App Aims: Converters, Calculators and Calendars, Oh My!

Reviewer’s Comments
Don’t let the glaring spelling error on the “currecny” (should be “currency”) converter scare you away—9-Toolbox is a very useful collection of tools designed to eliminate the need to have separate apps to calculate tips, a convert inches to centimeters, and countdown to the important days of your choosing. Also, “9-Toolbox” is somewhat of a misnomer since there are really 10 tools in all. (There’s a Bonus tool on the app info page called Price Grab.)

The nine mini-apps are Currency, Data Calc, Days Until, Holidays, Inclinometer, Loan, My Girl’s Day, Tip Calc and Units. My Girl’s Day is an interesting, yet TMI-related program where you can enter your cycle information and then be shown all the gory details, including ovulation. One complaint here is that there isn’t any password protection on My Girl’s Day and most women might find this info useful but probably want to keep that kind of information close to the vest.

The inclinometer is an interesting, slightly arcane-in-nature, capability. For those who didn’t know, an inclinometer measures angles in reference to gravity: slope, angles, pitch and roll. Usage tip—put the phone/touch on the surface whose slope you’re trying to measure, otherwise the measurements will never settle down.

The loan calculator lets you look at loan amounts with and without interest. It also creates an amortization schedule for you to peruse—all you need is the loan info to estimate. You can also compare two loans side-by-side to see how changes in term length or interest rate affect the monthly payment.A minor irritation occurs when you are comparing two loans. You must enter the term length in months whereas you were able to enter a single loan using either months or years. A toggle to switch between months and years on the comparison screen would clear things up tremendously.

The Date Calc lets you input two dates and will show you how many days between the two. It also has a lunar-to-solar converter. Islamic and Chinese agricultural calendars are lunar and Gregorian and Julian calendars are solar, so if you’re in a multi-ethnic household or office, this is a handy tool.

A feature that we’d really like to see incorporated is the ability to add personally important days to Holidays, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Even more useful would be adding inter-connectivity between Holidays and your own Contacts list so that you don’t have to manually enter those dates again.

All of these programs inside 9-Toolbox are useful and easy to use. We were pleasantly surprised at the user-friendly interface and how applicable these tools are to everyday life. We’re looking forward to the updates that promise to polish these capabilities to an even higher sheen.

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