The usefulness of many of these apps hinges on your drilling into the settings and seeing what it can do for you and adjusting it accordingly.

I worked on this last evening because the overnight forecast was for potentially severe storms including tornado potential. I wanted to make sure the push alerts worked (though my dog probably would have woken me, too).

Alas, the storms did not pan out so no test yet of the tornado-while-asleep scenario.


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And a non-app link -- extraordinary (professional) video of a massive rotating "supercell:"

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar...-before/276837/

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I have basically two alerts I want to know about -

Tornado Warning/Emergency and Iceberg Advisory/Warning....

Cause if an Iceberg warning gets issued for Iowa, I know things are going downhill really fast....

The Weather Alerts app just screamed out a tornado warning siren. Impressive.

The tornado warning is 41 miles away -- within the 50-mile perimeter I have the app set for.

http://weathersphere.com/products/weather-alerts

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Life360 is a new app I'm using. I needed a way to track the position of a family member via GPS. This app does that. You could also use it in an emergency situation. For example, you sign up with a group before a hike. If anybody in the group gets lost, use the app.

You could also track where your daughter is taking your car you let her borrow. Put a cell phone in the glove box. The cell phone can act as a GPS beacon that you can track from the comfort of your home.

Just make sure to logout/disconnect when the app is not in use. The invasion of privacy is bold and unapologetic.

I just inherited my hubby's Samsung Galaxy 3 when he got an upgrade. I need an app to help me turn it on. Apparently I'm not smart enough for a smart phone. LOL!

Actually, I managed to add some contacts, text and dial. That's about all I'm looking for from it for now - emergency calls and texts. Looking at this thread though, I can feel my inner geek smiling in anticipation. Thanks gang!

One word: Waze

That's a good place to start apping.

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That is Dagny! I've had it for about 48 hours, and it's now got a flashlight, compass and maps loaded, and I'm perusing the multitude of options out there.

Google Maps now let's you download off line map tiles. Very useful.
One item I strongly recommend you get is a battery powered charger.

I don't think the iPhone version does that yet. And yes, a battery powered charger is in my opinion essential.