Details about the app
I downloaded the Smart Tools App the other day and was so happy to have found it. It combines many useful tools, is completely free, and there are no ads. I do not know how they make money but this App is a winner. So many apps that are free are so loaded with ads or trying to get you to buy something else that they are barely functional. This one works great.
Launched: April 4, 2013
Seller: Esteve Fiol Sastre
Size: 16.5mb
Rating: 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
What Tools you get with Smart Tools
Level: The Level is one of my favorites tools. You can lay your phone flat on a table or sit it on it’s side to find out if something is level. It has two graphics. One looks like a typical level and if you set your phone up on it’s bottom you can see if something is level.
The other is round graphic with a bulls eye type middle so it should tell you if something is level if it is flat on it’s back on a table.
Ruler: The ruler works in Centimeters or Inches. This one might be better for the iPad but you could measure something small. It has a ruler both vertically and horizontally.
Protractor: The protractor is pretty cool. You can use it in two modes. The first mode just shows you a protractor on the screen.
The second mode called “transparent mode” uses the camera so you hold it up and can measure by what you see through your camera. the image shows up on your screen with the protractor overlay. There is a red line which you can put down by placing your finger where you want the line.
Vibrometer: The vibrometer shows movement on a line. If there is no movement you will see a straight line. When there is some shaking you will see a disturbance in the line which moves forward as time goes on.
I can not think of a reason you would use this unless you wanted to see if the room was shaking.
Metal Detector: The metal detector is sort of interesting. I guess it might help you to find metal inside your wall or if you lost something it might help you find it outside. I am not sure how well it would work outside though because it seems to have to be right up next to the metal to detect anything.
The metal detector shows a number which seems to be around 50 for average. It goes up as you are near metal.
There are three lines at the top red green and yellow and frankly I am not sure what they represent. Perhaps different types of metal. There are also three separate numbers that go with the colors. It would be nice if the app had some directions to explain this.
There is no sound with the metal detector (this might be cool for the future)
Compass: The compass is just what you would expect it is circular and is marked with North, South, East, and West. I am sure it must use the GPS to perform this function so you may have to enable location services for it to work.
Flashlight: It has a nice flashlight which uses your camera flash to shine a beam of light. You can have the app on the flashlight and turn the light on and off with a red slide button. There are no other functions besides just light on and light off. There is a click that goes along with the light when you turn it on and off
Sound Meter: The sound meter will rise when you turn it on to a maximum of 10. The graphic shows both a metered bar that goes up as sound increases and the number. If it is quiet it sits at zero. It does not pick up background noises like fans unless they are really loud or rattling.
I can not really think of a reason to use the sound meter but it’s a neat novelty item to include.
Final Thoughts and Rating
Smart Tools gets 5 stars from me because it is completely free, is not trying to sell me anything, has no ads, and contains 8 neat tools in one that all function well.
