iPhone use in parks ?'s-apps and charger

[rt3773]

Can you tell me what your favorite and most useful apps are for the iPhone?

also I have been told that the regular battery will not hold up all day while using apps......can you tell me the best method of keeping my phone from dying. External charger? Extra battery?

I have an iPhone but I know I do not use it to its full potential--still know very little about it.

 

[sahara910]

One thing I can tell you that I just learned is double click the home button so it pops up the icons of apps on the bottom that are "open" hold one down til you see the red minus sign. Close all the open ones you don;t need. That will help your battery life. I did this and had like 50 open LOL

I just downloaded touringplans app but you have to be a member of touringplans.com.

And I also downloaded magic guide the all in one. It has park maps, restaurant locations and menus, wait times (submitted by users only) lists the park hours and extra magic hours the option to add favorites and a locator so you can choose rides/ food near you.

ETA you cannot add a battery or change the battery in an iphone. Your only hope is to charge it....

 

[momhmmx2]

Battery saving options for iPhone are:
FIRST: unless you want/need to send pics/downloading apps TURN OFF 3G and just use edge.
SECOND: turn off Bluetooth and notifications
THIRD: you can turn off location services, but many of the apps for wait times require you to have this on.

 

[ndpeirce]

I have a Droid, but it has the same power needs.

One thing that I happened upon by accident right before our WDW trip in August was a portable back up battery/charging system you can buy from Brookstone. It actually has adapters for a number of small electronics including iphone.

Basically you charge your phone and the battery at the same time, then both are charged up. As soon as your phone gets low, plug into the portable battery and it charges on the spot (without need for a power outlet). It was about the size of an iphone but maybe lighter in weight.

Because I used the WDW Lines App (which I highly recommend) all day off and on, I drained the battery at least once each day. The backup battery got me through to the end! I would just recharge at night.

Looking at their site, it seems they have a few options like this for iphone users.

Good Luck!

 

[hugscot]

One thing I can tell you that I just learned is double click the home button so it pops up the icons of apps on the bottom that are "open" hold one down til you see the red minus sign. Close all the open ones you don;t need. That will help your battery life. I did this and had like 50 open LOL

I just downloaded touringplans app but you have to be a member of touringplans.com.

And I also downloaded magic guide the all in one. It has park maps, restaurant locations and menus, wait times (submitted by users only) lists the park hours and extra magic hours the option to add favorites and a locator so you can choose rides/ food near you.

ETA you cannot add a battery or change the battery in an iphone. Your only hope is to charge it....

Thanks. Magic guide is awesome. Never thought of that before and should come in real handy.

 

[SuperRob]

Monoprice.com used to sell a high-capacity backup battery for the iPhone for about $20. Great batteries, I took two of them to Costa Rica. Sadly, they aren't on the site any longer. Keep checking with them, because they may be switching to another model.

As for apps, I have the TouringPlans.com subscription and the Lines app to go with it. I also have the Undercover Tourist app as well, which has a very slick presentation.

 

[PhillyMc]

I'd look on Amazon or eBay for external batterys for the iPhone. I loved using mine at WDW. I had an external battery that was 4x the normal iPhone so didn't have to worry. I kept the 3g and location service on and was able to use wait time apps, a couple mapping programs, and still make/recive calls. My fav iPhone app is still WDW Dining since we had ADR's but had to change some on the fly and with it could look at the current menu's and decide on where to try and get in.

 

[rt3773]

Sahara910 can you explain more about the apps. PM me if you can, I cant PM you. I double click and the icons are on the bottom, but does clicking on the red (-) sign remove the app?

I have found an external charger on amazon for under $10.....many more than that, but this one had good reviews and was supose to work with the case.

 

[Heva2015]

You can buy a charger that you use a normal aa battery with...many travel stores sell it...airports and the like. that comes in handy for me. Also, I have one of them cheap pay as you go type phones...tracfone type for emergencies since it can be so unreliable.

