SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR PHONE APPS TO COUNT FISH

If you have an iPhone

(Note - on a slow count day, if your phone is set to go to sleep relatively quickly, you might lose some counts if you aren’t paying attention no matter what method you use to count. To increase the amount of time it takes your phone to go to sleep, go to ‘Settings’ and then to ‘Display and Brightness’ to change the setting to a longer period of time.)

Using the Apps that come with your phone:

Downloading a new App:

Below are some apps that look like they might be good options. All of these apps are free and can be found in Apple’s App Store:

• “Tally - Quick Counter” (by Agile Tortoise) This saves multiple counts, which is nice. You tap anywhere on the screen to count up and swipe down to count down, so there is no need to worry about looking at your screen. You can also easily copy or upload your count. There is no way within the app to tell your phone not to go to sleep while the app is in use, so that could cause you to lose some counts if your phone has a short time to sleep and you’re not paying attention.

• “Tally Counter” (by Pixel Research Labs, Inc.) This is a simple counting app with + and - buttons. You can set it so that your phone doesn’t go to sleep while the app is open on your phone by going to the info section and turning off sleep. In the free version, you can’t save multiple counts. It was a little glitchy when I tried to upload an email or text.

• “Counter +” (by Yan Kin Leung) In this app, you can save multiple counts and swipe to move between counts. You can set this to vibrate when you count, which helps you to know you aren’t missing any fish while you’re counting without looking at your phone. The + and - buttons are relatively large. There is no way within the app to tell your phone not to go to sleep while the app is in use, so that could cause you to lose some counts if your phone has a short time to sleep and you’re not paying attention.

• “Counter+. - Counterapp” (by UniCom Technology) This app is pretty straightforward. You can save multiple counts. You can set this to vibrate when you count, which helps you to know you aren’t missing any fish while you’re counting without looking at your phone. The buttons to click are smaller than on some of the other apps, but it’s very intuitive. There is no way within the app to tell your phone not to go to sleep while the app is in use, so that could cause you to lose some counts if your phone has a short time to sleep and you’re not paying attention.

• “Simple Counter – touch anywhere to count” (by s5r Software LLC) this is simple and convenient because you can tap anywhere on the screen to add a count, so you don’t need to pay attention to where your fingers are. If you miscount, you can change the setting from + to - to subtract a count. You can’t save multiple counts. There is no way within the app to tell your phone not to go to sleep while the app is in use, so that could cause you to lose some counts if your phone has a short time to sleep and you’re not paying attention. You can easily click and save a screenshot.

• “Counter – simply count things” (by Terence Williams) This is very simple but useful. You can’t save multiple counts. There is a large area to click the “+” button, half your screen, so you don’t need to look at your phone to make sure you’re pushing in the right place. The buttons are intuitive and straightforward to use. If you accidentally clear your count and don’t mean to, you can undo it. There is no way within the app to tell your phone not to go to sleep while the app is in use, so that could cause you to lose some counts if your phone has a short time to sleep and you’re not paying attention.

If you have an Android phone

(Note - on a slow count day, if your phone is set to go to sleep relatively quickly, you might lose some counts if you aren’t paying attention. Go to your phone’s settings to increase the length of time before your phone goes to sleep.)

Using the Apps that come with your phone:

• The Clock App

  • If you go to the “Stopwatch” section of the Clock app, you can count fish by using the “lap” button. The only difficulty here is that there is a limit of 100 laps. If your count exceeds 100, you would need to hit "pause" then "reset" then "start" to begin again....and you would lose the information about how much time had already elapsed.

  • the screen should look similar to the image below. Click “start” to start your time, and click “lap” each time a fish goes by. At the end of your count, the lap number is your number of fish. (You can also use the timer in the Clock app to track your 10 minute count and sound an alarm after 10 minutes.) The only problem with this method is that you can only record 100 laps max. If it is a busy day for the fish and you think you might get more than 100, this might not be your best option.

• The Notepad App or an Email

  • Open up a new note in your Notepad app or a new email draft, and you can record fish by typing a number or letter each time a fish goes by.

    1. For example, you can type a "1" each time you see a fish. You'll end up with a big block of ones, which you can separate with spaces and count by fives afterward.

       111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 =  11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11111 11 = 42

Downloading a new App:

• There is a free simple app called "Counter" (by Roman Tsukanov), available through Google Play. One of KELT’s staff members downloaded and tested this out. It has a big counter button and a large number displayed. There is no limit on the count (at least compared to the largest number of fish you may see in 10 minutes). You can easily subtract a count if you made a mistake, too. Cheri noted: “Even when I accidentally closed the app, it still had the same count displayed when I reopened it. Seems like a solid choice if people want to download it."

• Another free app for counting that has received good reviews is “A Counter” (by apperoan).