In between lifting 40-pound scoops of heavy white snow, I stepped back to contemplate Mother Nature’s amazing show of force with the blizzard of 2026. Then I pulled out my iPhone 17 Pro Max to gauge whether this really was the storm of the century.
Tucked inside your best iPhone, like the remnants of grass under the mountain of snow on my front lawn, is the Measure app. Introduced back in 2018 as part of iOS 12, it’s an incredibly handy digital measuring system that uses augmented reality and the iPhone Pro’s LiDAR sensor to measure all kinds of dimensions.
How to use Measure
It’s easy to use Measure, which also includes a level.
I opened the app and then pointed the camera array at the ground and picked a spot where we had neatly shoveled down from the top of the snow pile to my sidewalk
Measure automatically detects the ground, and once it’s done, you can tap to set a starting point for your measurement. Then I slowly pull the phone up as I watch the measurement appear on the screen, unrolling almost like a fabric tape measure. The current total appears to be midway along the line.
When I reached the top of a pile, I taped again to capture the measurement. The first one said 19 inches. I then chose a slightly higher plateau and measured out 22 inches.
I could find higher drifts, but I was looking for what represented the untouched (or unblown) totals. I think about 20 inches is where we are.
If you were in the path of this storm and want to know how much snow you have, don’t go hunting for a ruler or yardstick. Just take out your iPhone, open Measure, and start collecting and sharing your totals.
I’d like to share more tips, but I have to dig out…
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