 

[Revan]

Downloaded WDW Waits Free App when I went in December and was pleasantly surprised that the wait times were very accurate. I have E-ticket, but only use it to view the boards on my phone.

 

[DReynolds86]

Some companies also make solar-powered iPhone chargers. They're pricey, though.

 

[robinb]

I really like the Touring Plans "Lines" app. IIRC it's free as long as you are a member of the Touring Plans website. It will tell you all the projected wait times for rides as well as user entered times. You can enter wait times and FP retunr times to help your fellow users. The Disboards also has an app called "eTicket" which is a paid app. You can enter your whole schedule along with ADRs into eTicket. I didn't use it that much except for checking restaurant menus on the fly. My DD is a vegetarian and it's good to know what kinds of meals CS restaurants serve on the fly.

 

[daisylove]

subbing

 

[bigeyeblue]

Love this one because it helps keep all my dining confirmation numbers in one place, as well as flight info, rental car, etc.

 

[Barnhill9586]

Great topic! I'll be looking for some of the external chargers for our iPhones for our next trip.

My favorite Disney iPhone apps are:

eTicket (love reading the disBoard with this and it also has a really easy to use point calculator if you are a DVC owner or like to rent like us)

WDW Dining (from VersaEdge) app is great...we enter all of our ADRs here with confirmation numbers, etc. You can also quickly check breakfast, lunch and dinner menus and prices for all Disney restaurants.

WDW Waits and WDW Hours (both from VersaEdge) are also helpful. They are both free if you don't mind the ads or there is a nominal fee if you want them ad free.

WDW Lines is good for wait times if you subscribe to Touring Plans although on our last trip in April 2010 we compared it to the free WDW Waits app and found generally that the WDW waits app was more accurate. I think this was because there were so many more people entering times with the free WDW Waits app. The Lines app often had long periods of time between user entries. Perhaps there are more users now and it will be better for our March trip.

Have a magical trip! Looking forward to tips from others!

 

[Barnhill9586]

One thing I can tell you that I just learned is double click the home button so it pops up the icons of apps on the bottom that are "open" hold one down til you see the red minus sign. Close all the open ones you don;t need. That will help your battery life. I did this and had like 50 open LOL

I just downloaded touringplans app but you have to be a member of touringplans.com.

And I also downloaded magic guide the all in one. It has park maps, restaurant locations and menus, wait times (submitted by users only) lists the park hours and extra magic hours the option to add favorites and a locator so you can choose rides/ food near you.

ETA you cannot add a battery or change the battery in an iphone. Your only hope is to charge it....

Thanks sahara! Just searched for magic guide...looks like another VersaEdge and we have really liked their apps. Looks like I'll be getting this one for the March trip!

 

[Mom2aJessieGirl]

For the charger, I really like my Mophie Juicepack Air. I've had them for my iPhone 3GS and my iPhone 4 and have no complaints. They fit like a case and have a switch that you can flip when you need to "top off the tank." I love it!

 

[WDW1979]

......can you tell me the best method of keeping my phone from dying. External charger? Extra battery?

There is something called "The Sharper Image - iPhone/iPod touch Stand with Internal Rechargeable Battery" available on Bestbuy.com. It has a battery in it that it is supposed to double the battery life of an iPhone. I think I have seen similar devices elsewhere, as well.

 

[Corbisblue]

Here are some battery saving tips:

- Ensure Wi-Fi is turned off
- Turn screen brightness down to a level where you can still see
- Depending on the model of iPhone you have, close apps that are open with multitask. 3G models do not support this.
- Turn off Bluetooth connectivity
- If you can help it, do not use your Phone to take photos, unless that IS your only camera.

To use the apps I would suggest leaving 3G on since going over the Edge network could take much longer, and would become frustrating.

All the apps that people have already suggested are great!

 

[Hockeyman]

I picked up a spare battery pack and a case with a built in battery pack in it at Best Buy about a year and a half ago. I have since lost the case,lol, but still have the battery pack. It's great, it just clips into the bottom of the phone and charges it just about full. Its the same size as the phone itself but about half the length.