Death of an App

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have been busy in a new job that has a lot going on.

Anyways, two of the apps that I reviewed and recommended have sent e-mails that they are closing up shop and will no longer provide service as of August.

These apps are Pact app and Heirloom.

I was a Pact app user for multiple years and I'm sad to see it go but I could see the writing on the wall as the weekly reward for completing healthy activities went below $2 a week to as low as $1.20 (I could be wrong but that's what I remember).

This isn't the first time that I have had a favorite app go away but I feel like app companies have done a much better job of communicating ahead of time to its users. They never really explain the "why" but I guess we can deduce that it is a lack of making money. I understand why they can't tell users the whole story but I'm sure some us would be interested.

In the past I have had apps that were bought up by other companies such as Sunrise Calendar by Microsoft. They use the technology in another one of the company's apps, in this case Outlook.

Losing an app that you really enjoy is kind of like having an acquaintance or coworker pass away. It's not the end of the world, just sucks.

I'm a bit worried about Evernote, they've been sending a lot more e-mails about their Premium features and they changed their paid features pricing about 9 months (that's a guess) ago.

Anyways, if you have an app that you lost. Tell me about it in the comments. If you have an idea about something to write about let me know.

Apps in the News

Mental Health: In a recent study the use of specially created apps helped reduce anxiety and depression in a significant number of study participants. More studies are necessary to verify the results but it was so promising that some participants claimed to have little to no more symptoms of anxiety or depression. To learn more read: http://www.livescience.com/57394-mental-health-treatment-smartphone-apps.html

Google Voice has received its first major updates in five years. The app (available on iOS and Android) allows users to use a single phone number across multiple devices and with the current update users can send group texts, photos, and receive voicemail transcriptions. To learn more read: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-voice-update-adds-new-design-group-messaging-support-and-more/

Google Plus is not dead. The social media platform that receives little attention received three recent updates that upgrade  handling comments, seeing more in your feed that you might be interested in, and bringing back events to the community. Learn more here: http://www.androidcentral.com/google-update-adds-new-comment-moderation-brings-back-events

Evernote released an interface update to their app for iOS. The update is intended to allow users to access options much quicker and easily and integrate photos, audio, and text in a single note with less steps. To watch a video which illustrates the changes and read more check out: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2017/01/evernote-8-ios-major-overhaul/

Blynk is a new app that makes it easy for makers using Arduino or Raspberry Pi computers to control a process through their smartphone. Before this app users would have to create an app from scratch but now it is possible to create something in 50 seconds. The article has a step-by-step video showing how it works: https://lifehacker.com/blynk-makes-creating-mobile-apps-to-power-arduino-or-ra-1791446978

Meitu is a new viral app that allows users to use filters to create cute anime looking images. It reminds me of some Snap Chat filters, BUT it asks for a lot of permission on your device like your unique identifier, contacts, location, carrier information, SIM card information. Wi-Fi network information, and more. You might say, "I'll use it once and then delete it.". The problem is once a user says yes to the permissions they have handed over a lot of information about them selves that they don't take back after they delete. To hear what experts have to say, read: https://lifehacker.com/blynk-makes-creating-mobile-apps-to-power-arduino-or-ra-1791446978

Merlin Bird Photo ID, is a free app available for both iOS and Android created by researchers from Caltech and Cornell University. It needs a clear, quality photo, to match the picture against a database of 650 North American bird species. The app takes advantage of a database of over one million photos then leverages machine learning and visual classification data. Read all about it: http://www.seeker.com/snap-a-bird-photo-and-this-app-tells-you-the-species-2178518321.html

In iOS 10.3 (the next version of Apple's operating system) , apps will be limited to asking users to rate the app three times in a year. If you use apps as often as I do this is a relief because certain apps ask almost every time you use them. Another improvement is that users will not have to leave the app and go to the iTunes / App Store to review an app. http://www.recode.net/2017/1/24/14375558/apple-limit-app-rating-reminders

Netflix users on Android can now download certain titles to their SD card instead of internal storage. This can be helpful for users that want to download with a phone and watch on a tablet or if they have a small amount of internal storage with a large SD card attached. Get the details: http://www.pcmag.com/news/351283/netflix-adds-sd-card-download-support-to-android-app

Note / Productivity Apps

Disclaimer: I chose these apps / software families because they are able to be used on pretty much every device. I did not review or compare Apple's "Notes" due to the fact that it cannot be used on Android and has a sub par experience on Windows computers and mobile devices.

Evernote 

https://www.evernote.com 

I've used Evernote for 5 years. They have a family of apps that integrate so users can take notes, save pictures or audio, copy information from the Web (using a browser extension), draw or hand write notes (using the Penultimate app), and scan and then save documents (using the Scannable app). They also had a food and recipe app that they discontinued. This software family for a while was a favorite of tech users especially heavy users of "Productivity software". Recently they made changes limiting uploads to 60 megabytes per month, which is pretty low as storage goes, and they recently raised prices on premium plans. The paid versions of Evernote now cost $34.99, $69.99 and $120 per year, based on the amount of storage a user requires. Downloading notes is not difficult but the formats you have to choose from are not friendly (proprietary EXM or HTML) it would be better to copy and paste but that is time consuming. There are some nice word processing features on the web / desktop version that are not available in the app. Users can share their notes, collaborate (even chat with people in real time), make tags, create separate notebooks, insert items from Google Drive, save audio or photos, make audio notes, attach files, and create shortcuts. Evernote also integrates with IFTTT (If This Then That) and has helpful widgets for iOS messaging, iPhone, and Apple Watch.  I chose these apps / software families because they are able to be used on pretty much every device. I did not review or compare Apple's "Notes" due to the fact that it cannot be used on Android and has a subpar experience on Windows computers and mobile devices.

