Opinion: Apps you didn't know you needed

There are a lot of bewildering app-controlled things available. — Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash

When the ancient bedside digital clock croaked, I went online to look for a new one – something very basic with an alarm.

One of the first ones I saw was an "App-Controlled Alarm Clock" you sync to your smartphone. It lets you set alarms, alarm sounds and snooze time via your phone, the ad said.

Or I could just reach over when I lay down, push a couple buttons and set the alarm.

It's getting hard to buy any device that can't be controlled with a phone app. Many of the phone-controlled products that have been developed seem to be a solution in search of a problem.

But many of them make good sense.

Being able to monitor the security camera in your house or on your property when you're somewhere else is useful.

Same for a phone connected to a water detection alarm in your basement.

There's an app where you can remotely give your pet some food. Be good for someone who maybe gets called out of town unexpectedly or works a lot of late hours.

It might come in handy to be able to turn your furnace down or AC up remotely if you forgot to change them before you left home.

You can put a baby monitor on the phone, so new parents can check in on their little ones while they are somewhere else. Seems like a good way for them to be able to relax a little more while they get out for a date night.

But setting your digital clock via your phone, presumably while you're laying in bed a foot away from the clock, is useless.

There are a lot of bewildering app-controlled things available.

For US$198 (RM938.12) you can get the phone app that lets you control your garage door opener.

The ad says it makes it easy to monitor your garage door. "You can open, close, and know the status of the door."

Wow!

After I back out of the garage and close the door, I know the exact status of my door all day – it's closed. And the little button on the controller clipped to the sun visor works swell for opening and closing the door.

The ad for the WiFi-connected washer and dryer says, "You don't have to wonder how much longer until you can move on to the next load, so you can take care of other chores while you wait."

Apparently there are people out there with unsmart washers and dryers who now just pull up a chair and stare at them while they go through their cycles, getting no other chores done while they wait.

The LG smart refrigerator lets you check the temperature of your fridge and keep track of your "inventory" in the fridge so you can coordinate it to your smart grocery shopping list.

Or you can grab a can of pop from the fridge, see if it feels cold enough, and write down "lettuce" on the grocery list on your counter.

There's a phone app that lets you turn on your hot tub heater and operate the jets without going out in the cold. And then you go out in the cold to use the hot tub.

The popular Instant Pot has a phone app where you can turn it on with your phone. Or you can save the US$149.99 (RM710.65) and set the timer on the Instant Pot before you leave home.

I may find a useful phone app to control some other device I have, but so far I haven't. The voicemail, text messaging and email on my phone already consume too much of my time. I don't need more things on it.

Now, if they can come up with a phone app where I can stay in my chair with my coffee in the morning, start the snow blower and move it up and down the driveway on its own, they'll have my attention. – The Free Press/Tribune News Service