are 10 things you can do that might help your ability to be more Independant :

1. GPS Navigation
GPS in Australia still has its flaws due to a lack of Satellite visibility (it works by triangulating your position by bouncing a signal off several satellites) and this also causes problems with Urban Canyoning (Signals get bounced off buildings and/or blocked due to the low angle of the Satellite).  But thigns are slowly improving and the ability to utilise Mobile towers for triangulation improves performance and accuracy in urban areas.  There are many Apps available on all platforms so its more a matter of what suits your fancy (I prefer Sygic for walking and TomTom when I'm helping navigate in a car).

2. Document Scan
While I haven't seen fully featured Object Character Recognition (OCR) Apps yet there are plenty of Apps available that will do Document Scanning into PDF file formats.  From here you can import it into many other Reading Apps and use Pinch to Zoom functionality to view the text at what size you need.

3. Instruction Manual Reading
I honestly don't know how MOST people can read those manuals in 8 point font sizes but most companies now supply manuals in an electronic format.  Apps like Good Reader will keep you organised with easy access to all your Manuals and you can zoom in and out to your hearts content.  I use this for all sorts of things from building Lego to reading manuals for my new Hardware.

4. Public Transport Route Planning
Since Public Transport is State based and access to route information and timetables is different in each State you get different functionality depending on where you are.  But these Apps are generally a good overview to plan your trip especially if you are very reliant on Public Transport.

5. Business Card Recognition
You might get mixed results with these but they work well if you can get a decent photo (since cameras on phones have improved this is getting better) and your card is a fairly standard layout.  They promise to take a photo of a card and automatically fill in the details for your Contacts but sometimes they can get so muddled its easier to do it by hand than trying to fix up the mashed up results.

6. Easy Share Contacts
Forget the Business Card altogether and go straight to being Bump Buddies!  Apps like Bump let you automatically share your contact details with another person by simply being close in proximity (they generally use Near Feild Communication).

7. Make Relay Calls
Ever since the Internet Relay Service was established and the release of Internet capable devices this sort of thing has been looked into.  Nowadays you can access it via several means including Instant Messaging services (like WIndows Live Messenger for Mobile) or by SMS relay.  Video Relay is also becoming possible as more devices become enabled with Video capabilities.

8. Communication Board
Whether you can't hear or speak, mobile devices offer an infinite source of communication capabilities that range from the simple note App to a more complex and customisable communication board (where you press pictures).

9. Dictation
I've never had much luck with Dictation programs but Dragon has introduced its free software on various platforms.  Supposedly it does not require training but I've never had much luck with these (they still get affected by background noise).  But as the technology progresses they should remove the need to type.  Apps like Siri have been met with mixed experiences (Android is considered to be better at this if not as comedic.  ie you can ask Siri to marry you and she will reply that it's not in her license agreement).

10. Emergency Distress Button
If you are someone who is at high risk of Health issues but want to live independantly this might be your answer (alternatively there is VitaCall but you need to be within a certain range).  Many of these can be set to do things such as automatically dial a number and leave a voice message, send an SMS containing a plea for help along with your GPS coordinates and much more.