An app for every safety concern
By Zhu Shenshen |
June 10, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AIR pollution and unsafe food are everyday worries, but to help ease these there are apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices providing alerts and offering advice.
And even for natural disasters such as earthquakes, which we can do little about, apps can provide alerts and guidance.
Some of these apps can help you better manage your daily life, such as avoiding going for a run when the fine particle PM2.5 pollution level is high and ensuring you choose restaurants that don't use illegal "swill oil" - digouyou in Chinese - oil ladled from drains near restaurants. In contrast, earthquake warnings come into their own at time of emergency.
This subject hit the headlines this week after China called on US consulates to stop releasing their own air quality readings, which are often at odds with China's official ratings.
PM2.5 particles are a particular risk to health because they are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
One aspect of the dispute is that it shows that people in China are becoming more open to receiving third-party sources for air quality.
For iPhones, the top pick in this category is China Air Pollution Index. It broadcasts real-time air quality indices for 120 cities in China, with the data coming from Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Compared with other applications, China Air Pollution Index has a nicer user interface and features health advice functions - suggestions such as whether it is suitable for outdoor sports, whether you should wear a mask and what protective measures to take when indoors.
It also supports notification functions, so that when air pollution levels increase you will be advised.
Based on easy sharing functions, users can easily post air quality reports on Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo and Path.
Our picks
China Air Pollution Index
Top pick.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Air Quality
Also covers 120 cities with US consular figures but with advertisements.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android and iPhone
Shanghai Air Quality Index
Tracks the air quality index in areas such as Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area and Xujiahui of Xuhui District.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android Food Safety
Scandals such as toxic milk, tainted pork and swill oil highlight safety problems in China's food industry that have caused public concern.
Before considering apps that address these, mention should go to a food security alert website "Throw It Out the Window" - zccw.info - created by a Fudan University postgraduate student.
It has a record of the latest 2,300 food safety incidents in the country, with detailed reports and victim numbers. Color-coding reveals the degree of problems, area by area.
Shanghai ranks the fourth worst city in China for food safety, with Beijing occupying the unenviable top spot, according to the website.
With regards to apps, the top food safety pick is China Survival Manual, which leads users to all food security news and how to deal with food safety issues.
Three days after its debut in the Apple Store at the end of May, it had attracted 200,000 downloads, making it the No. 1 application in the medical category.
"We've produced this because we want more people to pay attention to food security," writes the developer Keniu, a subsidiary of Kingsoft, in the application description.
"We also hope that this app will one day be redundant because all foods are safe."
It allows users to look up related unsafe food news in 12 categories, everything from snacks to seafood to health care.
Each section contains information on instances of unsafe food, including pictures, news reports, damage to health and how to deal with cases.
Our picks
China Survival Manual
Top pick.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone
Food Security Warning List
More than 4,400 reports.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android Earthquakes
Chinese people are acutely aware of the dangers posed by earthquake, a threat brought home by the 2008 quake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province that killed thousands of people. As recently as the end of May, an earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale hit north China's Hebei Province, though fortunately it did not claim any lives.
Also in the latter part of last month, two earthquakes in northern Italy killed 25 people.
The top pick for this category is iEarthquakes, a pay-for app which covers natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes and storms.
Through a notification function, users can access to data feeds, latest news and real-time updates of disasters, based on data from the US Geological Survey and European Mediterranean Seismological Center.
Through a map function, users can search and display the location of the natural disaster and, perhaps more importantly, find out where you should stay for safety in times of such disasters.
Our picks
iEarthquakes
Top pick.
App Price: US$2.99
Platform: iPhone
QuakeFeed
Free and map display.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone
Earthquake Survival Manual
Useful tips for how to survive in earthquake.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android
And even for natural disasters such as earthquakes, which we can do little about, apps can provide alerts and guidance.
Some of these apps can help you better manage your daily life, such as avoiding going for a run when the fine particle PM2.5 pollution level is high and ensuring you choose restaurants that don't use illegal "swill oil" - digouyou in Chinese - oil ladled from drains near restaurants. In contrast, earthquake warnings come into their own at time of emergency.
This subject hit the headlines this week after China called on US consulates to stop releasing their own air quality readings, which are often at odds with China's official ratings.
PM2.5 particles are a particular risk to health because they are small enough to lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
One aspect of the dispute is that it shows that people in China are becoming more open to receiving third-party sources for air quality.
For iPhones, the top pick in this category is China Air Pollution Index. It broadcasts real-time air quality indices for 120 cities in China, with the data coming from Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Compared with other applications, China Air Pollution Index has a nicer user interface and features health advice functions - suggestions such as whether it is suitable for outdoor sports, whether you should wear a mask and what protective measures to take when indoors.
It also supports notification functions, so that when air pollution levels increase you will be advised.
Based on easy sharing functions, users can easily post air quality reports on Facebook, Twitter, Sina Weibo and Path.
Our picks
China Air Pollution Index
Top pick.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Air Quality
Also covers 120 cities with US consular figures but with advertisements.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android and iPhone
Shanghai Air Quality Index
Tracks the air quality index in areas such as Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area and Xujiahui of Xuhui District.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android Food Safety
Scandals such as toxic milk, tainted pork and swill oil highlight safety problems in China's food industry that have caused public concern.
Before considering apps that address these, mention should go to a food security alert website "Throw It Out the Window" - zccw.info - created by a Fudan University postgraduate student.
It has a record of the latest 2,300 food safety incidents in the country, with detailed reports and victim numbers. Color-coding reveals the degree of problems, area by area.
Shanghai ranks the fourth worst city in China for food safety, with Beijing occupying the unenviable top spot, according to the website.
With regards to apps, the top food safety pick is China Survival Manual, which leads users to all food security news and how to deal with food safety issues.
Three days after its debut in the Apple Store at the end of May, it had attracted 200,000 downloads, making it the No. 1 application in the medical category.
"We've produced this because we want more people to pay attention to food security," writes the developer Keniu, a subsidiary of Kingsoft, in the application description.
"We also hope that this app will one day be redundant because all foods are safe."
It allows users to look up related unsafe food news in 12 categories, everything from snacks to seafood to health care.
Each section contains information on instances of unsafe food, including pictures, news reports, damage to health and how to deal with cases.
Our picks
China Survival Manual
Top pick.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone
Food Security Warning List
More than 4,400 reports.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android Earthquakes
Chinese people are acutely aware of the dangers posed by earthquake, a threat brought home by the 2008 quake in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province that killed thousands of people. As recently as the end of May, an earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale hit north China's Hebei Province, though fortunately it did not claim any lives.
Also in the latter part of last month, two earthquakes in northern Italy killed 25 people.
The top pick for this category is iEarthquakes, a pay-for app which covers natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes and storms.
Through a notification function, users can access to data feeds, latest news and real-time updates of disasters, based on data from the US Geological Survey and European Mediterranean Seismological Center.
Through a map function, users can search and display the location of the natural disaster and, perhaps more importantly, find out where you should stay for safety in times of such disasters.
Our picks
iEarthquakes
Top pick.
App Price: US$2.99
Platform: iPhone
QuakeFeed
Free and map display.
App Price: Free
Platform: iPhone
Earthquake Survival Manual
Useful tips for how to survive in earthquake.
App Price: Free
Platform: Android
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