Ruler App – a super simple & elegant looking measurement app
by Antonio Wells
Dec 5, 2013 9:05 AM –
Ruler App is a simple and elegant looking measurement app for Android. Need to measure something small without a ruler around? Your phone or tablet may be able to do the job!
Price: Free
Tested on: Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Novel app for measuring small items using your device’s screen.
- Elegant design.
Cons
- U.S. standard ruler lacks fraction (or decimal conversion) measurement.
- Super simple functionality in comparison to competing apps.
- Sliders could be longer or work anywhere on the screen.
- Opinionated gripe: Calibration (see below).
Features:
Ruler App is a super simple app that serves one purpose- measuring small items on top of your phone or tablet’s screen in either U.S. standard (inches) or Metric (centimeters). You place the item, say a coin, anywhere on the screen and move the sliders to get the measurement.
Not ideal for U.S. Users
If you’re measuring centimeters this app is decent, however, if measuring inches there is a huge disconnect and flaw– instead of presenting the small number as a standard fraction (i.e. 3/8th of an inch) or even a decimal (i.e. 0.375 of an inch) it is simply shown as a whole number based on 100 units of the inch. Take a look at the screenshot above. It measures 4-3/8″ (the decimal conversion is 4.375″) yet the app simply lists 4.37 inches- which is technically a hair off. This makes the app not useful to someone in the U.S. and I believe a huge oversight on the developers part. Sure it’s elegant and pretty but using it in practical applications yield more work of converting the measurement into U.S. standard measurements. 🙁
Measuring two points… this is literally all the app does. Unlike competing ruler apps in Google Play there is no fancy augmented reality to measure things with your device’s camera, no other rulers types (like a protractor), no ruler extensions, etc. Just a simple on-screen ruler, thus you are limited to the length of your device surface area. I personally wish the measuring ring sliders could be longer or work anywhere on the screen. For example, I tried to measure my phone atop my tablet and found this a challenge because I had to balance the phone off the edge of the tablet screen (rather than sit it on top) in order to pull the tiny slider areas.
My last gripe is opinionated and minor. I do value that there is a calibration feature (same as in all other ruler apps). However, my personal opinion is- if I need to grab a physical ruler to calibrate a ruler app, then what is the point of the app, why not use the real ruler?
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Ruler App – Choose Centimeter or Inch
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Ruler App on Tablet – Start Screen
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Ruler App on Tablet – Centimeter Measurement
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Ruler App on Tablet – Inch Measurement
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Ruler App on Tablet – Settings
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Ruler App – Calibration