With their focus on colorful emojis, stickers, GIFs and pretty much anything else that could possibly lure lucrative teen users, today’s messaging apps are seemingly getting more and more alike with each “fresh” upgrade.
A recent app tries to shake up the formula a bit by bringing back a decidedly more retro form of messaging — Morse code. Here’s how it works, and why you should get it.
The idea of sending Morse code messages with your phone was famously parodied by Google with its Google Tap April Fools’ Day stunt in 2012. In that case, the joke was that — while eliminating the QWERTY keyboard was an interesting (and very Silicon Valley) idea — it would require users to memorize Morse code and, even then, would take considerably longer to type out a message.
In the case of the new Morse Code Messege Generator (sic) app, you don’t need to worry about memorization. You just type in your message as per normal, then let the app translate your text into Morse code automatically. The app then lets you use your camera flash to transmit your coded missive as a series of brief flashes, which can be picked by another user and read.
The resulting Morse code messages would doubtless prove a lot of fun for games, but could also be a potentially useful tool in a disaster situation — since they let you transmit messages without needing internet or a cellular connection. The app, which is compatible with any device running iOS 9.3 and above, is available for free download.
Source: App Store
Via: App Advice
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
2 responses to “iPhone app uses camera flash for Morse code messaging”
“Morse Code Messege Generator” Yeah, too bad the author couldn’t spell “message”.