Apps That Help You Give Back

With Thanksgiving coming up soon I thought that apps allow you to give back, help others, or make the planet a nicer place would be an appropriate topic.

Donate A Photo - (Free, iOS only) for every picture you share, it only allows one per day, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to Save the Children a non-profit that will use the funds to buy resuscitation devices for infants. Six pictures equal one device. Your pictures will
not be used for commercial purposes.

HTC Power to Give - (Free, Android only) this app uses your phone’s spare computing power to create a huge grid that provides computing power to a scientific project of your choice: researching cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, climate change, or searching
for extra-terrestrial life.

Charity Miles - (Free, iOS and Android) I have personally used this app for over a year. For every mile you walk or run 25 cents is donated and for every mile you cycle 10 cents is donated. Each time you start you can choose a different charity and their is a really great
lists of charities. If you are already going out for a run, walk, or bike ride, this is a no brainer.

GoodGuide - (Free, iOS and Android) scan barcodes of products to quickly access GoodGuide’s science-based health, environment and social ratings for over 170,000 products. Know more about what you buy and it's impact.

iRecycle - (Free, Android only) find where to recycle almost everything quickly and easily

Seafood Watch - (Free, iOS and Android)  app helps make informed choices about seafood purchases. The database lists fish that are caught or farmed in environmentally responsible ways and if those are not available, the app suggests good alternatives.

True Food - (Free, iOS and Android) for those that are concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) this app lists food items that have GMOs, ones that don't, information about GMOs, supermarket chains, labeling, and much more.

One Today - (Free, iOS and Android) created and run by Google it shows a different charity each day and what a small donation can help do, it will also share the charities your friends have donated to (if they wish)

Budge - (Free, iOS only) ever make a silly bet with a friend like who can get to a restaurant first or picking the winner of a football game or something else; this app allows you to setup a challenge where the loser has to donate an amount you agree upon to charity.

Volunteer Match - (Free, iOS only) with a database of over 97,000 organizations the app helps you find the volunteer opportunity that is right for you

Tree Planet 2 - (Free, iOS and Android) a very cute and stylish game where you grow trees, for every tree you grow a tree is donated, the Tree Planet Organization has already donated over 300,000 trees

PaperKarma - (Free, iOS and Android) allows you to scan the address label on pieces of junk mail and quickly unsubscribe saving millions of pounds of paper a year

Free2Work - (Free, iOS and Andoid) scan the barcode of a product you are considering buying and it will give a grade to the item allowing you to know whether child or forced labor was apart of the manufacturing process and the labor conditions associated.

Bonus Craft / DIY / Makerspace App:

Instructibles - (Free, iOS and Android) step by step instructions, pictures, and sometimes videos to make all kinds of stuff; many times out of left over stuff, garbage, recyclables, etc. There are some really cool projects that would make for an awesome teen or makerspace program.

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.

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.

Homework Apps

After a recent webinar by Kira Smith KiraDemo@Kdace.com I learned about some of the Best Homework Apps. I looked at each of these apps tried them out and selected the ones that I thought were the best from her webinar and my experience.

Study Skills

iTooch (free; additional features $4.99) – large exercise database, meets common core standards, fast child-friendly interface, calculator and blackboard features, grade-specific content, syncs when web connection is available, badges, 3-5^th grade Elementary School app and 6-8^th grade Middle School app.

Quizlet (free; additional features $4.99) – create your own flashcards, 18 different languages, learn mode tracks correct and incorrect responses to emphasize areas you need help, spelling tests, math quizzes, typing program, voice recording for notes, the interface and content is definitely more middle school appropriate.

SAT Up and ACT Up (free; $4.99-9.99 premium features) – diagnostic questions help determine what you need help with and what you’re strong on, supports 12 languages, subject specific workouts, customized quizzes, games that help build skills, gives users a lot of feedback.

SimpleMind (free; PRO $4.99) – helps organize thoughts; create mind maps, flow charts, bracket charts, diagrams; add notes; works and syncs with desktop / other devices, the PRO version allows collaboration, sync to Dropbox, e-mail, icons, and much more.

MindNode ($9.99-19.99) – similar to SimpleMInd it has a slicker display / interface, more uploading options and display options, some user reviews express frustration with desktop version.

Assignment Trackers

myHomework (free; $4.99 additional features) – track assignments, schedule, projects, tests, and notifications; join io teacher classes, sync between devices, reminders, premium allows for file attachments, upload assignments, teachers can push out no ads, rewards

iStudiez (Lite Free, PRO $2.99) – calendar, collaboration, upload to iCloud, great layout, easy to use, track projects, assignments, and grades;

iHomework ($1.99) – extremely similar to iStudez with better upload / sync capabilities, integrates with Questia, has a reminder function, you can sort assignments different ways.

inClass (free) – video, audio, photo notes; schedules, assignments, repeating assignments, collaborate, share on Facebook.

