Mobile Device Photo Apps Part 6

I have a new app to add to my previous series on photo apps. You may be familiar with the Multivista Construction Documentation Service. They are the guys who will come to your construction site and take a series of high quality progress photos based upon the schedule that you provide them. I have used this company in the past on large projects and found it to be very valuable. Once the process has started, you can do a virtual walk though of your project at any time with the photos they take. The photos are also linked to your set of plans so you know where the photos were taken on site.

After using the service I only found two drawbacks for my company. The first was that we could only view the photos on a computer and the second was that we could not add our own photos to the platform. These issues have now been resolved with the introduction of the Multivista App. The company pushed out a recent update to the App in April.

The new Multivista App allows users to…

Access all project photos from your IOS device (iPad and iPhone).
Upload your own photos from your device camera or camera roll.
Upload single or multiple photos.
Add comments to the photos.

The app has a great search function that allows users to search for photos by:

Date range: Last 14 Days, Last 30 Days, or Last Month
Location: ex. Level 9 – West

The photo resolution is also very good on your screen.

To learn more about Multivista and their new app take a look at…

Website:
http://www.multivista.com/clients/success-stories

App Store:
Multivista by Multivista
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/multivista/id763141884?mt=8

App Blog Websites

If you are like me, you want to learn more about the newest apps for construction available to use on Tablets and Smartphones. The question at hand is: Where can you go to read about new apps? One of the best places that I have found is the actual blog site for an app. Several of the app websites have very informative blogs about the uses of technology in construction.

The following is a list app blog websites that have great educational blogs.

Evernote: http://blog.evernote.com

FotoIn Mobile: http://blog.fotoinmobile.com

PlanGrid: http://blog.plangrid.com

Fieldlens: http://fieldlens.com/blog/building-better/

ProCore: http://procore.com/blog/

SmartUse: https://www.smartuse.com/#news

In addition to these great blog sites, there are also a few great community app review websites where you can see what apps other people are using and read their reviews about apps. I have profiles on two websites at the moment: one is on http://www.aec-apps.com and the other on http://www.getapplr.com.

AEC-APPS.COM is an interesting site that allows people to create a profile and add the apps they use to their “App Kit”. Once you create an account on the website you can search for existing apps to place into you app kit or add apps to the website. People have added apps from the Android, Apple and Windows market places. The site many categories to search through when trying to locate your current apps or new ones.

https://aec-apps.com/users/rob-mckinney

GETAPPLR.COM is a great IOS specific website to use when looking for new iPad and iPhone apps. Once you create an account on the website you can search for existing apps to place into your profile or add apps to the website. This site also has several categories to search through when trying to locate your current apps or new ones.

http://getapplr.com/Conappguru

I hope this list of internet resources provides you with a few new sources of information about Apps For Construction.

Updated App Review: iAuditor

Safety Reports ( iAudtitor) Review: UPDATE

Since my initial review the team at SafetyCulture has updated their iAuditor app. I have spent a few days looking through the updated version and here is what I have learned.

The app has been overhauled for IOS 7, so the look of the app has completely changed. The original white background is now blue. They have added a Dashboard page that provides instant access to template information and quantifies your audit activity. This new page shows you several useful items such as:
Monthly graph of audit severity.
Recently conducted audits.
Recently viewed templates.
Statistics on total audits, which ones were not at risk, which ones were at risk, which ones were incomplete.

Other key areas of improvement for the app are:
Photos taken in the app are now duplicated on the device camera roll (if setting changed).
Redesigned template editor.
The filters for specific Industry types has been restored to the public library.
They have added back the preview only function for templates.
The help page is better organized and even has tutorial videos.

This iAuditor app is available on both iOS and Android devices. My primary experience has been with the iOS version on my iPad, but I have also tried it on my iPhone as well. I have now tried the Android version on a Samsung Tab 2.0 unit for comparison purposes. They have also improved the resource page built into the app for guidance.

This form generator app lets you create and distribute forms to your team. After completing the inspections and reports these items can be converted to a PDF and emailed to the office. The website version offers a monthly syncing function ( a paid subscription) for office staff to review all field team members completed reports in one spot.

To learn more about the app updates go to their website at…
http://support.safetyculture.com.au/entries/58316537-3-0-1-Update-Released