A spirit level with built-in ruler or tape measure? Since this month you can hang them on the willows, because Apple has also introduced the new app Measure with the launch of iOS 12. With this app you can measure all kinds of distances using the camera.
We are secretly always a little suspicious when it comes to these kinds of apps. After all, as cool as we think augmented reality is, it will never be as accurate as using the old trusty tape measure… right? In principle, that is true, but the Measure app does come very close, with deviations mainly due to the user.
When do you use Measure?
It's important to know that Measure only measures in centimeters, not millimeters. This means that the app is absolutely unsuitable for, for example, measuring whether a cupboard fits into your room down to the centimeter, although we would not dare to use an app for that in all honesty. The app is therefore mainly intended for quick measuring jobs, measuring approximately how many square meters a room is, so that you buy enough wallpaper, or what the distance is to a certain point in your garden, you name it.
How do you use Measure?
When you start the app in iOS 12, you are first asked to move your smartphone through space. The reason for this is that the app needs to gain insight into the space and the surfaces in it. After all, without frames of reference, an app like this cannot possibly measure accurately. The app tells you when you've moved the iPhone enough to map the space. Then point the white dot in the middle of your display at the starting point you want to measure, and press the big plus sign. Now when you move your iPhone, you will see that a yellow line is immediately drawn from your starting point. Now move your device to the end point and press the plus sign again. A white line is now drawn, containing the size. The nice thing is that you are not limited to one line, you can walk through the room and draw lines everywhere to digitally map the dimensions of the room. It is also nice that you can easily draw a line at right angles to another (you feel when you sit on the line thanks to haptic feedback) so that you can map out height and width.
Accurate?
We mentioned it before: the Measure app is very accurate, but only if you use the app properly. The space is mapped, and the target circle indicates the orientation of your 'tape measure'. If you start measuring on a horizontal surface, while the measuring circle is vertical, then of course your measurement will never be correct. A matter of paying attention and following the instructions. In addition to the measuring tape, this app also contains a digital spirit level, but we were already familiar with that from previous versions of iOS.
