Tech & Culture – Festival Ready

We all love going to festivals. The sun, the music, the endless beer, the atmosphere of freedom. But, then, we always forget the bad bits: searching for your tent at 4am, spending hours trying to find your gang of friends, and running out of battery just as you’re about to make a call.

Well, thanks to the plethora of apps now available to download, your phone can become a microcosm of your home with all the tools, supplies and essential needs of life packed up for you to make the most of the festival season. We’ve listed our priority downloads. All you need to do is pitch the tent.

• Battery: Breaks down the time remaining on your phone’s functions including playback and Wi-Fi. 59p
• Shazam: You may not have a clue who is playing on stage but this gadget is the oracle of all things music related. In minutes you’ll be impressing those around you and downloading all your favourite tunes from the festival at the touch of a button. We’re yet to come across a song that this app can’t identify. Free
• Torch: Useful for zipping up your tent in the dark. Also good for the night-time toilet run. Free
• Tentfinder: You might laugh but you’ll be thanking this nifty lifesaver when you are trying to tell your green tent from all the thousands of others in the early hours of the morning with cider eyes. It’s simple: Stand next to your tent and log its location, then use this app to guide you home. 59p has never been spent better.
• Glympse: Lose your friends in the festival crowd and you can bet you’ll be wandering around trying to re-group for hours. Why spoil the night traipsing around? Upload your location, say how long you’ll be there and wait for your friends to locate you. Free
• Tinder: A quick and easy way to find out which friends are also at the festival and meet mutual friends of friends. Free
• Virtual Lighter: Because fiddling around in the dark for a lighter and risking burning your fingers isn’t our idea of a smooth night. It does what is says. Free

All Apps are available from itunes.apple.com