Google Keep 

https://keep.google.com 

Google Keep allows users to take and save pictures and record audio notes. What you save counts towards each Google account's allotment of data which is 17GB (this is for all of your Google Services, to learn more about items that count and those that don't read this: ) There is no monthly restrictions on file sizes. Users can add collaborators, share notes, change the color of a note which also changes the background color, make a copy, create reminders, pin a note so that it remains at the top of the list, create check boxes, and create labels. There is an archive feature for notes you are not using but want to store long-term storage. Some of the downsides I have read is that there is no undo button for mistakes, no revision control, and there is no easy way to download notes. I had trouble finding my notes in Google Drive, it should be easier in my opinion. There is not a way to do handwritten notes in Google Keep. Like Evernote there is a browser extension. 

OneNote 

https://onedrive.live.com 

Microsoft has their own productivity app that comes built into Windows 10. It is extremely handy when using a Surface product because when you click the stylus the OneNote app opens up. OneNote is available on any device with apps or a web browser. OneNote allows users 5GB of OneDrive storage (previously 30GB, there are some grandfathered users) but if you are an Office 365 user it is unlimited. Similar to other productivity apps it allows users to share, collaborate, make handwritten notes, save audio or photos, add file attachments, and has a browser extension to save web information. The online interface is very similar to other Microsoft Office products like Word. OneNote features that are not present in the other productivity offerings are: version control, changes by author, adding in tables, Office integration, and inserting symbols. I personally would have liked if OneNote allowed handwriting / document markup with your finger on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android like they do on Windows mobile devices.  

  

Ratings:  

  

Features: OneNote  

  

User Interface: Evernote  

  

Storage: Google Keep  

  

There are things to like about each of the productivity products. I guess I would suggest each user use the one that offers what they value most: features, interface, or storage. I'd also say that if a someone uses an Android they would probably prefer Google Keep, if Windows Mobile then OneNote, and if Apple then Evernote The pictures that accompany each review give you a glimpse at the 3D Touch features, user interface and workflow, and browser extensions for each, to help make your decision.

Scanning Apps

There are times when you want to save receipts, business cards, an article from a magazine, or someone wants a copy of a document sent to them as a PDF (portable document file format). Scanning apps can help you accomplish all of this and more. Allowing you to share documents or save them on your device or put them in cloud storage. Below are the four best:

Finescanner (Free) iOS and Android. - This app is easy to use and automatically finds the edges. You can save or send the image (JPG)  or document (PDF). The OCR (optical character recognition) allows you to search scanned items in 193 languages. It has a book mode that makes copying two pages at once easier.There are subscription premium features available for purchase (as seen in one of the pictures). http://www.finescanner.com/

Genius Scan (Free) iOS and Android. - I really like the simplicity and ease of use for this app. It automatically found the document and took the picture. Re-cropping and making corrections are very easy. It has multiple print options. Users can upload the item to cloud storage, a FTP server, other apps like Expensify, or e-mail it. Users can save or send as an image (JPG) or document (PDF). If you use their signing or faxing app you can easily transfer your item to either. There are premium add on features that you can purchase (shown in one of the pictures below. http://www.thegrizzlylabs.com/genius-scan/

Scannable by Evernote (Free) iOS only. - If you are a fan of the productivity app Evernote this may be the scanning app for you. The design of the beautiful and easy to use. I think this app works well, especially the auto capture and auto crop. It allows you to send multiple ways as an image (JPG) or document (PDF) or as a Scannable document in your Evernote account. They also have a scanning machine that you can use to automate the scanning of                                                               multiple items. https://evernote.com/products/scannable/

CamScanner Free (Free) iOS and Android - This is one of the first and one of the best scanning apps. I have longest and it was one of the first apps I ever downloaded. Users can easily scan, save, and share items as documents (PDF) or image (JPG). Use the OCR (optical character recognition) or tags to easily find items you've saved. There are premium features that you can subscribe to use and there is a premium version of the app for .99, but I have had the app for over three years and never needed those features. https://www.camscanner.com/

Three Apps to Help You Get Organized

Subject: Three Apps to Help You get Organized

Organizing Photos with Google Photos
You know all those photos you have taking up room on your phone. Do you really need to hang on to the picture of the dog in his Halloween costume from last year? I know he looks super cute but you don’t need to carry it around with you. Download Google Photo it has unlimited storage as long as your choose “high quality” instead of “high definition”. It allows you to organize your photos in a bunch of different ways, it can also create videos from your pictures called “stories” and its “assistant” can create stylized versions of your photos. Since it is Google you can access your photos on virtually any device.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos-store-search/id962194608?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&hl=en

Organizing Your Thoughts with Evernote
Do you have documents that you start typing on your work computer, but you would like to keep working on using your tablet, phone, or personal laptop? Evernote is a great multiplatform app / website that will allow you to type a document, add pictures or sound, doodle or draw diagrams, and so much more. It is available online and as an app on pretty much every device. It also has companion apps and web browser plugins to help you add additional functionality.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&hl=en


Organizing Your Files with Google Drive
Do you work on files with a group of people? Would you like to share a form or file with others but don’t want them to edit or copy it? Would you like a way to easily store e-mail attachments? You can do all of this and much more with Google Drive which is available online and as an app on almost every device. Users can create permissions on files allowing everything from view only to full access. Collaborative files and folders will show you version control which means when others made changes and what those changes were. Google has integrated Google Drive with Gmail and other products so you can easily attach, access, share between apps / programs almost seamlessly.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive-free-online-storage/id507874739?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs&hl=en