Math Apps

This week I caught a news report on TV that was talking about how Math Apps are now becoming as big a change as calculators were for students. They mentioned one app in particular which is where I will begin my reviews:

Photo Math – (free: Android and iOS) take a picture and it will solve the problem, well that’s how it’s supposed to work but I found that for many equations it will simplify an algebraic equation but not solve for the unknown variable, and it does not work with hand written equations. The news report I watched said that students would be able to cheat or would not need to learn math because of this but the app is not that good. Even if it did you would still need to understand the basic concepts, logic, and type of thinking because it applies to problem solving in a host of other subjects. It has some limitations but could definitely help and it’s free. Nice design, layout, interface.

My Script Calculator – (free: Android and iOS) you hand write the equation and it will solve it for you. Go through the tutorial because it needs you to write things in a certain way, but one you learn the tricks it really works well. I had to turn off the auto solve because it wouldn’t allow me to finish writing before it would try to start solving. I really liked this app and I’m interested in other apps they make.

MathRef – ($1.99: Android and iOS) this is for the student or professional using advanced math. It has all the bells whistles of a graphing calculator with a beautiful interface and a lot of options. All the people that have reviewed it online love it, looks like they continue to add features which is nice.

Dewalt Mobile Pro – (free: Android and iOS) for the person working on home improvement to the construction professional it will take measurements and tell you square feet, volume, area, and has all kinds of tools: codes, reference, calculator, conversions, etc. Great ready reference tool.

Numbler – (.99: iOS) it’s like the game “Words with Friends” (or if you are not familiar with that it’s like Scrabble) with numbers. Your job is to make equations with a higher value than your competitor. It will help you refresh your math skills and give your brain a workout.

Digits – (3.99: iOS) this is more than I usually pay for an app but I might buy it because it meets a need: a calculator that keeps a tape (a record) of all your calculations and then you can tag, label, e-mail, store, or print them. You can also add comments and highlight things on the “tape”. I think it would be great for accountants or just at home people working on their finances like me.

Bonus:

Facebook released another app this week and it’s called Rooms (free: Android and iOS). It is like the chat rooms from the days of AOL and the early Web, but most rooms require an invitation so there is only 5 (at this time) openly available rooms for everyone, hopefully this will be fixed in the future. I think this shows a trend of app makers going back to things that were popular like chat rooms and bulletin boards and updating the display / interactivity to make it meet our current sensibilities. I think you will see a lot more retro based apps in the future. There have been several that have recycled old ideas and put them in a prettier and easier to use package.

Free Toddler Apps

This week my son Gracen turned 2 so I thought that I would focus on "Apps for Toddlers". Recently I picked up a Fischer Price iPad case recently that was on Clearance so I was able to have Gracen test these apps out. I have to say that I was really disappointed in the lack of free apps for toddlers, some articles and lists for free apps were out of date and the apps ended up costing .99 - 3.99 now. So many of the free Toddler Apps on the market have "in-app purchases" which takes them to a confirmation screen that they can't get out of or it will stop game play and tell them that if they want to play more they have to buy the full version. Let me tell you that either of those will cause a screaming crying toddler and in my case a very unhappy wife.

So this list may be shorter than my usual lists but these have all been vetted by an actual two-year old and a Dad who watched him happily play, or in the case of the apps that didn't make the list cause a melt down.

Laugh & Learn learning letters - this Fischer price app is super simple and gets redundant quick but toddlers don't care: bright colors, clean graphics (same as other Fischer Price toys), and cheerful music. It says a letter and they tap the screen to see the next one.

Laugh & Learn shapes & colors - same thing but it teaches colors and shapes, I should mention one of the great things about the Fischer Price apps is that their is the option to lock the child into the activity or story and not be able to go to the home screen to change

                                          settings or do something else they shouldn't.

Laugh & Learn storytime - two story rhymes: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Itsy Bitsy Spider; you can read along or sing and play for each story

Endless 123 - extremely cute with amazing illustrations, it teaches numbers and some basic math but the child may not understand all of it. Beautiful app, the company has another app that costs money called "Endless Alphabet" that has been on some best apps for                   

                  Children lists in different publications.

Balls - there are colored balls that leave a trail and make different musical sounds as they collide with each other or the sides of the screen. The child can change the direction of the balls by tapping on the screen.

Peekabooyou - barn animals - this was my son's favorite (mine too) it is very simple peek a boo with different farm animals but for the face of the farmer you use a picture of your child's face. My son would laugh and giggle every time he saw himself.

For older toddlers and maybe older kids (because there are ads that younger toddlers will accidentally touch sending them to a website):

Chalkboard - it's exactly what it sounds like

Wheels On the Bus - it has a lot of great games, songs, an activities the only problem was it kept having prompts to buy the full version

Puzzingo - lots of great puzzles, similar problem ads that send you to websites or the app store for in-app purchases

If you find a great Toddler App that is free let me know. I found a few more to look at but I can honestly say there were a lot of duds that I looked at that websites said were good.

Is there a topic or type of app that you'd like me to review, I am looking for suggestions.