Note Taking

EverNote (free, $5 month premium features) – the king of note taking apps it allows you use photos, video, audio; integrate different notes into portfolios; makes text in photos searchable; share via: Facebook and LinkedIn; the premium fee gives you PIN lock, offline mode, integrate with companion apps;

GoodNotes 4 ($5.99) – you can draw / sketch notes; use a stylus, finger, or keyboard; syncs automatically to cloud services; you can choose: graph, ruled, or plain paper (background); write on or highlight PDFs; iPad only

Learning to Read

Learn with Homer (free) – listening and drawing activities, Pre-K – Elementary, reading comprehension questions, customizable, great feedback, 30 free lessons, and it is so cute

Endless Alphabet ($6.99) – letter sounds, vocabulary, phonics, entertaining monster characters, very slick design, downside is large file size and doesn’t progressively get harder

Spelling & Vocabulary

Spelling City (free, $29.99 year) – lots of words by grade, schools use it, extremely popular, the subscription saves your progress, keeps a record, syncs your account across devices

The Opposites (.99) – brother and sister characters are opposites, cute engaging graphics, fun game, kid-friendly design

Winning Words (free) – memory match style game, four different game boards, changeable difficulty, up to 4 players, for 4 years and older, create compound words.

Geography

Tiny Countries (3.99) – children capture evil characters by answering geography questions that help children learn about 75 countries their capitals and major cities; 15 missions allow children to review information about countries before they begin.

BrainPOP (free, $4.99-6.99 a month) – third grade and up videos with quizzes about 7 subject areas; free gives you one free video and quiz a day; Explorer $4.99 give 4 additional videos with quizzes a day, and $6.99 gives unlimited access; the content is highly acclaimed by multiple parent and educator groups; the website gives you a lot of free games and videos.

News-O-Matic (free 10 issues then .99 weekly or $1.99 monthly or $19.99 yearly) – articles about sports, animals, news, etc. that have been written by written by professional children’s writers and reviewed by a child psychologist before publication to ensure emotionally safe content; quizzes, puzzles, and games accompany each issue.

Stack the States (.99) - learn state capitals, shapes, geographic locations, flags and more; tracks progress with your own map of the United States filled in with the states you have learned.

Science

Kid Weather ($1.99) – math and science skills, plot weather information, graph data, track multiple locations

Human Body ($2.99) – nervous, muscle, skeletal, system; uses microphone, camera, and light to demonstrate; beautiful artwork, urogenital system is an extra in-app purchase that can be made;

Plants ($2.99) – three biomes but they are adding more; see how different animals and insects interact with their environment; have the seasons change or introduce a fire to see how that affects things.

NASA (free) videos, photos, internet radio, mission details, history of the space program, this app is on my list of best apps for adults also – it’s that good.

Solve the Outbreak (free) – middle school and older audience this app has been created by the CDC to teach about how epidemics spread and how public health responds to those crises; lots of STEM education in a game format.

Math

Pet Bingo ($1.99) – for ages 4-10, it helps learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions; not timed, supports common core, tracks progress, and gives you a report card; you get pets for completing different levels and you feed them by answering questions correctly.

Sushi Monster (free) – for ages 9-11, you put in the correct number that fits each equation; a correct answer feeds the monster sushi; it is timed and has distractions; 12 levels of increasing difficulty with 14 questions each level.

Dragon Box Algebra ($5.99) - innovative educational app that through gameplay teaches kids concepts relating to solving algebraic equations. The app includes links to the developer's website as well as the app store, but does not require a user account or other online access

Language

Duolingo (free) - makes learning languages a games; has five languages

MemRise (free) – Learn languages, geography, history, science, and pop culture through crowd-sourced courses

English Monstruo (free) – through extensive analysis Cambridge has developed an app that teaches English to native Spanish speakers and emphasizes the phrases, grammar, and vocabulary that they most often encounter problems

Mango Language (free but need library card number) – teaches in a way very similar to Rosetta Stone, it has 26 languages and teaches you a lot about the language you want to learn. The library pays for it and it has ESL courses.

Resources

There are a lot great sources to find reviews of apps for children and education.

These are some of the best: (magazines) Horn Book, Kirkus, PC Magazine, School Library Journal

(websites) Common Sense Media, Edumic, AASL, Moms with Apps, Little eLit