One of our trusted readers gave us a tip last week on a smartphone application she uses daily to monitor the air quality of Tehran. The recently released application called AirVisual is a one-stop-shop for all pollution monitoring data.
Poor air quality is a side effect of living in a major city and Tehran is no exception during the winter months. Due to a weather phenomenon called the ‘Inversion effect’ which traps cold air close to the ground during cold periods pollution can be a major health risk to certain groups including children, pregnant women and the elderly.
LiT has tested the application and we can confirm it works perfectly. Using GPS embedded in Android and iOS smartphones.
The app is very comprehensive and includes hourly updates according to your location in the city. At the time of writing, AirVisual said the outdoor air quality in our area was unhealthy for sensitive groups.
What is interesting, the application gives you a full breakdown of data across the city, which plugs directly into the local pollution monitoring service.
AirVisual also offers a comparison service against other major hotspots for pollution including Los Angeles and Beijing, among some of the cities.
Unfortunately, the application does not support a Persian language option currently but does offer a range of other languages including English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese.
Exactly what I wanted in an air quality map. Being pregnant and having breathing problems it’s always my first step of the morning to check to see if I need an air mask or not. Living in a highly polluted area this makes life Soo much easier!
Accompanying Indoor AirVisual Monitor
The AirVisual application was created as part of crowdsourcing campaign and has an accompanying home device which monitors indoor pollution levels. LiT is yet to find the hardware available on e-commerce sites locally, but you never know somehow every gadget makes it to Tehran.
Where to download?
You can download the AirVisual application on the iOS and Google Play stores. We have not found the application on the local CafeBazaar Android store.
Information
- Seller: Air Visual Limited
Size: 75.1 MB
Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Languages: English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese
Age Rating: Rated 4+
Price: Free
Interested in know which apps to use in Tehran? Then why not check out our previous report on the best apps in Iran!