Best iPhone And iPad Apps for Sacramento Living
Allergy Alert
If you live in Sacramento, you know. If you recently moved to Sacramento, you'll find out. Sacramento is one of the nation's allergy hot spots. Allergy Alert will give you the forecast for allergy, asthma, cold/cough and ultraviolet index levels for today. You can also get the 4 Day forecast for these index levels. For the Allergy forecast, it will list the different types of pollen currently blowing about, messing with people's immune systems.
iBreathe: Sacramento
itunes.apple.com/app/ca-gov-locator/id319155213?mt=8
iBreathe displays air quality information for fifteen areas and cities in the Greater Sacramento region. It displays air quality maps built with data from Sacbreathe.org and SpareTheAir.com, showing ozone and particulate levels. It can notify you of air quality alerts and Spare The Air days. And for those who need to know everything about everything, there is an Air Quality 101 section where you can learn about Volatile Organic Compounds and Oxides of Nitrogen, or, VOCs and NOx, for you air quality nerds out there.
CA.gov Locator
itunes.apple.com/app/ca-gov-locator/id319155213?mt=8
If you want to know where the nearest California government office or service center is with respect to where you are standing right now, CA.gov Locator is the perfect app. You can find many different service locations, such as the nearest public library, state park, voter information office, or DMV office. It will show you a list or a map for those locations, along with the directions and contact information including phone number and email. Alternatively, you can change the location of the search and the radius (within 5 – 50 miles).
CHP Mobile
This app, which is actually just the mobile version of the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page allows motorists to check for traffic collisions and roadway hazards in real-time. It shows a list, by city, of locations where CHP officers are responding along roadways. The traffic reports are updated around the clock and include incident time, location and whether it involves a collision, traffic hazard or lane obstruction.
By the way, the CHP does advise that drivers use the mobile application only when they are parked, or have assigned the task to a passenger, because it's kind of illegal to operate a mobile computing device while driving. This mobile app is free. As it is a web page rather than a formal iTunes app, you simply add it to your iPhone home screen instead of downloading it from the app store. You can purchase a prettier colorful version called CHP Traffic with some extras at the iTunes app store but you'll have to fork over 99 cents.
Sacramento Mountain Lions
itunes.apple.com/us/app/sacramento-mountain-lions/id389063892?mt=8
This interactive game day program guide provides schedule information and special ticket and merchandise offers. You can also view the team roster and pictures of the cheerleaders. Find out where coaches, players and cheerleaders will appear around town before the rest of the public. You can also, as an option, find out where all the other mobile fans are on a map. Go Lions!
Sacramento CA's Movie Listings
itunes.apple.com/us/app/id334224130?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6
This app shows you a list of movies and schedules in Sacramento by venue or by movie title. For each movie, you can get a synopsis or watch a trailer. For each venue, you can get a map, phone number, and directions.
Board of Equalization
itunes.apple.com/us/app/392356637/id392356637
The BOE app from the California State Board of Equalization is a simple way to verify permits and find a Board office. You can verify the status of a seller's permit account number included on a resale certificate, a cigarette/tobacco products license or an ewaste recycling fee license. You can also get a BOE's office address (and view a map and get driving directions) or get the phone number (and tap a button to call them).
- Margaret Andrews is a blogger living in Sacramento. You can see more of her work on her blog, NannyGoatsInPanties.com.