Have you ever heard the unmistakeable clunk of something (possibly keys? or was it just some loose change?) falling out of your jacket pocket while you’re getting up to leave in a darkened movie theater? You can either wait until the house lights come totally up -- which may still not be light enough to really see under the seats -- (and you know you don’t want to just swipe your hand under there amidst the sticky soda residue, stale popcorn, and who-knows-what-else) -- or you can pull out a flashlight.
Maybe you’ve got one of those little LED flashlights on your key chain. Handy, very handy. Unless it’s your keys that fell underneath the seat. Or you don’t have your keys. Or your keyring is full of other stuff and you don’t have room to carry a flashlight around all the time.
But if you’ve got a flashlight app on your smartphone, you’re all set.
Flashlight apps use the phone’s camera light to create a beam of LED light that can be quite serviceable. Prolonged use (like reading under the covers) is probably still best served by an actual flashlight, as it will drain your phone’s battery. But for a walk across a dark parking lot, a search for keys, or other short-term uses, a flashlight app can come in handy.
There are lots of apps available on Android and for iPhone. On my Android phone, I use Tiny Flashlight+LEDM and it’s been very useful when I’ve needed it.
When you need a flashlight, you don’t want to be fumbling around downloading one. So take a minute, pick an app that suits you, and try it out to make sure it works on your phone (hardware specifications do vary). Be sure to point the phone away from you when you try out the app, as the LED can be very bright and can give you a headache if you look at it directly.
What’s your preferred flashlight app for Android or iPhone? Let us know in the comments!
[Creative Commons licensed photo by flickr user Cezary Borysiuk]