My First Smart Phone

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 10:00

Yeah Baby! just got me first smart phone...I'm in.

4S hand me down Apple Iphone

Questions......

Which GPS apps do you use?
Which Down loadable mapping system and or topo's do you use?
Which weather app or PDF's, writing journal, guide books be it trails, birds, or rocks and trees...anything.

and any other fancy doo dads that may be of interest to someone new to the 21st century.

School me please...Word

**bigcranky** · 10-02-2014, 10:12

Gaia GPS is good. You can pre-download the maps when on wi-fi and it will work when out of data range (which is many places on the AT.)

My Radar is good and free. Yahoo Weather is also good and free.

I like Day One for a journal app. My wife used it for all of her journaling this summer on our hike.

There are several good bird apps but they take like 1GB each, which is a lot. I have the Audubon Birds guide.

Get Google Maps for general mapping and GPS use, and the Google App. I use Sunrise for a calendar, I think it's the best free option and it syncs well with Google Calendar, which we use extensively at work and at home.

**Old Grouse** · 10-02-2014, 10:12

Congratulations! I like Google Maps, IBird North America, MyRadar, New England Hiker. And of course things like Pandora, Shazam, Photoshop Express. USA Today, BBC News. And of course, Kindle.

**Just Bill** · 10-02-2014, 10:12

LOL, grats!
Pictures and Tunes- that's all I use mine for.

I do like the Runkeeper App for local stuff. That way I can take a wandering mainly unmarked tramp and get some feedback on how long it actually was and how long it took if I want to try it again.

I also use the ibook app to print PDF's with trip info (from excel/one note) so I don't have to carry hard copies. Useful for storing backups of maps or other critical info too. If you can scan it or print it to PDF, you can use it.
Decent enough to store a book on too.

A friend wrote an entire book on the iPhone by dictating notes to it while she drove to work- good way to journal if that's your thing.
I use OneNote from Microsoft for that sort of thing personally, if you have the Office suite then it stays synced up on all devices you own.

Battery life is good, but IME, best saved for the above tasks. You've got this far without GPS, why start now?

http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Inst...+phone+charger

Works well, and gives nearly two full charges.

The weather Channel or WeatherBug- both good apps.

Get a spare headphone or "running" sweatproof headphone- the IPhone earbuds are very humidity sensitive.
At camp- put the phone speaker down into your cookpot for impromptu speakers.

**rafe** · 10-02-2014, 10:15

I'm an Android user... Galaxy S4. Main impact for me has been the camera within the phone, which is surprisingly good, just using the stock apps. It's so good, in fact that I've stopped carrying a separate, dedicated camera. Kind of a big deal (for me) considering I walked most of the AT with a 35 mm SLR.

I'm not an expert in GPS usage, but I've been using Maprika for local hikes. I hope you don't mind Android apps being discussed here -- I'm very interested in what folks are using. Maybe even a discussion of power options... very important!

I'm wary of becoming overly-dependent on the phone, but I have noticed that they've been readily adopted by thru-hikers, for all sorts of purposes. Books, lists, charts that used to be on paper can now be viewed as PDFs. Etc. etc.

**Just Bill** · 10-02-2014, 10:16

Originally Posted by rafe

I'm an Android user... Galaxy S4. Main impact for me has been the camera within the phone, which is surprisingly good, just using the stock apps. It's so good, in fact that I've stopped carrying a separate, dedicated camera. Kind of a big deal (for me) considering I walked most of the AT with a 35 mm SLR.

I'm not an expert in GPS usage, but I've been using Maprika for local hikes. I hope you don't mind Android apps being discussed here -- I'm very interested in what folks are using. Maybe even a discussion of power options... very important!

I'm wary of becoming overly-dependent on the phone, but I have noticed that they've been readily adopted by thru-hikers, for all sorts of purposes. Books, lists, charts that used to be on paper can now be viewed as PDFs. Etc. etc.

