Like most of you, I have come to rely on my mobile device for everything from keeping track of my daily, weekly and monthly activities to finding my way from point A to point B, snapping a picture of something of interest, and keeping in touch with friends and family. Also, like many of you, I have found apps that help me be more productive on the job. I am certain we have all had the experience of suddenly finding that your favorite, or much-depended-on app has suddenly stopped working or disappeared from your device entirely. This can be incredibly frustrating if you have come to rely on said app as part of your normal routine. Well, if you are a user of the “Aerial Sprays” app that was developed by the USDA-ARS Aerial Application Technology group, prepare to be frustrated for a bit.

Change is a constant with regard to technology. The constant drive for companies to create better, more powerful and feature-rich devices means that the release of new smart devices, including smartphones, tends to occur every year. Coinciding with that, but likely less obvious to the end user, are updates to the software that make the devices possible. These software updates tend to occur at a much higher frequency, and many times are substantial enough in nature that existing apps lose functionality. The companies behind these devices try to avoid these issues by requiring app developers to adhere to some minimum level of program structure and operating standards. When these are not met by a given app, the policy is typically to restrict the availability of that particular app from the end user. That, unfortunately, is where we find ourselves with the Aerial Sprays app.

Recent updates to Apple’s iOS software require the existing Aerial Spray app to be completely rewritten to be in compliance with current standards. As you can imagine, the time and cost associated with this is not insignificant. While we are committed to getting the spray nozzle model data back on your smartphone, it is going to take some time to get all the pieces into place. What this will mean for those of you who currently use the app is that it will either stop functioning entirely or maybe disappear from your device altogether on, or around, Nov. 10.

The good news is that these Nozzle Models are still readily available in Excel form from our website, tinyurl.com/AAT-Models. While not quite as convenient, these Excel versions offer additional functionality not included in the current mobile app, including nozzle flow rate data that allows you to determine the number needed to meet a required application rate for a given set of operational requirements. Those of you who have the mobile version of Excel on your phone or other tablet device will find these Excel versions work great. We are also planning to develop a “mobile” version of the Excel interface that will improve the user interface on smaller smartphone-sized screens.

Know that we are committed to getting the mobile version of the Aerial Spray app back into your hands as soon as possible. We will keep you updated on this as things continue to progress.