Orlin Kolev

The blistering East Coast and Pacific Northwest heat waves are doubtless sending throngs to the beach and pool to cool off. That’s trading a case of heat prostration for a chance at sunburn. Luckily a number of iPhone apps aim to keep you from frying with advice and reminders. Here is a look at four apps. The easiest of the four to use, Sun Alert Lite has three dials with icons on them, one dial for skin type, one for the S.P.F. of your sunscreen, and one for weather conditions. The skin type dial provides adequate explanation of pigmentation, such as “Light brown skin, no freckles, good tanning ability,” to accurately pick your type. S.P.F. is self-explanatory, but the environment dial may require some thought. For instance, at my downtown pool, where the chairs are on a grass lawn, do I choose “sunny urban” or “park open field?” When the dials are set, the app tells you how much time you can stay outside. Start the timer and it will count down to a warning beep with the message “time over!” Looking through the iTunes store descriptions, I couldn’t spot the difference between the lite version and the 99-cent full-featured version. Sunscreen has most cryptic screen with three dials marked for U.V.I., S.P.F., and Skin, showing numbers without explanation. Unless you already know whether your skin type is I, II or IV you’ll need to go to the “info” screen to learn. To get your U.V.I,. or Ultra Violet Index, you can go to the map tab, touch the search box, then the button on the upper left that will appear. The phone will find your location and set the U.V.I. for you. That’s a few more steps than it needs to be. Once you have it dialed in, press the start button and a countdown timer will tell you when to get out of the sun with a piercing beep. Fairly easy to use, this app still requires you to go into settings to find your appropriate skin type, where it shows you pictures with descriptions making an accurate choice easier. It automatically sets your U.V.I. according to your location, and a slide control along the bottom lets you set the S.P.F. of your sun block. It doesn’t do as good a job on the setting for your environment. You have to go into the setting panel to switch on Read More