Regarding power for your device-
http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Inst...+phone+charger

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 10:25

You guys are the best...keep em comin folks, maybe we'll all learn a little something...Doesn't have to be apple related...whatever your using is fine, many people switch brands from time to time...so keep em coming. and thanks all, really helpful this is a I am some what techno challenged....but gettin better all the time thanks to White blaze.

**rafe** · 10-02-2014, 10:30

Thanks, JB. I've got something similar I got at Best Buy; it charges from any USB wall-wart and gives (supposedly) about 2 full charges. The one you cite is interesting in that it takes AAA batteries, that could be useful in some situations. I guess these things come in all shapes and sizes, so it comes down to just how much weight one is willing to carry in order to keep one's smartphone alive.

If you consider the weight of the guidebooks, maps (etc.) that the phone might hold, maybe a few extra oz. of battery power isn't so bad.

With some Android phones you can even buy an oversized (internal) battery and custom back for the phone. I like this option but I also like the case I've got on my phone, and I'm sure they're not compatible.

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 10:47

here's the battery pack I've been using...works great tons a juice. it goes on sale often so don't pay full price.

http://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Dual-...nker+batteries

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 10:53

Originally Posted by Just Bill

Regarding power for your device-
http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Inst...+phone+charger

got this one for my ipod a while ago...great for day hiking when I just may need a little more power and don't feel like bringing my big battery pack...o'coarse the trade off is buying batt tries...$$$...get em on sale

http://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-PS71-B...for+ipod+cr123

**OCDave** · 10-02-2014, 12:34

Starwalk! Provides easy identification and interesting information about celestial bodies including man-made satellites. Coolest app I've used while spending a night outdoors.

**Fredt4** · 10-02-2014, 15:32

A extra power pack is worth considering. If you had an Android you could just carry 2 or 3 extra batteries, but since it's an iPhone that's not an option. Tried various solar power solutions but none really worked when hiking, perhaps for base camps but not for backpacking. AAA Batteries seems like a good solution.

**Alligator** · 10-02-2014, 17:04

Originally Posted by rocketsocks

here's the battery pack I've been using...works great tons a juice. it goes on sale often so don't pay full price.

http://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Dual-...nker+batteries

How much does it weigh?

**TNhiker** · 10-02-2014, 17:08

hey rocketsocks----

there's an app called tune in radio......

and on that there's a Grateful Dead station that just plays show after show after show along with the Grateful Dead hour....

can use the headphone jack to plug it into a stereo system and speakers...

**rafe** · 10-02-2014, 17:21

There's also archive.org, which has pretty much every live GD show there ever was, for download or for streaming.

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 19:11

Originally Posted by Alligator

How much does it weigh?

Pretty heavy by most folks standards...8.2 ounces. I chalk it up to a luxury item and just call it fixed though.

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 19:12

Originally Posted by TNhiker

hey rocketsocks----

there's an app called tune in radio......

and on that there's a Grateful Dead station that just plays show after show after show along with the Grateful Dead hour....

can use the headphone jack to plug it into a stereo system and speakers...

Originally Posted by rafe

There's also archive.org, which has pretty much every live GD show there ever was, for download or for streaming.

Nice...Booked marked!

**rocketsocks** · 10-02-2014, 19:15

Originally Posted by OCDave

Starwalk! Provides easy identification and interesting information about celestial bodies including man-made satellites. Coolest app I've used while spending a night outdoors.

all over this one...pretty neat app. I could maybe name five or six constellation, bunch of messier objects, but this is just down right cool, I like the "blue print" greek pictorial overlays.

**Wise Old Owl** · 10-02-2014, 19:40

RS you can throw away the Rayovac its too costly to run effectively. The I phone that you have is the same one I use for work and it goes about three days with calls and emails. The Anker will charge it several times and the best part is that as soon as it detects your phone is charged the circuit switches off the Anker to prevent accidental discharge. It will stretch the smart phone for more than a week.

**kayak karl** · 10-02-2014, 21:13

very happy for you

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