Communication / Information Apps

This week's theme is Communication / Information apps.

Push - available only for iOS this app allows you to select keywords and phrases from a multitude of news sources. It alerts you when a news story, blog post, website feature, etc. mentions your keywords / phrases. You can delete them if you are not interested.

Drop - available for both Android and iOS the app alerts you to news stories using keywords and phrases you determine. It has less sources than Push but it has a better interface.

Skype Qik - made with mobile in mind, Skype which is now owned by Microsoft has come up with a compact version that focuses on sending video messages to a person or group of people. Instead of the full blown Skype you just send and receive video messages instead of conversing in real time. The app can import your Skype contacts and it has an extremely slick, easy to use, mobile friendly design.

Wut - one of the new popular apps with young adult social media crowd, the app is a group chat / text where users are anonymous, it will only show the last 40 messages and then they are disappear (I believe they actually overwrite the data to try to make it secure)

Sobrr – a social media app where you are anonymous, you post pictures and comment on others pictures. You can set up a chat if you find someone you like. Everything you post or chat deletes within 24 hours. It is popular in Europe and in some big cities. It’s like Instagram and Chat Roulette had a mobile app baby

Snowball – Android only it combines all of the most popular messaging apps into one platform: Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Google Hangouts, Twitter, LINE, WeChat, SMS (texting), and Slack. It has a really nice interface and it comes from a group that spun off from Google.

Talko - this app is meant for those who still like to use their phone to talk. From former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie, this app allows you to talk up to 4 people at once like a conference call but you can also send pictures and video. You can also choose to select one person from the group and speak only to them. The app also notifies you if the person you are speaking to is walking or driving so you can decide if you should wait to talk again later or make your discussion brief. The app's focus is on voice so they are focused on making calls extremely clear.

Google Now - more than just a search app, this app competes directly with Siri and Cortana to take the position of virtual assistant on every device. You can tell it where you work, live, travel and it will tell you how long it will take to travel there with current traffic conditions. It knows your calendar so it can tell you when you need to leave. You can program your favorite sports teams and it will tell you the scores. Weather, reservations, public transit, tickets (movies, events, flights), time, and so much more. You can set place reminders so it will tell you to remember something when you get there. It will tell you where you parked.

Google Hangouts – Easy to use, gives you free person-to-person calls, 12 people can video chat at once, allows for instant messaging

Viber – You can send text messages or make phone calls using your tablet, phone, or computer, free!

TextSecure – encrypted text messages makes sure things stay private, both sender and receiver have to use the app for it to be secure.

Media Creation / Production Apps (plus extras)

Today’s theme is Media Creation / Production (and some extra stuff)

New Adobe apps:

Photoshop Sketch -allows for drawing directly on mobile devices using special new built-in brushes, and can ship content back and forth between Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC

Photoshop Mix - updated to work with the iPhone as well as the iPad, and Lightroom Mobile adds comment capabilities for better collaboration, allows GPS tagging

Illustrator Draw -  a vector drawing experience with full support for Adobe’s Ink and Slide hardware stylus and ruler on the go. This is more of a sketching / canvas tool.

Illustrator Line - a precision drawing app that adds options for sharing shapes while they’re working. This is more of a precision drafting tool.

Premiere Clip - a lot like Apple’s iMovie app in terms of function, the features are more for the creative professional, it has full workflow integration with Adobe Premiere Pro CC so the projects can be begun on mobile and completed with a comprehensive, fully professional editing suite.

Brush - allows you to take a picture of an object or surface and upload it so you can use it as a custom brush design in Photoshop, Illustrator, or Illustrator Sketch

Shape CC - allows you to use convert any high resolution photo into a vector drawing; from fonts to cat pictures can then be used in Illustrator or uploaded to your Creative Cloud

Color CC - allows you to create custom pallets based on colors you choose in photos you have taken then upload the pallet so it can be used in your other Adobe programs

All of these apps are a way to get people to get more use out of their Adobe Creative Cloud accounts and their flagship programs Photoshop and Illustrator.

New Evernote apps (if you aren’t using the note-taking / organizing app it’s amazing):

Scannable - document scanning app. When the app is running, you simply put documents in front of your smartphone’s camera, and the app captures them automatically. You don’t have to press the camera button. The app will also categorize documents by type, it can do this because it knows the difference between items like business cards, receipts, magazines, etc.

Penultimate - tablet sketch app, you can draw with three different points with 8 colors, it knows not to mark the page with your wrist, automatically uploads to Evernote. It has been completely redesigned to be “more simple and elegant". I really like it.

Web client - the web version of Evernote has been simplified and streamlined. Options fade away if you are using them but will come back if you mouse over them. It has been designed to reduce distractions and have a clean look.

Flic - helps you manage photos stored on your phone, swipe to the right to keep or swipe to the left to delete. If you don't access the app for a while it will prompt you. It will also help you decide on keeping or deleting pictures on your iCloud account.

