Welcome to the 81st issue of Mobile Apps News!
Hope you are healthy and safe! And I hope you can get the vaccine soon. (I’ve had both doses of Pfizer, thanks to educators in Arizona being high on the list).
I hope you’ll enjoy this newsletter and spread the word to your friends and colleagues.
This issue includes news of:
apps that have been in the news these past few months (Parler, Gab, Robinhood, Tik Tok, Clubhouse, Facebook)
my tutorial video: Why Edit Wikipedia? for the Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon
anti-racism projects using mobile apps or VR
pandemic news involving mobile apps
tips, accessibility, voice-computing, thought-provoking articles, and articles about the future
️ ❤️ Enjoy! If you like this issue, please “heart” it - and help support this newsletter, thanks!
📲 Featured apps and app lists
Using Craft Notes for Study and Preserving Long-Term Knowledge – The Sweet Setup
A wiki-like note-taking app and word processor that many people love.
Capturing Ideas on the Apple Watch with Drafts – The Sweet Setup
Dictate notes on your wrist that sync with your iPhone.
Spice up your daily pandemic walk with these apps - The Verge
Apps for finding a new route, mindfulness, listening to audio, and more.
📰 Apps in the News
Certain apps have been in the news these past few months.
Clubhouse (iOS)
What Is Clubhouse App, How To Get An Invite, & More Explained - Screenrant
Clubhouse goes global - Rest of World
How to Use Clubhouse with Monique Howard, Tyler Crowley, and Adriana Freitas – Voicebot Podcast Ep 198
Parler (learn more)
Parler's Reboot Is Courtesy of 'Big Checks' From GOP Mega-Donor Rebekah Mercer - Gizmodo
Parler wanted back into the App Store. Apple said no - Mashable
Apple reportedly denies Parler’s App Store appeal, citing derogatory terms and ‘Nazi symbols’ - The Verge
Every Deleted Parler Post, Many With Users’ Location Data, Has Been Archived - Gizmodo
Gab (learn more)
Parler-like site Gab was hacked, 70 GB of data is now in the hands of an activist group - TechSpot
Learn more about Distributed Denial of Secrets, an activist group. Listen to an interesting podcast about this group (Off the Hook, March 3, 2021 episode, start at about 20 minutes into the episode): http://tun.in/tk8XiOGab, a haven for pro-Trump conspiracy theories, has been hacked again - ArsTechnica
What is TikTok and why are content creators flocking to the platform? - Digital Marketing Lab
The Black history you didn’t learn in school is being taught on TikTok - Los Angeles Times
How to Use TikTok's New Anti-Bullying Tools - Lifehacker
The Bizarre Reaction To Facebook’s Decision To Get Out Of The News Business In Australia - TechDirt
Facebook’s Laughable Campaign Against Apple Is Really Against Users and Small Businesses - Electronic Frontier Foundation
Bitcoin, GameStop, and the Price of Taking on Wall Street - Decrypt
The Whole Messy, Ridiculous GameStop Saga in One Sentence - The Atlantic
What Happened with Gamestop? - Alexis Goldstein on Markets Weekly
The Trouble With GameStop Is That the House Still Wins - Alexis Goldstein, New York Times Opinion
🆕 App Updates
Signal adds mainstream chat features to lure wider audience - The Verge
Apple tests new way to unlock an iPhone without removing a face mask - CNN
How to check how much free Google storage you have left - The Verge
6 new Android features Google just announced, and how you’ll use them - CNet
Genius Scan Update Brings Next-Generation Scanning Technology - AppAdvice
👩🏻🏫 My Offerings
Tutorial for the Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon: Mutual Aid Workshop
For the Women’s Hackathon
I collaborated with a team of librarians and others to create this video. The voiceover and animation is by me, the script by others. Feel free to re-use! Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies [book] - Nicole Hennig
"A bounty of resources and strategies for advancing user-centered innovation"— Joyce Kasman Valenza, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Communication & Information
🤪 Just for Fun
A cappella group covers iPhone tones after nailing Windows sound effects - The Verge (FUN!)
