Tag: iOS

Lumy

Lumy.jpgThe Lumy app does on thing and one thing only but does it with style. The apps help photographers find the magic hour.

Magic hour (sometimes known as golden hour) is a period around sunrise or sunset at which the light is often soft, warm and perfect for taking photographs. Professional photographers swear it as the time of day with the best lighting.

Upon launching the app, Lumy uses the iPhone's GPS location to find the magic hour for that location. The user gets a screen four times. One each for morning and evening magic hour, and one for sunrise and sunset. The cloud cover is displayed just under the times.

Swiping left across the time will show the amount of time before magic hour or sunset or the amount of time that has passed since it occurred. Swiping right will add or remove a reminder alarm for that time period. Swiping down brings up a calendar. Tap a date to see the magic hour and sunset values for that date. Swiping up will refresh the app with updated location information.

Tapping the gear icon in the lower right hand corner of the app reveals the app settings for alerts and weather.

New Jersey Transit MyTix App

MyTix is the official New Jersey Transit mobile app for purchasing and using electronic tickets on the trains and buses in the garden state. I used it for the first time on a weekend trip with my family to The High Line in Manhattan. While we waited for the train to arrive, I downloaded the app and tried to buy one-way tickets for our trip from Princeton Junction to Penn Station.

The app has a rudimentary and unattractive user interface but provides the functionality needed to buy and use an electronic ticket. I was required to create an account using my email address and zip code and then link my credit card to that account. Once I completed that step, I was able to buy tickets. The app allows the user to set up more than one payment method. That's quite useful if you need to separate your business and personal expenses. I can use my business credit card to buy tickets for business trips and my credit card when travelling with my family.

Purchasing a ticket is straightforward. Choose the travel method, select an origin and destination, choose the ticket type, e.g. adult, child or senior, and then the payment method. It wasn't clear to me at first. I had to activate the tickets before I could use them. I had some issues activating the tickets. The app is susceptible to network latency. Despite having enough cellar coverage to browse the web, the app would not activate my tickets. I moved around on the train platform until I got a signal strong enough to complete the process. However, once activated, one must use tickets within 24 hours. The app provides a count down timer. Active tickets appear under the Active tab in the My Tickets screen. The All tab has a history of the last few expired tickets. Tapping an expired ticket will show you the ticket details.

While sitting on the train, I selected my purchased tickets, and a QR code was displayed to present to the train conductor. She quickly scanned the displayed QR code and indicated that she just needed to see the countdown timer to verify that the tickets had not expired.

Using Family Share Calendar in iOS 8

Enabling Family Share in iOS 8 turns on a shared calendar function that provides busy families with a way to stay organized and on schedule. Everybody in the family can add events to one calendar while keeping personal calendar events private. Technically a Family Share calendar is no different that setting up a shared calendar in iCloud. iOS 8 simply makes it easier to setup and use.

I can set up family reminders that will appear on everyone’s devices at the exact time or place I choose. So when whether it’s my turn to take the kids to Tae Kwon Do, pick up the pizza for take out night, or plan a trip to Connecticut to visit family, everyone’s in on the plan. Here’s how to use it.

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When you create a new calendar entry (tap the + from the upper right hand corner), from the entry page, scroll down and tap Calendar. If Family Share is enabled you’ll see a selection item called Family under the iCloud section. Tap to select that item and complete your calendar entry as you normally do.

That’s all there it to it. The entry will magically show up on the calendars of each person you added to Family Share. The calendar entry works just like any other calendar entry with event notifications, directions, notes , etc.

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