With my girlfriend in the process of refurbishing her kitchen, I found myself in need of (and without) a carpenter's level yesterday afternoon. But then I remembered Bubble Level, an application for the iPhone and iPod touch.
A penny short of a dollar later, I had myself a working, surprisingly accurate level right in my iPod touch.
Bubble Level allows you to calibrate it (for example, with an actual bubble level) so its measurements are accurate enough to use for household chores and hobbies. (Professionals may still need the precision that a traditional liquid bubble level provides.)
Bonus: it tracks how level the device is in two dimensions: laying your iPod or iPhone on a table allows the bubble to travel toward the center circle on the interface.
Bubble Level is 99 cents, and available in the App Store now. You can also check out A Level, a similar app that's expected to support calibration in the next release (it's from Posimotion, winners of TUAW's Most Risque iPhone App Name award).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-02-2008 @ 6:36PM
slimy33 said...
What would happen if you put your iPhone 3G flat on the table then? That rounded back, tsk, tsk...
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8-02-2008 @ 6:52PM
James Donevan said...
At least the 'Bubble Level' developers put a little effort into their app. 'A Level' is little more than a repackaging of a sample app from the iPhone SDK.
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8-02-2008 @ 7:13PM
Zac Grose said...
I think I'll get this one. I liked A level, but it was so clearly slapped together quickly.
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8-02-2008 @ 7:45PM
Peter Zich said...
Yeah... I don't see this working well for the 3G :(
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8-02-2008 @ 7:56PM
Lepton said...
Check out "Labyrinth Lite", the free little game where you move a marble through a maze. In the settings, there is a very nice bubble level! -Mike, author of EmailContact for iPhone
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8-02-2008 @ 7:57PM
burningspear said...
Or you could have installed the free version of labyrinth and used that as a 2 way level.....
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8-02-2008 @ 11:36PM
robb said...
The iPhone developer example app had a nicer calibration routine. You put it down, clicked a button, then flipped it over and it figured out the difference. That accelerometer is going to drift, and it'll be a pain to grab a real level every time you want to calibrate it.
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8-03-2008 @ 2:27AM
Paul van Dijk said...
The rouded back of the 3G is flat enough to use the iPhone as a good level. So this will work on a first gen iPhone, iPod touch and 3G.
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8-03-2008 @ 3:20AM
Chris said...
The calibration screen in the very nicely executed "Labyrinth LE" has a very effective two-axis bubble level. Fun and useful in one app!
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8-03-2008 @ 6:46AM
macxprt said...
"Bonus: it tracks how level the device is in three dimensions: laying your iPod or iPhone on a table allows the bubble to travel toward the center circle on the interface."
Please explain to me how you would use this in three dimensions. Does it also display you high the device is off the ground?
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8-03-2008 @ 8:46AM
Jason said...
Yeah, "three dimensions" makes no sense. A traditional carpenter's level works in one dimension; this works in two. The notion of something being perpendicular to gravity in three different dimensions would require a four-dimensional geometry.
8-03-2008 @ 11:43AM
Mike Morearty said...
I like this -- someone should write a program that turns the iPhone into a hammer! :-)
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8-03-2008 @ 11:53AM
Robert Palmer said...
RE: Three dimensions vs. two: I was obviously mistaken. The interface makes it look like the bubble travels in three dimensions, up a curved glass hemisphere.
I have corrected the article, and appreciate your attention to detail.
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8-03-2008 @ 3:59PM
CaptSaltyJack said...
So you can use it flat on its back, but can you use it resting the iPhone on its left or right side (to level a painting)?
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8-04-2008 @ 10:17AM
WSE said...
You can get the same functionality, including calibration, by downloading the Labyrinth game from AppStore. Not only is it a fun game, but the settings option has a two dimensional "bubble" level device.
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8-07-2008 @ 6:31PM
BLACKMONGOOSE said...
Hey great...but can it make phone calls. Sheesh!
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