phone apps for shop use

[Bill Dufour]

I tried looking for recommended aps for shop use and all I found was aps about how to shop for good deals etc.

Any recommendations?
Bill D.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

If you use imperial measurements I suggest you a specific calculator to work with a such fraction arithmetics. Look for some thing like "construction calculator" either in Apple Store or Google Play.

BTW I do not have a such apps as I use metric system (SI) and really I do not need any app at all for woodworking.

[Derek Cohen]

There are inclinometers available. And a compass, should you get lost in your shop. But the only app I use is one for the Internet radio. :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bill Bukovec]

Norwood sawmills ha a board feet, Doyle scale calculator. It also calculated the weight of lumber or a log.

[Frank Pratt]

There are inclinometers available. And a compass, should you get lost in your shop. But the only app Imuse is one for the Internet radio. :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

The radio app's the only one I use in the shop too.

[Peter Rawlings]

I tried looking for recommended aps for shop use and all I found was aps about how to shop for good deals etc.

Any recommendations?
Bill D.

Fraction Calculator Plus by DigitAlchemy is handy sometimes.

Carpenter by iHandy is kinda fun and really handsome, but I almost never use it. Has plumb bob, level, protractor.

[Chris Schoenthal]

You might look at "Handyman Calculator".
It has lots of conversions that you probably won't use, but it's nice just in case.

[Rich Aldrich]

I must be nice to have good enough coverage that you have the internet in the shop. I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Thanks, I like that Fraction Calculator.

[John K Jordan]

.... I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.

Could you still do it? The ethernet cable won't need to be deep. I used direct burial ethernet cable but still put it in small plastic conduit. ( I ran two cables so I would have a spare.)

My shop is 250 ft from the house. I put a wifi router in the shop on the same SSID as the house. Since the cell phone coverage in the shop is not good, the ethernet also feeds a "femtocell", sort of a personal cell tower on the Verizon cellular network.

As for phone apps, I sometimes use a triangle calculator so I don't have to use any trig to calculate angles. Also a good scientific calculator and a unit conversion program.

JKJ

[Derek Cohen]

I must be nice to have good enough coverage that you have the internet in the shop. I should have buried an Ethernet wire to the shop in 2005 when I installed my outdoor wood boiler.

Rich, you already have it!

Look up "powerline network extender". I have one from Netgear, and it works as advertised. What it does is use the powerlines in your home as a relay. One advert states, "Like a WiFi booster, a Powerline adapter is directly connected to a router via an Ethernet cable. The adapter is then plugged into a power socket, allowing network data to travel via the electrical system into a receiving adapter in another location".

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Prochniak]

You can also use something like one or two Ubiquiti Loco M2's to send your WiFi connection to your shop, that's what I do. Basically what you do is plug one of the M2's in to your home router (assuming your WiFi signal isn't strong enough to make it to right outside of your shop) and mount it outside of our house. The second M2 would mount on your shop facing the first M2 and be plugged in to another WiFi router or access point inside the shop. For under $100 you could have an internet connection that is almost as fast being inside your home, but able to be transmitted a significant distance away. In my situation I was lucky as my router is newer and quite powerful so I have a good WiFi signal up to my metal shop, so I only required one M2 and a router inside of the building to make the system work.

[Keith Outten]

There is an iPhone and Android app called Woodshop Widget that is pretty handy. It calculates board feet, does fraction conversion, provides species information, compound angles rise and run, species movement, shellac mixing information, help with squareness testing.

www.woodshopwidget.com (http://www.woodshopwidget.com)

Developed by Kenneth Woodruff
$3.99 USD

[Tim M Tuttle]

If you're ever needing to run conduit in your shop and need to make some bends, I recommend QuickBend. Very handy.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quickbend-conduit-bending/id1010311475

[Jim Becker]

Could you still do it? The ethernet cable won't need to be deep. I used direct burial ethernet cable but still put it in small plastic conduit. ( I ran two cables so I would have a spare.)

My shop is 250 ft from the house. I put a wifi router in the shop on the same SSID as the house. Since the cell phone coverage in the shop is not good, the ethernet also feeds a "femtocell", sort of a personal cell tower on the Verizon cellular network.

As for phone apps, I sometimes use a triangle calculator so I don't have to use any trig to calculate angles. Also a good scientific calculator and a unit conversion program.

JKJ

You can even buy pre-terminated direct burial Ethernet cables...I got mine from Amazon for the connection to my shop building. It wasn't all that expensive even as a 250' hunk (longer than I needed but I hedged) and I used black water supply tubing to further protect it. Burial was about a foot and a half down because it was under the driveway, but doesn't have to be all that deep in general. As long as the total distance doesn't exceed 100 meters (by specification), it will work just fine. I have a node for my mesh system in there which provides one hard wired port for my CNC Computer as well as wireless for my MiniSplit's remote access and "shop" Macbook Pro as well as Internet and phone service for my iPhone. (We live in a cellular "dead spot" more or less)

---

To the OP's question, I honestly don't use many "shop" type apps beyond the regular calculator from time to time as well as a browser when I need to do an Imperial to Metric conversion. (I work primarily in metric these days) I do have a speeds/feeds app from Vortex Tools for CNC tooling, but don't use it often at this point since I've figured out what works well for what I do already.

[Thomas Crawford]

Apps I use in the shop:

Spotify
PCalc
Overcast
Audible
Apple TV remote

[Mike Kees]

As a carpenter I have the " Construction master" calculator app on my phone. Used to buy the calculators and broke,stepped on ,dropped to many. The app was cheaper than a new calculator and I always have it with me. I use it in the shop quite a bit,mostly adding imperial dimensions.

[Joe Calhoon]

Same for me Mike, Construction Master is my most used app. Quite a while ago I tried several woodworking apps but found them mostly useless.

[Jim Tobias]

I use on occasion the following: Golden Ratio Calculator, Handyman Calculator, Metrics Conversion, TimeSheet, Time Recording, Woodworking Utilities
They all have something that I have used.....they also have a lot more that I have never used.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

I guess that I should also add to my previous response that because I have two computers "in" my shop, I don't really need to depend upon my phone for much utility other than, well...phone calls, texts and taking photos most of the time. But that's not the norm for most shops...yet.

[Brian Tymchak]

I've read other posts here in SMC about apps to measure light and sound, which sounds handy for shop lighting and sound mitigation.

[Rich Aldrich]

Rich, you already have it!

Look up "powerline network extender". I have one from Netgear, and it works as advertised. What it does is use the powerlines in your home as a relay. One advert states, "Like a WiFi booster, a Powerline adapter is directly connected to a router via an Ethernet cable. The adapter is then plugged into a power socket, allowing network data to travel via the electrical system into a receiving adapter in another location".

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks for the info. I will check it out. I have an intercom that works similar.