Wood Identification on the iPhone

The developers of the I.D. Wood App for the iPhone & iPod Touch contacted me a couple of months ago about their new application for identifying timbers using the iPhone.

I.D. Wood App

I had some immediate thoughts about how this sort of application could be very useful, which I shared with them.  Some of the possibilities included:

Being able to photograph with your iPhone camera a sample of timber which appeared on one side of the screen, and all the timbers in the database would be available on the other side (one image at a time), and you could flick through until one matched.

Being able to add your own timbers to the application.

Being able to use the application to catalogue your current timber collection.

Unfortunately this application is unable to have this sort of functionality added, as once it was installed it became apparent that this is not an App in the traditional sense (a program), but instead is an eBook, so is denied a significant amount of the functionality that would be otherwise possible.

Lots of US Timbers

One comment made by another early installer of this book was that it primarily focuses on US timbers.

My feeling is it is going to take some time and development for this app to actually become a useful woodworking tool, and perhaps breaking away from the whole eBook concept will be the only way for it to really progress.

I will certainly monitor further updates to see if more timbers etc are added – there has only been 10 added since the App’s release, so has around 60 or so timbers in the database (one Australian).  It will need it in my opinion, to be worth the $4 asking price (most apps are around $1.19)