Five apps that give your smartphone superpowers

You might not think about it, but our smartphones are equipped with a number of first-class sensors. And there are smart apps that let you discover unexpected applications for your smartphone. Here you will discover five, all free.

Turn your smartphone into an altimeter with Alpy

Alpy is a user-friendly, yet very useful app from the Dutch company Sixdots Software. You can see exactly at what height you are. If you are in the high mountains, for example with winter sports, this kind of information is very important. When you get very high, the air pressure drops and you get less oxygen. You can then take it a bit easier, or maybe decide to turn around.

But apart from that, it is of course very cool to be able to see exactly how high above sea level you are compared to the Netherlands. With features like Google Maps integration, a digital compass, the ability to share your travel adventures and a speedometer, Alpy is actually much more than just an altimeter.

Alpy is free to download for Android on Google Play. Are you going on a winter sport or holiday in the mountains? Then you will enjoy this a lot. The more extensive Alpine Pro (€1.39), with which you can also read barometer readings, can also be found here. Because in the high mountains a sudden drop in barometer reading means bad weather, this is definitely a bargain that can save you a lot of misery.

Measure the amount of light with the Lux app

It is often very useful to know how much light there is in a certain place in your home. For example, if you want to know whether the amount of light is good for your plants or not. For example, if you place your Monstera hole plant in the south-facing windowsill, this plant, which is used to the darkness of the deep jungle, will not survive.

Conversely, don’t put a desert plant, such as a cactus or agave, in the dark. This way you can also find the best spot for your spotlights and test whether there is enough light to update. That is very important for Arbo and you also want to save your eyes.

You need a light meter for that. The good news: there are apps that can turn your smartphone into a light meter. One of the best is the free one Lux Light Meter Pro from Doggo Apps. The Android version can be found on the Play Store. iPhone users can find a similar app in the Appstore. With this app you use the light sensor of your device to measure the light intensity in a certain place. Are you very happy with the app? Then you can do the makers a favor with a donation of around €7.

Google Lens: from translating to reading QR codes

google lenses you could see as the Swiss army knife of the apps. But perhaps the best description is: an augmented reality camera. You can use this free app from Google in many different ways. Consider, for example, scanning QR codes.

But you can also translate texts in a specific language into Dutch, for example. So if you see a Chinese sign, Arabic text, or some Cyrillic letters passing by somewhere, Google Lens will translate it into Dutch or another language.

But you can also easily add addresses from business cards, for example. Do you see a book somewhere? Scan the back cover and Google Lens will tell you all about it. Google Lens can also do the same with movies, CDs and video games, just by viewing the cover. Even if you walk through an unknown city, you can view monuments and other characteristic points with Google Lens. You will then receive additional information.

Do you like walking in the great outdoors? Google is now also working hard to have known plants and animals identified by Google Lens. You can find Google Lens in the Google Playstore. Unfortunately, the Google Lens is not available for iPhone users.

Step Counter/Pedometer: Pedometer

According to a learned gentleman, we should take 10,000 steps every day to stay in good shape. Opinions among health experts differ as to whether it really should be 10,000, but the fact is that walking a few kilometers every day is very good for your condition.

In that respect, a pedometer, or pedometer, is very useful. These are quite expensive in the sports store, but luckily there is a good alternative. Namely your smartphone, whose sensors linked to an app are perfectly capable of functioning as a pedometer. A free, and also popular app with which you can count your steps is Pedometer – Pedometer from Leap Fitness Group.

If you use this, you can see exactly whether you have indeed reached the correct number of steps that you set for yourself. In that respect, that is a great help for your health. You can find this pedometer app on Google Play, an also free alternative for the iPhone can be found in the AppStore.

Metal Sniffer: Discover metal objects behind the wallpaper

Your phone’s magnetic sensor isn’t powerful enough to discover a Roman gold treasure, but it can detect anomalies in the magnetic field caused by nearby metal objects. This can be very useful if, for example, you want to know where a pipe runs and where the wood nails are hidden.

With the Metal Sniffer app, you turn your phone into a metal detector, giving you a much better insight into what is hidden behind all kinds of surfaces. Are you doing DIY at home, and don’t want to get electrocuted when you hammer a nail into the wall? Then it is not a bad idea to download this free app.

You can find this on the Google Playstore. This app does not work very well, but that is due to the weakness of the magnetic sensor in smartphones. A Metal Detector app can also be found on the Apple AppStore.