With the world still debating over the imminence of climate change, it’s kind of a scientific fact that global temperatures are increasing day by day. As a result, every summer, you might notice the temperature cap in your region going up a notch.
As of this writing, I’m sitting on a sofa in an apartment on the 19th floor in Dubai and all the windows in my apartment are wide open in hopes that I could get to feel a single blow of cold breeze on my feet. But it’s the Middle East and cold breeze is a rare commodity. I’ll just reach out for the AC remote, anyway.
Thankfully, though, we’ve got third-party apps in the App Store that can help efficiently beat the heat in different ways. It has also been easier lately to survive and comfort oneself through the blazing heat with solutions that execute on a tap. As opposed to depending on physical means to calm and cool yourself as we did before the smartphone boom, apps provide a virtual haven of convenience. Just what you need during summer.
Here are some you will love:
1. Dark Sky
The first thing you’ll need before stepping out of your house during summer is to have a slight knowledge of your area’s current weather metrics. You may have to decide to grab an umbrella or splash on some extra sunscreen if it seems like an oven outside. Similarly, you could decide to leave all those things at home and enjoy your daily park stroll hands-free if the Sun isn’t too harsh.
Dark Sky, by far, is the best app to measure weather and temperature conditions accurately. It offers up-to-the-minute weather changes and precisely indicates the time the day may start getting hotter. You can also scroll your finger through its prominent virtual dial to obtain the entire day’s forecast.
Dark Sky has gained a lot of acclamation from critics as well as weather enthusiasts due to its accuracy, precision, and the fact that it can serve data of such caliber with ease and detail. It’s genuinely a hero against flaming heat during summer. And you may like that!
2. SunZapp
Now, believe it or not, it’s ironical that summer is the only time we feel like roaming around; doing activities, going to beaches, swimming in pools, etc. Again, believe it or not, your skin won’t be the same after you return home from a day of fun summer activities.
Thankfully, SunZapp can keep you in check. It’s a free app that allows you to take preventive measures before going out in the sun. It asks for your eye color, details about your skin, and other relevant details to suggest you the time limit you can safely spend under the sun. Everything inside this app revolves around measuring the UV index of the place you are currently situated at. So don’t be surprised if the app asks for your location. Later, SunZapp also pulls in satellite data of your location to give closer-to-accurate readings. You can maybe apply more sunscreen or maybe just stay under a shade based on the readings.
An additional feature which is also quite unique this app has is that it can assess the protection your clothes provide you under the Sun.
Note: It’s immensely important to protect your skin, especially when the Sun’s UV rays silently, and practically invisibly contribute to enhancing cells responsible for causing skin cancer. Anyway, thanks to apps like such and to our old bud: Lil’ Ozone!
3. Plant Nanny
Summer is a time when you need water the most. But often times, you may run the risk of not drinking enough glasses of water per day. Albeit, you can easily appoint an app on your iPhone that could remind yourself to drink water on a timely basis. But most apps aren’t fun and make tracking water quite monotonous. As a result, at the end of the day, you lose interest in the activity altogether. Plant Nanny, although, isn’t like most apps.
It is a fun app that tracks water based on the data it collects on you (I’ll get to the fun part soon). The data includes your age, your weight, and how many glasses of water you intend to drink daily. Based on that it suggests the number of glasses of water you must drink per day and then tracks the intake.
The fun part, however, is that the app is morphed into a plant that you need to take care of. If you log in enough glasses of water a day, the plant will grow. But if you fail to do so, the plant will shrink. Albeit, the most effective bit in all this is that the app sends notifications posed as a plant requesting to pour in some water. That way, it feels as if you have an obligation to keep the virtual plant alive, which keeps you stuck on the path of logging water intake regularly.
So, bottle up, fella! You’ve got plants to grow!
4. Fandango Movies
Everybody knows that summers are for rambling outside. But what’s a better way of rambling outside on a sunny day than… wait for it… staying inside? Except, the “inside” I refer to here is an air-conditioned movie theatre. Think about it. You get to spend a significant time away from the blazing heat and simultaneously, get some top-class entertainment. To bump it up a notch, you could also enjoy a cold can of Coke and a bucket full of cheesy popcorn. A perfect day, indeed!
But, finding movies of your choice and their screening times is difficult. You won’t want to spend your precious summer time deciding on what movie to watch. Instead, you could just install Fandango Movies on your iPhone and stop worrying. The app lets you browse showtimes nearby, watch trailers and buy tickets, all using just a single interface. It also recommends movies by ranking them based on public ratings, if it’s the deciding part that is sucking up your time.
5. Skyscanner
The last (but not the least) thing you’ll want to do to prevent contact with the blazing heat is to visit someplace cold. It can be a little intimidating, however, to do this since summer is a time when flight rates are at their highest.
But you don’t need to worry about that, either. Especially since you’ve got your iPhone and if you’re reading this, I presume, a working internet connection. In that case, install Skyscanner.
SkyScanner allows you to verbatim “scan” for cheap flights that you could catch. Consequently, you can also book hotels and rent cars from the app itself. The best part, however, is that SkyScanner notifies you when a flight fare drops. Additional features include collection of frequent flier miles, no added fees, an explore tab that helps you discover new places to visit, and a flight saving feature.
These were just a few apps that could help you stay away from the summer heat as much as you can. There are more apps that you could use for this purpose, but then how much do you expect yourself to do in a single summer? I might want an answer, which by the way, you can always leave down in the comments section below. Don’t shy away!
