My Waters - ponding app from PUB

Public Utilities Board (PUB) did a desktop app titled MyWaters, which I thought was pretty neat, especially now the raining season is back! Here's how it looks like!

It's got pretty good reviews from people, and they are very legit reviews!

Here's how the app looks like, wordy but explains well the many functions of the app, which will be listed with screenshots below!

1) MyWaters shows you nearby water stations where the road conditions are being monitored for ponding!

2) Perhaps for the original intent of the app, it lets you see the road conditions real time, so you can avoid areas which are currently ponding

And it also shows levels in graphs!

3) Get to know what events are happening! PUB is always educating the public about how previous water is, after all, we rely 50% on our neighbouring country!

4) What's education without some quiz? Take one and see if you score an A+ on PUB's water quiz!

Pokemon GO is out! Stay safe while playing!

As most of us would be playing Pokemon GO, please be safe and aware of your surroundings when doing so! Safety First and Happy National Day!

Hey Day!

Got introduced to a nice application recently, and thought I should share about this. Hey Day is one of editor's choice on the App Store. What it does is to filter, arrange and put together a nice timeline of photos, summarising memories in a touch (or more correctly without any touch).

Hey Day groups the photos you take within a day and writes stories about it, such as the location and time it was taken. At times, it'll surprise you by reminding you certain activities or events you've done on the same day some years back. It's automatic layout function puts pictures in the right place and largely emphasise content in the right manner, about 80% of the time. Users can easily tap the photo to edit the collage, such as changing the layout and positioning of the photo.

The app also puts filters on the photos to blend all in nicely in the collage. Wide range of filters are available - summer to winter.

There's also security features built into the app, such as setting passcode when users open the app.

What's the downside of this app? It'll capture all the photos you have in the phone, so even images that your friends share with you on watsapp and what notes you take will be imported into the app. So you'll have to be careful when to switch on/off the app.

Nearly Everything App from Nearly Everything Agency (NEA)

When good deeds are done, people seldom talk about it. So to make this world a tiny little bit of a better place, I'd like to share what I found today - myENV app by the National Environment Agency.

I've always liked NEA's videos, thought their video media advertising was impactful (look out mozzies!). But their iOS/Android application offers even more goodies for people - from weather forecast to finding hygienic public toilets (which the ladies will like). Here's a quick summary video of what their app offers~

MNT Weather App

Chanced upon this app the other day. The user interface and design is simply beautiful. Can't say much for the function though.

Anyways, instead of showing pictures, here's a short one-minute clip showing how the app looks. Wish my wifi had a higher bandwidth to justify it though. The app doesn't lag.

Poket - not just any merchant discount/ loyalty card

There are quite a few merchant discount/loyalty card applications on the iOS. One of these include Perx, a loyalty discount card that I use to get Koi bubble tea upgrades on every fifteenth cup I purchased. But over the weekend, Poket caught my attention when I was having brunch at Arbite.

I thought Poket was going to be another random start-up of discount card app, but since my friend was late I decided to download it for a try to pass time. To my surprise, Poket has an established range of merchants on board the app, plus it has many features which made collecting and redeeming loyalty points fun. Here are the screen shots.

Other than restaurants and cafes, Poket host merchants who sell services, e.g. facial and beauty treatment services, entertainment spots, fashion outlets, and even jewellers & pet shops. You can search for these merchants by category or by distance from where you are (provided you allow location services content). The first thing which caught my attention was New. This section tells you the new promotions from merchants (note that it's not News tab at the bottom).

So you can take a look at the cards on a single page. Tapping on one brings you to the card and you can see all details - expiry, points needed to redeem, and etc.. To get the points, you'll have to flash the QR code on the card to the cashier when you make the purchase. The points are updated almost instantly.

Actually these features are nothing new. What makes Poket stand out (other than the impressive pool of merchants) is the additional features packed into one screen at the end. Poket allows you to get e-receipts, gift points to your friends (and receive them), and even reminds you when your points are expiring. There are also additional security features like setting passcode.

You can also post your treats and redemption on Facebook. In short, Poket is comprehensive and I hope they build up their merchant base even more!

Poket is also available in other countries - Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam.

Chasing stars and idols? Get Artist Radar!

This is an interesting app which I came across this morning. Artist Radar is good for people who like to know when their favourite artists are coming to town, releasing new albums, movies or books. And the result of adding your favourite artists on the app is shown here.

Yup, my choice of music is very diverse, ranging from rock and roll with U2 and Daughtry, to pop stuff by Mariah Carey and Katy Perry. I listen to Chinese music too, and am pleasantly surprised to see that I can find Chinese artists on the database.

You can also let the app scan your music library so they can match artists from your song library to their database. This actually makes setting up the app much faster.

You need not login to use the app at all, which is what I like. But the app offer you an option to share your subscription and findings on Facebook, which can be good for fans to boast their up-to-date knowledge about artist activity.

I find what's lacking is for fans to interact with one another. Perhaps there can be future updates to include a forum section/tab for fans to interact with one another on the app. Or not, since it may make the app cluttered.

You can download Artist Radar from the App Store - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/artist-radar-never-miss-new/id588258004?mt=8

Cashsquare

This is my first app review post on this blog.

Since I've started developing iPhone applications, I've been looking at what other developers are doing. There are a lot of great ideas out there, and it's a pity that not many people know about them. So I thought it may be good to contribute to the publicity by putting up interesting and useful apps on this blog. Let's begin with Cashsquare.

Cashsquare is a monopoly game played with real locations. The game idea is powered by Foursquare, a social network where users check in to locations. You're given $150,000 credit to start the game with. The credit can be used to purchase places (linked via Foursquare) and you collect rent when someone checks into the location on Foursquare. 

There are expenses you have to pay on Cashsquare, such as hiring of managers to run the operations. It's a farming game if you play it by yourself. But if you are active on Foursquare, or a fan of monopoly, you'll like this game. Here are the screenshots.

Cashsquare has a clean interface design. Like many apps they follow iOS flat design style.

Yes, you feel rich owning a property virtually. Would have been better if Foursquare is more popular where I am!

Looks expensive but well, luckily it's just a game. Can't imagine a McDonald's outlet cost $2milion to own!

No ratings are given for reviews. Just sharing what the apps are about and if it interests you, it's available for download on the App Store!