There are applications that are so well made and are so beautiful, that it is a shame not to have to use them more frequently. Elk is one of those apps for me. Its only task is to convert currencies, and this is not something that I need in my day to day.
Elk is designed from its origin for travel, as they tell us on their website. And it is focused on offering the information we need quickly, comfortably and easily. Remember that, on the road, you will not always have Siri or Google to ask them, however, Elk has ways to give you the result faster and without the need for an internet connection.
Apple has mentioned Elk several times in the App Store. With its minimalist design, allows to convert more than 150 currencies of all the world. Also, use localization to offer you the best conversion depending on where you are.
Elk is available for the iPhone. When we open the app, the two currencies that we have configured appear quickly and, with gestures to the left and right, we can increase the value. And, if we want to specify, just do tap where we are interested. For example, to find out how much $ 5.50 is, click where the $ 5 is. It's all faster than I explain it to you.
It is also available for the Apple Watch, where we no longer even have to take the iPhone out of our pocket. If you have an Apple Watch series 0, like me, it takes time to open the app. But once opened it's quick and unlocks the full potential of the touchscreen and digital crown. We will increase or decrease the number of digits by sliding our finger across the screen, and we will increase or decrease the value of each one with the digital crown.
I miss a widget from which to quickly access a converter (in the purest style of the Dashboard of the Mac), but Elk has another way of giving us quick information, even more so than with a widgets.
Elk has pulled a wonderful trick out of his hat. A Live Photo with a "chop." Before mobiles, it was common to see tourists, or yourself when you went on a trip, with a piece of paper or chop with the value of, for example, a pound, 10 pounds, 100 pounds, etc. Elk now enables this simplicity and convenience with a Live Photo from the lock screen
From Elk, we can select our chop and give it to save as Live Photo. Once saved, we can put it as a wallpaper. With this We manage to have a beautiful lock screen background, in which if we 3D touch, the cheat sheet will appear. This does not allow interacting with the values, for this we must access the app or use the Apple Watch, but without a doubt it is a very useful function for travel.
I have loved this idea and, as I said, it's a shame not to have to use this well-designed app as much as you want. So, I have discovered how to do "Live Photo - chops”Personal, to have any information that we frequently consult at hand without having to unlock the iPhone.
The simplest solution is intoLive. With this app we can select two photos (the wallpaper we want and the photo with the information we want to have at hand) and it will make us one Live Photo with both. Once the live photo, It only remains to make sure that the key photo is the wallpaper (by editing the image) and set it as wallpaper as Live Photo.
Elk is free on the basics, how to convert US dollars to euros and all the functions that I have told you about. But you will need to pay € 4,49 to unlock all currencies (if you need it) and to be able to define custom exchange rates. Even so, they offer a 14-day trial of access to all the content of the app. Therefore, it is ideal that you download it before a trip abroad, although you do not doubt that you will like it and you will end up paying for the purchase. app.
intoLive is free with payment within the app, but the free options perfectly allow you to do the trick that I have mentioned.
Download | Elk
Download | intolive
