back to article Over 40 Magnifier

I almost decided not to review Over 40 Magnifier, simply because of its rather insulting name. I may be over 40 but my eyeballs haven’t given up the ghost just yet. Nonetheless, this simple little app has still proven to be very useful and has taken up permanent residence on my iPhone. My eyesight is respectable enough, but I …

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  1. Code Monkey
    Thumb Up

    Nasal hair

    Thanks for not providing that particular sample shot. Seriously.

    1. jai

      Re: Nasal hair

      ha! i, too, scrolled down very very tentatively for fear of what i might find...

  2. Daz555

    Feeble 3.5" screen is the problem. Apple need to start chucking inches at the phone, not pixels. Will Apple invent 4" screens for the iPhone 5 I wonder?

    1. jai

      damn right! and why don't Samsung put a 20" screen on their phones!?!?!?!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How ironic...

      When the first iPhone was released, a common criticism was that it was too large for a phone. I guess it's largely a personal thing, but I really wouldn't want a phone to be any larger than that (from a practical standpoint).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How ironic...

        There's plenty of room for a larger screen on the iphone, just get rid of that hideous button at the bottom and make the screen 16:9 or 16:10

  3. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    let's hope

    some firm peddling a visability aid for a few thousand bucks doesn't start a patent war.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: let's hope

      Don't worry. Magnfying glasses cost rather less than a grand.

  4. jubtastic1
    Unhappy

    I'm in the same boat

    My camera roll is filled with snaps of serial numbers and back of pack cooking instructions*, payback for my youthful sins of setting 5pt text into tiny boxes on the sides of assorted product packaging.

    *6pt black text on a blood red background? Are they mad, we only used to do that for 'photocopy prevention' back in the days when a printed hash table was required to unlock the software.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's wrong with just taking a picture?

    And using the photo app to zoom in? That would give you the same effect as a greater than 5x digital zoom.

    I've just saved you £1.49

    1. stucs201

      Re: What's wrong with just taking a picture?

      Whats wrong with a magnifying glass? That would give you the same effect without it getting all blocky and pixellated.

      1. Darryl
        Joke

        Re: What's wrong with just taking a picture?

        and a magnifying glass would not only save you the £1.49 for the app, but also the £500 for the iPhone

  6. Erwin Hofmann
    Thumb Up

    ... and for us Android users ...

    ... use the "Magnifying Glass" in the "Swiss Army Knife" App by "Digital & Dreams" ... this tool set (Magnifying Glass, Compass, Bubble Level, Calculator, Flashlight, Ruler, Time,, Stop Watch) always blows me away ... super great gadget ... and it's free ...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: ... and for us Android users ...

      Can't find "Digital & Dreams" do you mean the one by Gianni Trevisti?

      1. Erwin Hofmann
        Thumb Up

        Re: ... and for us Android users ...

        ... yep ... that's the one ... http://www.digital-and-dreams.net/main/?page_id=38 ... cheers ...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Strange choice of app

    Why not just buy a pair of glasses if your eyes are that bad?

    1. jubtastic1
      Boffin

      Re: Strange choice of app

      Because if you've made it to fourty without needing glasses there's a whole bunch of friends and family who can't wait to get the digs in for all those times you may have joked about their eyewear in the past, I can totally relate to the authors opinion that he doesn't need glasses yet, just a handy app or maybe longer arms.

  8. Shane8
    Paris Hilton

    I know someone who will find it usefull

    <-- Paris, she's always looking for small things to use with a camera.

  9. lotus49

    Some of you are short-sighted (but only metaphorically)

    Everyone over 50 has presbyopia. In general my eyesight is excellent but as I approach 50 I do struggle sometimes to read very small text in poor light or if it's red on black. I do not need glasses other than about 5 minutes a month so spending hundreds of pounds on them would be a stupid waste of money.

    I don't own a magnifying glass and if I did, it wouldn't help with poor light. Even if I had one of the those illuminated ones, it would weight three times what my phone (which I never stray more than a metre from unless I'm in the shower and even then it's only about 2m) weighs so I'd hardly want to carry that around.

    Taking a picture and magnifying it is a shag and far less convenient than an app like this which provides a blown-up illuminated live picture.

    I have a similar app on my SGS2 (UltraMagnifier) and, while I have only used it about five times, it has been invaluable on those occasions and would be worth every penny of £1.49.

    1. Chris 3

      Re: Some of you are short-sighted (but only metaphorically)

      >I do not need glasses other than about 5 minutes a month so spending hundreds of pounds on them

      Pop into Boots and pick up a pair of reading glasses. They do a nice pair of frameless ones that are rather stylist and cost about £20.

    2. Jim Wilkinson

      Re: Some of you are short-sighted (but only metaphorically)

      I was short-sighted as a kid, wore glasses, then contact lenses. As I aged, one contact lens was weakened so I could read with one eye and see long with the other. Then I got my eyes lasered to the same prescription. So I could still read without specs up to 60 (in good light). But I've finally crumbled and had to pick up a cheap pair of reading glasses for low-light reading. Having one eye for reading, the other for long works - really. But you need to find out which is your dominant eye if you use contacts (or get laser treatment).

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    IMEI number

    Is it a bad idea to publish it in a photo?

  11. The Infamous Grouse
    Joke

    Dodgy name

    Damn it. Looking for more information on this and similar apps I just Googled "over 40 enlargement". It's going to take all night to explain to my wife where all those links came from.

    1. Erwin Hofmann
      Angel

      Re: Dodgy name

      ... ha ha ha ... that's a good one ... predictable ... but good ...

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