Currency for iPhone: So Simple, Yet So Powerful

By: @hilzfuld

Putting aside the fact that my day job is writing about and working with the foreign exchange (Forex) market , knowing the value of the world’s currencies is always useful information. As I was thinking about what app I was going to review today, I had a realization. It occurred to me that with the tremendous number of apps on the various platforms, it is extremely difficult to hear about any app that is not in the top 100 list, does not get publicity on the social channels, or is not sent to me directly from the developer. So, I thought to myself, how can I hear about apps that people enjoy but are not widely known?

Of course, I turned to my Twitter community with this query. I asked my followers for good app recommendations, and I received many. Out of the suggestions I got, one stuck out to me. This app stood out from the crowd not because the name was the fanciest or most impressive. It stuck out to me because the sender told me he knows it is a very simple app, but he really enjoys it. This is something I have been saying for the longest time. Developers need to understand that cramming as many features as they can into an app is not going to make it more popular. An app that is simple to use, but fills a real gap in terms of my needs, now that is an app I want to use.

Currency for the iPhone is a perfect example. I would not even say there is a true interface to Currency, it is more like a screen. The app enables you to choose the currencies that interest you and add them to the main list. You can then choose one currency on the list and define an amount. Once that is done, you will see all the rest of the currencies on the list converted to equal the amount you defined. That sounds way more confusing than it is, so let me give you an example to simplify things.

Let’s say you are traveling abroad and you have $1,000 US Dollars put aside for your trip. Now, you know what you can buy with $1,000 in the US, but how much is that worth is British Pounds if England is your destination? So, in this case, you would open Currency on the iPhone, select the US Dollar currency, type 1000 into the input field, and click Done. You will then see what $1,000 is worth in all the other major currencies including the British Pound. You can add or delete different currencies to the list by clicking Edit, and view seven different currencies at any given time.

Now, I do not know if you realize just how simple this app really is, both in terms of use and development, but it is by far the most simplistic app I have on my iPod. However, you can be sure it has earned a spot on my home screens, and I am not going to be deleting it any time soon, like I do with so many other apps that just do not capture me. Currency for iPhone could be useful in so many different scenarios, and the fact that it is free is just one more reason you should have downloaded it already.

Our Rating: 4/5

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Developer: Jeff Grossman

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Hillel Fuld

Hillel is a tech blogger at TechNmarketing.com as well as an active Twitter personality @hilzfuld. He writes for many other sites including Mashable.com, Bitrebels.com, and works as the Content Manager of Dailyforex.com.