# What Apps Are Essential for GenCon?



## Nytmare

I will not be Gencon-ing this year, but if I were, here are my top 5 app picks for the Droid, in no particular order:


Glympse- An app that allows you to broadcast your immediate location to people via a link to a web page map.  No one has to download or install anything but you, and in addition to broadcasting your location, it can also give an ETA to a specific destination.  Useful if someone is trying to find you and neither one of you knows any landmarks, and an easy way to let people know how close you are to a restaurant without having to call and give updates as to when you're leaving, and how close you are.

Where's My Droid- A find-your-phone app that allows you to (among other things) remotely turn the phone on, turn on gps, adjust volume, and broadcast the phone's location to google maps. 

PDA Net - PDA Net allows you to turn your phone into a WiFi Hotspot or USB modem without having to pay for a tethering plan.  This app is a life saver.

Wardrive - Wardrive allows you to scan and store information about the wifi networks around you and saves the information to a map so that you can see where the open networks are in the places you've been.

Simple Calendar - If, like me, you've already sold your soul to google, then you want this widget to show you a nice simple view of all the games you want to play and discussions you want to attend that you cleverly already put into your google calendar.


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## nerfherder

I map out my full schedule in Google calendar - including flight and hotel check-in info.  Too much to remember, otherwise.  Handy that you can enter start and end times in different time zones, without having to make the calculations yourself (or forgetting, and finding that your whole schedule has shifted 7 or 8 hours!).

Thanks for the Glympse recommendation.  I can see that being very useful when I'm meeting up with people.


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## Janx

Find My Phone should be a standard app and something every smart phone user sets up and tests.

It's not about being able to HEAR it in a crowded convention hall.

It's about knowing that the phone is STILL in the convention hall and likely still at the same table you were sitting at.  Versus turned off or on the move because it's been stolen.

From there, you can initiate a remote wipe.

Smart phones hold too much data that phone thieves and hackers may find valuable, and it is relatively simple to protect yourself from that AND get a free chance to find your expensive iPhone that you misplaced.


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## Majoru Oakheart

My issue is that with no real data access while in the US, I can't use the mobile site at ALL without the app.  At least with the app, I could use hotel wifi to update the database(including number of tickets left) in the morning and at least have an idea of what events I could expect to be open that day as well as avoid having to pull out and comb through a large program guide.  I could at least filter to those events that weren't sold out.

I expect that this year I might have to spend 50 dollars on data charges that I wouldn't have had to if they kept the app.


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## Janx

Majoru Oakheart said:


> My issue is that with no real data access while in the US, I can't use the mobile site at ALL without the app.  At least with the app, I could use hotel wifi to update the database(including number of tickets left) in the morning and at least have an idea of what events I could expect to be open that day as well as avoid having to pull out and comb through a large program guide.  I could at least filter to those events that weren't sold out.
> 
> I expect that this year I might have to spend 50 dollars on data charges that I wouldn't have had to if they kept the app.




technically, as an HTML5 app/site, the mobile site could have done that as well.

From a longer perspective, GenCon should not have hired some Elbonian code monkeys to slap together an iOS app for GenCon 2012.  They needed a longer term view on this app being around for ALL GenCons ever.

They should have coded a GenCon app for the 3 main OSes that wrapped a mobile site.  Then, they don't have to maintain mobile apps for the most part, as the actual content/presentation layer is all via a website that LOOKS like it is an app.

This would have given them the best of both worlds, not maintaining mobile apps, while not relying on people pulling up a web page on their mobile browser.  Apps are THE way businesses get you to their content on mobile devices nowadays.

Facebook on iOS was actually an HTML5 app.  Granted, it wasn't great, but then it's not great now either...

HTML5 allows more stuff to make the site act like an app, including storing data locally on the device.  Thus MO's problem could be solved by caching the database.

Just some nerdy background info on the "why not an App" part of the problem.


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