Apps let users hunt, capture

This column has long discussed innovative ways people are harnessing new technology to develop mobile applications for your smartphones.

Today, I am sharing some fun app odds-andends that have recently come across my email and that I think you will find interesting. I haven’t tested these extensively but they are intriguing. If you try them, let me know what you think:

(free, iTunes and Google Play, Munzee): This is like geocaching, except the coordinates are built into the app and connected to a map for easy discovery. You open it, search for a “Munzee” in your area — a bar code at the location — and map it.

To “capture” the find and note it online, use your smartphone to take a picture of the bar code and post it. It looks like fun — but would be better if more people in Oklahoma City were using it. To hide a Munzee, write up a clue about the location and print the assigned Munzee bar code from your computer. You can also order more durable bar codes directly from Munzee.

(free, iTunes, Pictorama GmbH): This new app from a German company bills itself as a way to earn money for iPhone photos. Upload photos through the app for possible sale as a stock photo. Users vote on whether they think your photo will sell. Photos with more than 50 percent positive rating get referred to the Pictorama team for market consideration. If your photo is accepted, it’s ready for someone else to buy and use. You keep the license rights to your photos and get a share of the sale price (20 to 50 percent).

Professional photographers question whether services like these are the best way to sell photos, but Pictorama provides an outlet for talented amateurs.

(free, iTunes, Bump Technologies, Inc.): If you’ve ever been at an event and wanted someone to email you the photo they just took, this app, from the creators of the popular phone-to-phone sharing app might be for you. Take photos using any camera app, and Flock figures out which of your friends were with you at the same event and shares photos with your permission. It works best the more friends you have who are using Flock.

What apps do you love? Email lbrinkman@opub co.com. Go online to blog. NewsOK.com/get-appy.