Useful swimming pool smartphone applications

Swimming is getting safer with the help of smartphone applications. Here are some cool new programs to download on your phone or tablet to allow your summer to be less dangerous and to help you keep better care of your Fort Worth pool.

Swim – American Red Cross App
This new smartphone and tablet application comes in conjunction with the American Red Cross's safe swimming campaign. According its website, over the next five years the Red Cross is seeking to reduce the drowning rate by 50 percent in 50 cities across the 19 states with the highest number of drowning deaths.

The Swim application allows your children to watch Learn-to-Swim videos. You can keep track of the skills and water safety tips that they learn with detailed charts. The application will give you the ability to reward and share your children's achievements as they earn swimming mastery badges. It also has tips help your family stay safe and suggestions for fun activities. "Swim – American Red Cross" is available for on the Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon Marketplace.

iSwimBand
This device is for young children of pool owners. The iSwimBand is a rubber strap that comes in two forms: a headband or wristband. They both contain a Bluetooth sensor which will send an alert to your smartphone or tablet if your child comes into contact with water, according to ParentDish. The device also has the ability to detect if your child has been underwater based on a user-defined amount of time. The wristband is designed for younger children without swimming abilities and the headband is ideal for those that are able to swim.

When programmed, the iSwimBand causes your smart-device to sound an alarm from its speakers or an external sound system. ParentDish reports that it has an effective range of 100 feet and the band's battery can last hundreds of hours. Additionally, eight iSwimBands can be synchronized to a single iOS device and you can connect other devices to your smartphone as extra monitors. Its website stated that applications will be coming soon to Android and Windows platforms.

Other applications
There's also a variety of different smartphone applications that can do everything from surveying pool chemicals to controlling your pool.

Nimbus Pool Doctor keeps a record of chemical treatments and allows the user to test the balance of pool chemistry in a safe environment. Insta-Link lets the user take a photo of test strips and then determines what needs to be added, while Pool Calculator takes inputs regarding your pool's size and chemical levels to give feedback on how to best treat the water.

Balboa Spa Control allows you to control the temperature and filtration cycles for your Balboa branded spa. Zodiac iAquaLink lets a pool owner use any smart-device to modify the lights, pump speed and other pool features and Pentair ScreenLogic works similarly if you have a Pentair pump control system.

Ask your Fort Worth pool service which applications they recommend for your specific pool and equipment.