Measure anything
Apple’s ARKit, supported on iOS and
iPadOS devices with A9 or later processors,
builds a map of real–world scenes. These
can be for practical purposes, like
estimating dimensions. Among various apps
to exploit this, Measure — AR was one of
the first, and is free.
Monitor your baby
Set up a spare iOS device with a
different Apple ID, and place it somewhere
that you want to keep an eye on. With it
and your own iOS device both logged in
on Wi–Fi, make a FaceTime video call,
answer it, and leave it on. If you search
Settings for ‘Answer’ and turn on Auto–
Answer Calls, you have the option of
checking in remotely.
31 TALK FOREIGN
Google’s Translate app is a scarily smart
piece of software. Point its Camera mode
at any piece of text, and it will translate
it to a chosen language live, even
matching the typesetting. Conversation
mode interprets between users of two
languages, aloud, as they speak. Voice
converts your speech to text and translates
it. Incroyable!
Plan a room
The free IKEA Place app shows you
not just what the furniture emporium’s
products look like, but how they’ll fit into
your home. Through the magic of AR
(iPhone 6s or later), you can place items in
3D, automatically scaled to real size — but
do check with a tape measure too.Collaborate IRL
The free Vuforia Chalk app lets
another user see a live feed from your iPad
(or iPhone) camera that you can mark up in
real time. Thanks to ARKit, marks stay put
in space as you move: ideal for "which wire
do I cut?" moments. You’ll need to set up an
account with a name, password, and email.BRING THE WORLD
TO YOU
The free Google Earth app lets you
zoom to any location, many
captured in wobbly 3D. Tap the
Street View figure (bottom left) to
see where close–ups are available. In
Navigator (ship’s wheel icon), find
ready–made tours of cities and
scenery, plus historical topics and
geographical quizzes.3224 25 26
34 SPOT FONTS
Install What The Font, and point it at
any example of lettering. Whatever is
recognized as type is subsequently
highlighted, and you can tap it to see
a shortlist of possible fonts — although
you may need to use sharp eyes in order
to pick a winner. Thanks to MyFonts, from
which you can buy the fonts, the app is
free, with no ads.Check the light
There are lots of light meter apps
that are available for manual photography,
some expensive and many with almost
identical names, but Lux — Professional
Light Meter for Film Photography has been
around for ages and is completely free,
with no ads whatsoever. Just set aperture,
and it tells you the right shutter speed, or
vice versa.30 33
maclife.com FEB 2020 2353 Amazing Things