Other media  apps:

Camera51 - helps setup great shots, by analysing background and your photo's subject

Line SnapMovie -very popular in Asia (20 million users), shoot and edit video, share on their social media platform: Line or export to Facebook or Instagram

Treehouse -teaches programming, over 1000 video, quizzes and challenges

 A Hodgepodge of apps:

Digiduck's big decision - for kids 3-7 and their parents, teaching them how to stay safe online and when using mobile devices

My Singing Monsters - a very cute game where you collect monsters on different islands who have different musical abilities and styles. It's like creating a monster orchestra or choir. The game reminds me of Farmville and other games where you collect, build, and develop; there are seasonal characters / decorations and activities that require time. Ashley at South Holiday asks that you connect to her if you download the app.

NHL - follow your favorite teams, get detailed player information, game highlights and update clips are free, but Game Cast is a subscription service; slick and considered a vast improvement from the previous app the NHL had. GO BOLTS!

AtMyLibrary – this app is kinda clunky but it has been provided by the State of Florida library through their Florida Electronic Library. It has 52 Gale databases everything from Academic One File to the War & Terrorism Collection. It has research sources for business, cooking, health, students… so many things. They can e-mail the articles to themselves for printing or later reading. This is definitely a resource you should tell your patrons about because there is nothing else that provides this number of citable professional research resources and it’s FREE to the patron.

Great Miscellaneous Apps

Hike – this may be one of those apps you hear get bought up for a ton of money, it has more privacy settings, works on low-end smart phones, instead of using data it sends using SMS messaging, 20 million users, developed by a 15 year old in India

Humin - an app that remembers all the tiny details about how and where you met someone. All you need is someone's number, and Humin will do the rest. You'll then be able to search through your contact using phrases like "met last month" or "lives in St. Petersburg".

Paper by 53 - iPad only and it is just as beautiful as it is useful. The app lets you draw out ideas and you can store them away in various virtual notebooks. It knows not to include your hand when you rest it on the screen. It comes packed with a variety of brushes and pens for your ideas, and there's even an official Pencil stylus that responds to the pressure of your input (super expensive at $59 but is really cool). Free, but you'll have to pay extra for more brushes and tool s.

Vesper  - a note-taking app that makes organizing your thoughts a breeze. Tag each entry so you can search for a specific thought by keyword. Notes are synced to your free online Vesper account. Reorganizing your notes is simple just a hold-and-drag motion, and if you want to prevent a cluttered collection, a simple swipe archives your entry, storing it until you search for it. Price: $2.99

Timeful - an intelligent calendar app mixed with a to-do list. The app's algorithm learns how you get stuff done and smartly suggests ways to build new habits and get things taken care of in a timely fashion.

Sunrise - another slick calendar app that pulls directly from LinkedIn so you can see the picture and profile of who you're meeting with. It supports multiple Google Calendars in addition to iCloud, Facebook, and Exchange. Integrates with Google Maps and makes adding events easy.

OneDrive  cloud storage for all of your documents, photos, and videos. Usually  you get 15 GB of free storage when you sign up, but right now if you enable photo backup on your mobile device they are giving 30 GB of data. Also talking about photo storage did you know that Flickr will give you a TERABYTE of free photo storage(a good idea if you max out your One drive).

Note Plus - for fans of old-fashioned, pencil-on-paper notes. The app's intuitive vector-based system turns your handwritten notes into text, and you can select multiple drawings and notes together by simply drawing a circle around them.. There's a built-in web browser that you can swipe right to access, which makes grabbing images and details a cinch.

Secret - lets you and your friends speak freely with each other and the world, but you'll never know whose secret you're reading. People post and comment anonymously, and you can now easily ask "Yes or No" questions that people can respond to. It gives you access to Flickr's photo library for background images making it visually more appealing. Unfortunately recent articles have pointed out that it is possible to find out a person’s identity and secret is not 100% fool-proof so don’t go confessing to any murders or anything.

Bandsintown – an app that scans your iTunes, Spotify, Rdio, or Pandora account to figure out your favorite bands and artists, and then informs you when they are playing nearby. You can browse upcoming tour dates, set up notifications from your favorite artists, and even buy tickets using the app.

Hearthstone -  a card-battling game from "World of Warcraft" creators Blizzard and it takes place in the Warcraft universe. It's easy for beginners to learn and start to build up their deck, but really get fun when you compete against other players online.

TwoDots - a simple but addictive puzzle game that is the sequel to the wildly popular original Dots game. The same connect-the-dots strategy returns, but there's 137 new levels and some interesting new abilities when you connect two dots together

Timber - an incredibly simple 8 bit games that will drive you nuts. The faster you chop the longer you stay but you have to avoid the falling branches.

Angry Birds Stella – the newest version of Rovio’s popular lineup of Angry bird games takes place in a tropical rainforest. There are a lot of different birds with different skills, and it will really give your problem solving skills a real workout. Beautiful graphics, fun levels, and cute characters make this game appeal to kids and adults.

Bonus: A recent article stated that the following games showed off iOS 8’s new features and Apple’s great mobile displays: Asphalt 8, Beach Buggy Racing, Defenders, Epic Zen Garden, Modern Combat 5, Mr. Crab, and Plunder Pirates.