The most useful app ever?

I promise, this post title is not an exaggeration.

Ok, so I acknowledge that this arena's got some amazing contenders.  Because it's amazing how helpful good phones app can be!  Last year, a friend told me about an app that is not just good, it's incredible.

And I'm probably just really late to the party and everyone else already knows about it.  But if you've never heard of this app, you need it!

The (FREE!) app is called "PictureThis" and it looks like this in the app store on my iphone:

"PictureThis" is a plant identification app for the phone, and so far, it has identifies absolutely everything I've tried it on, with 100% accuracy.

Why do I love the app so much?  For two reasons.  The first is the obvious.

I LOVE learning what plants and trees I'm looking at!  Last fall, I saw some BEAUTIFUL trees with yellow leaves on dog walks, and really, really wanted to know what they were.  Above you can see what I used the app to look up.  This is SO MUCH EASIER than the clunky identification books of old you had to carry in your pocket.  (Which I never did.)

I'm still an old school "real" book reader; but honestly, some things are just better in digital form; nature identification apps are a perfect example.

Have you ever seen a beautiful flower or shrub, and wondered what it was because you'd like to plant one yourself?  This app is perfect for that.

Since we purchased The House of Goodwill (on almost two acres); I've seen a few things growing that I wasn't sure were intentionally planted.  So the app has been incredibly helpful in distinguishing between good plants and weeds.

Here are some of the plants/weeds I've identified in the yard here with the app:

Which brings me to the second reason that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this app - IT TELLS ME WHICH THREE-LEAFED PLANTS ARE POISON IVY.

As I've told my son, who so far indulges my interest in looking up plants yet shows no interest of his own - he still needs this app, because doubtless he will need to be able to identify poison ivy at some point or another.

I never "experienced" poison ivy till I was forty years old.  Since then, I've tangled with it at least once a year, and it's always been a mystery to me where I got it from.

I've also always struggled to identify poison ivy; I know it has three leaves, but poison ivy can take so many forms, and there are many three-leafed plants that are NOT poison ivy.

As you can see from my next screen shot, this app showed me which three leaf plants found growing in the iris beds are and aren't poison ivy:

Now, I know without doubt where the poison ivy is, so I can dig it out carefully.  I also know what NOT to be afraid of!  And using this over time, I will doubtless learn to identify poison ivy better for when I don't have the app on me.

(There is a premium version of the app you can buy, with more in-depth info and interesting content.)

I'm not sure my son is as excited as this app as me.  Since I never have my phone on dog walks, I'm constantly asking him to pull his out so I can identify some tree we're passing.  Needless to say, our walks go just a little bit slower.

And now I proudly call out the official name of every tree and shrub we pass, just because I can.  I'm not sure he appreciates this either.

There's only one downside to this app that I can see - I always used to leave my phone at home when out walking, which was a sacred disconnected time.

But now that I sense my son is getting closer to cutting me off from my constant requests to him to pull out his phone (he's twenty - of course he can't go for a walk without his phone) - I'm afraid I just might have to bring my own technology along with me.

Isn't it funny how cell phones always seem to be a blessing AND a curse?