Car Concerts Offer Choirs A Way To Rehearse And Perform - NPR
The Postal Worker, a Sea Shanty and the Public Domain - Creative Commons
RT @LizHcks: Fun fact: the covid crisis has produced over 1200 new words in German over the past year. Personal favourites are coronamüde (tired of covid) & Impfneid (envy of those who have been vaccinated).
☑︎ Tips
Getting started with Signal and other encrypted messaging apps
20 Android Tips and Tricks for Getting the Most From Your Phone
How to use your GoPro as a webcam, since Zoom calls are here to stay
Mirroring or casting your Android phone’s screen on your TV is easy peasy. Here’s how
Mirror your iPhone, iPad or Mac screen to a TV the easy way with Apple AirPlay
👩🏻🦽Accessibility
Innovation of the Day | Wireless braille keyboard for blind smartphone users - TrendWatching
🔈Voice Computing
New Voice Assistant-Enabled Mask and Earbuds Combo Promises Clear Audio - Voicebot.ai
Smarticles - founded by Monique Howard
“We support the social emotional and communication needs of kids in K – 5 by creating fun and engaging Voice apps on Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.”
UW scientists turn Amazon’s Alexa into heart monitoring device using sound waves - GeekWire
“Researchers at the University of Washington have figured out a way to use machine-learning algorithms to turn smart speakers into sensitive medical devices that can detect irregular heartbeats.”
🤔 Thought-Provoking
Librarian-turned-journalist rises; she helped us be this giant scoop factory - Poynter
The Librarian War Against QAnon - The Atlantic (by Barbara Fister)
“As ‘Do the research’ becomes a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, classical information literacy is not enough.”
Tackling misinformation: five ways society is countering conspiracy theories - Positive News
Antiracist & Racial Equality Reading List - Internet Archive
Apple Announces Major Expansion of Its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative - MacStories
Virtual reality is offering timely narratives on race, diversity and culture by centering the perspectives of people of color - Business Insider
Anti-Racism Project Uses Virtual Reality to Let People ‘Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes’ - University of Arizona News
Black Lives Matter's Effect on Police Lethal Use-of-Force - SSRN
RT @owasow: New study finds “places with Black Lives Matter protests experience a 15% to 20% decrease in police homicides over the ensuing five years.” Further, the effect “is most prominent when protests are large or frequent.”
Where the internet was delivered by a donkey - Rest of World
“Internet in a box,” in Kyrgyzstan.
Technology and solidarity won’t save Myanmar’s young protesters - Rest of World
Interesting technology details, worth reading.
Introducing Working From Anywhere - Spotify HR Blog
Spotify is doing the right thing as an employer. Paying according to role, not location.
It’s never too late: elderly high-achievers - The Guardian
Profiles of an author, triathlete, politician, lawyer, comedian … all who begin these careers late in life, most over 90 years old.
MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding - Tech Crunch via Yahoo
“Based on its website, MobileCoin's ambition appears to be focused around privacy-protecting payments made through "near instantaneous transactions" over one's phone…”
Good points about equitable recovery from Ashley Harrington.
🦠 Pandemic
UArizona Researchers Develop Smartphone-Based COVID-19 Test - University of Arizona News
UNC professor challenged top health officials about COVID-19 guidance. She was right. - The News & Observer (Zeynep Tufekci: associate professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science)
Mount Sinai study finds Apple Watch can predict COVID-19 diagnosis up to a week before testing – TechCrunch
Innovation of the Day | An app does the shouting, for a COVID-proof prosperity toss - Trendwatching
Use of Physiological Data From a Wearable Device to Identify SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Symptoms and Predict COVID-19 Diagnosis: Observational Study - JMIR Publications (preprint)