Here are a few more useful free mobile apps from Ohio:
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Akron Zoo-The front page of this app is neatly organized into categories like Animals, Food, Features, Find Near Me, My Trip, Maps, Friend Finder, Give and Social as well as a menu bar along the bottom to access general zoo information about hours, admission and more.
Choosing Hours from the bottom menu will give you general zoo hours as well as a listing of events that includes hours, dates and a short description of the event and registration (if needed) information.
Tapping on the Travel tab in the bottom menu gives users directions to the zoo or the ability to locate their car. The app quickly located my car in the garage behind my house when I tried it out and mapped the route from my house to the zoo.
I liked using the Animals icon on the main page to bring up the zoo's resident animals by categories like Amphibians, Birds, Fish and Aquatic Species, Mammals and Reptiles. Choose from those categories to see a short description and photos of specific animals as well as directions to locate the animals on a zoo map.
You can create a record of your trip or list your favorite sights at the zoo by clicking +My Trip at the top of the individual pages and call the list back up by touching the My Trip icon on the app's main page.
The app also allows users to find out about special shows or demonstrations, locate restrooms and find the zoo's gift stores, as well as the ATM machine! You can also link directly to the zoo's Facebook page and Twitter feeds from the app.
I did have problems with the app slowing down or failing to show me specific pages after using it continuously for a short period of time. This seemed to happen most often after trying to access the mapping functions, and I had to discontinue using the app for a few hours before it started operating properly again.
The latest update for the app was November 2013.
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Columbus Zoo-Launched in 2011, this app is available for smart phones and for the iPad.
The front page has a clean and simple main page with icons for Tickets, Parks Info, Explore and Friend Finder, as well as a menu along the bottom of the page with links to the zoo calendar, animals and a zoo map.
Start planning your zoo visit by selecting the Tickets icon from the apps main page to purchase your tickets in advance.
Select Animals from the menu along the bottom of the main page for information about the zoo's individual residents and where to find them within the zoo. When you select an individual species, you can see a photo and scroll down for more about the animal, its geographic home, behavior and conservation information.
The GPS-enable map displays your location and allows you to quickly locate specific animals, zoo features and amenities by using a Near Me button.
Initial publicity for the app mentioned the availability of videos of the animals, but I was unable to find then, and a recent reviewer on my App Store page mentioned how disappointed her 2-year-old child would be to discover that their favorite videos were no longer available.
Viewing this app on the iPad is nice if you enjoy seeing larger versions of the animal photos, but the app seems most useful in the more easily transportable mobile version to me.
The latest update for this app was February 2014.
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Chimani Cuyahoga Valley National Park-This app is one of more than two dozen developed by Chimani, a company specializing in developing apps for National Parks in the United States and, eventually, elsewhere. The company founder, Kerry Gallivan, named it after the Chimanmani Mountains in Zimbabwe, where he worked as an intern.
The Chimani apps debuted with a price of $3 to $10, but the apps became free in the spring of 2013. Chimani add-ons like an augmented reality tool or daily park news do cost $2 each.
You don't need a phone or Wi-Fi connection to access the maps and other features in the Chimani apps. Some users report problems when attempting to download or update the apps without a strong Wi-Fi or phone connection, so developers suggest waiting until you have access to a strong connection before downloading or updating the apps.
The Cuyahoga app has an extensive menu, accessed via icons from the main page and scrolling to the left for two additional pages of menu choices.
First time visitors may find the photo gallery of nearly 50 images from the park and the auto driving tour which includes nearly 50 narrated stops where you can learn about the park's history and history along the Ohio and Erie Canal especially useful.
Menu choices include hiking, biking, birding, fishing, picnicking and other ways to see and enjoy the park, as well as lists organized by points of interest, scenic views, and waterfalls help visitors easily find what most interests them.
The app also includes information like the location of restrooms, park operating hours and where to stay or camp in the area.
The map is a detailed topo-style map. Clicking on the map icons allow users to link directly to more detailed descriptions of locations along the trails.
The app also offers details all of the park trails with information including trail difficulty, elevation gain and the expected duration of a hike.
Check out Chimani's Facebook page for park news, events, photos and other park-related links.
The latest update for this app was September 2013.
See part one of this series for more great free mobile apps to help you plan your next trip to Ohio!
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