what3words

Have you heard of the what3words app? It is only made for iPhones and other mobile Apple products as far as I know, but this is roughly how it works.

Somebody has divided the world up into a grid of 1 metre squares. Yes, the entire world.

You stand in a location (pick a location, any location) and using the navigator on your phone, you pinpoint it precisely and feed it into the app. What3words immediately assigns the square metre you are standing in three words. They could be bakery glass candlestick (I wonder where that is).

You can then send the three words to anyone who also has the app and they will see exactly where you are on a map. I mean exactly.

Apparently the emergency services are using it more and more because it does not need a postcode and even works up mountains so long as you can get a signal.

My breakdown recovery app uses satnav technology so all I have to do is report a breakdown and my little dot appears on their screen map. Prior to that you had to walk to the nearest farm and ask them for a postcode.

My phone is so old it will hardly take any modern apps now.