The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

'A Level' app turns iPhone into handyman's best friend

By | July 22, 2008, 8:13am PDT

Summary: Sure, it’s not a gadget per se, but I just thought it was the most interesting and simple app I’ve seen thus far for the iPhone. A-Level is a virtual, digital level (or ’spirit level’). It uses the iPhone’s motion detectors to determine whether the phone is flat. If not, a numerical readout tells you by [...]

A-LevelSure, it’s not a gadget per se, but I just thought it was the most interesting and simple app I’ve seen thus far for the iPhone.

A-Level is a virtual, digital level (or ’spirit level’). It uses the iPhone’s motion detectors to determine whether the phone is flat. If not, a numerical readout tells you by how many degrees off you are (or, for old-school DIYers, the traditional bubble-in-liquid display, just like Dad used to use).

You can use it in landscape or portrait mode or laid flat on its back.

Just how accurate is this? I don’t know — I don’t have an iPhone to test it out, and my apartment was built two years before the Titanic sunk, so I doubt that anything’s still straight in it. The product blurb agrees: “This application is for recreational use only”. A future update will allow calibration, which should help. Really, it’s only a dollar, so what do you have to lose?

Talk about a neat trick to show your buddies. (Or joke — you could try to place your new digital level on your closest buddy’s head and make a crack about him, but good luck getting your precious iPhone back.)

What do you think, readers? Useful, or just flashy? And what other practical uses could an iPhone app address? Tell us in TalkBack. (Thanks to Wired for the heads up.)

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Andrew J. Nusca is editor of ZDNet and SmartPlanet.

Disclosure

Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca does not hold any investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew J. Nusca is an editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet. As a journalist based in New York City, he has written for Popular Mechanics and Men's Vogue and his byline has appeared in New York magazine, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Editor & Publisher, New York Press and many others. He also writes The Editorialiste, a media criticism blog.

He is a New York University graduate and former news editor and columnist of the Washington Square News. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been named "Howard Kurtz, Jr." by film critic John Lichman despite having no relation to him. He lives in his native Philadelphia with his wife, cat and Boston Terrier.

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It's a good example
Ken_z 26th Jul 2008
The iPhone is moving into an era where it is going
to be different things for different people - just
like computers are.

The app is a good example of what someone with
a creative mind can come up with. Not a heavy
duty app, doesn't cost a fortune - just something
that some people will find rather handy.
0 Votes
+ -
And "A Hammer"
GuidingLight 22nd Jul 2008
turns your old iPhone into tiny pieces for better disposal.
0 Votes
+ -
It's a good example
Ken_z 26th Jul 2008
The iPhone is moving into an era where it is going
to be different things for different people - just
like computers are.

The app is a good example of what someone with
a creative mind can come up with. Not a heavy
duty app, doesn't cost a fortune - just something
that some people will find rather handy.

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