Mobile Apps News from Nicole Hennig
Mobile Apps News
June 19, 2019
Hi everyone,
Welcome to the 69th issue of Mobile Apps News! I hope you'll enjoy this newsletter and spread the word to your friends and colleagues. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to hear about.
This issue includes news of:
Apple's new iPadOS coming soon
Gender-fluid emoji from Google
Google Chrome will restrict ad-blocking
several tips, including tips for drawing with the Apple Pencil
accessibility, voice-computing, thought-provoking articles, interesting stats, and articles about the future
Enjoy!
App News
Featured apps
Statue of Liberty (iOS, free)
by Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island
“Released to celebrate the opening of the new Statue of Liberty Museum at the base of the landmark in New York, the app features a number of different unique AR experiences.”
Rivet: Better Reading Practice by Area 120 (iOS and Android)
“From Area 120, Google’s workshop from experimental products, the app is designed for kids who are still learning how to read. There are eight different reading levels in the app and a number of features to help keep kids engaged.”
AirSynth (iOS, for iPhone X)
AirSynth enables anyone to make cool musical sounds with their hands. Using the TrueDepth camera in any iPhone X series handset, the app allows you to synthesize music by holding your hands in the air. Hands can control the audio pitch and volume of a range of special voices. There is also a unique theremin-style option.
App lists
10 best disabled apps and accessibility apps for Android
Useful list of apps that help people with various disabilities. Many of these are also available for iOS.
The Best Travel Apps to Help Take the Stress Out of Trip Planning
A variety of useful apps for guides, maps, hotels, flights, packing lists, and more.
App updates
iPadOS Isn’t Just a Name. It’s a New Direction for Apple
Apple recently announced that the iPad will get its own operating system. It will likely be available in September. Learn more here: iPadOS release date, news and features.
MacOS Catalina Says Goodbye to iTunes
“Along with previewing the expensive new Mac Pro arriving this fall, Apple also unveiled macOS 10.15, Catalina. With the new software, Apple is saying goodbye to iTunes. In its place, there are three new apps – Music, Podcasts, and TV.”
What Happens to Your Playlists Now That Apple Is Killing iTunes
“According to a company spokesperson, when you update to MacOS Catalina, your iTunes songs and playlists will automatically transfer to Apple Music, your podcasts to Apple Podcasts, and your videos to Apple TV.”
WatchOS is Here with Its Own App Store and More
“You’ll be able to download and purchase apps directly from a watch. Apple will also allow independent apps that don’t require an iPhone to run.” Available this fall.
Google releases 53 gender fluid emoji
“… they have been designed to live between the existing male and female emoji and recognize gender as a spectrum. Given that Google collaborates with many of its rivals on emoji, it’s likely that Apple and others will release their takes on genderless emoji later this year.”
1Password for Mac gains updated mini interface with improvements to drag and drop, search, and complex passwords
“The main focus is the 1Password mini with solid improvements to drag and drop support, complex passwords, and search.”
Google to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users
Only paid, enterprise users of Chrome will be able to use ad-blockers. Many people are switching to Firefox because of this, see “Google Just Gave 2 Billion Chrome Users A Reason To Switch To Firefox.'
Just for Fun
Free to use and re-use: Cats
The Library of Congress has released a curated set of free-to-use cat images. 😺
Idagio—The Spotify For Classical Music—Has Changed My Life
A GIF Within a GIF of Another GIF: The trippy, mind-bending rise of GIFs on television.
How to Google all the streaming services that have a movie or TV series
My Offerings
Online Privacy & Security - self-study course
On sale for $19.99 with this link: https://www.udemy.com/privacy-security-action-plan/?couponCode=SUMMER-SPECIAL
Usually ($89.99)
Discount expires July 20.
A previous student said:
“This is the best e-course I have ever taken. The content was current, the assignments were relevant, the instructor was accessible.”
Linda Azen Martin
Instruction Librarian, Santiago Canyon College, Seal Beach, CA
After you participate in this course, you will…
* know how to use technologies that protect your privacy and security.
* have a security action plan for your own data.
* be inspired to offer a workshop on this topic for your library users.
* easily continue your learning with the course resource guide.
Preview 2 free course lectures on the course page to get an idea of what you'll learn: Biometrics (under Authentication) and Your Location History (under Privacy).
Get my book: Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
Learn the best methods for keeping up — no matter what new technology is trending.
There are several books written for librarians about specific new technologies, but it’s hard to find a comprehensive resource for the best methods for keeping up, along with integrating new technologies into library services. That’s why I wrote this book.
“The book serves as an invaluable guide not only to resources and methods for staying current and performing the duties, but also as a tool to place the role of Emerging Technologies Librarian into the broader context of librarianship."
—Michael C. McGuire, Colby College. Read the full review.
Best Podcasts for Diverse Audiences (ebook)
If you like podcasts, get this ebook for recommendations for podcasts to listen to in these categories:
* Children and Teens
* Feminism and LGBTQ
* Racial Diversity
* People with Disabilities
* The Digital Divide
* Technology and Society
* Discovery Tools
$9.99 on Amazon (ebook for Kindle) or $14.99 on Smashwords (EPUB that you can read in any ebook reader except Kindle).
Or you can buy only the individual titles you want for $2.99 each, for example:
Best Podcasts: People with Disabilities
Tips
Photo Management Guide: How to Organize, Share & Store Your iPhone Photos
Goodnotes vs Notability: The Best Handwriting Notes Apps for iPad
Accessibility
Using Voice Interfaces to Make Products More Inclusive
Good overview of the ways voice computing helps people with disabilities.
Apple and Google Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day with Featured Apps, New Shortcuts
Both Apple and Google rolled out accessibility focused collections: Apple with voice shortcuts for Siri, and Google with a list of accessibility apps on Google Play. Google also has a new service for deaf and hard of hearing: Live Transcribe.
“I wrote the book on user-friendly design. What I see today horrifies me”
“The world is designed against the elderly, writes Don Norman, 83-year-old author of the industry bible Design of Everyday Things and a former Apple VP.“
Google Maps launches a 'wheelchair accessible' option for 6 cities
In London, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Boston, and Sydney, enter a route as you usually would, then tap “options.” It can be found under the “routes” option by checking “wheelchair accessible.”
Voice Computing
Google announces the Nest Hub Max, a new home device with a camera
This is a 10-inch smart display that’s essentially the Google Home Max, Nest Camera, and the Google Home Hub combined into one device.
On-device speech recognition may make smart assistants more appealing
This is good for privacy because it bypasses the need for uploading your voice recordings to cloud systems.
Alexa Guard now works with every Amazon Echo device in the US
This lets your smart speakers listen for alarms or glass breaking while you’re away.
91% of Brands are Investing in Voice: How to Make it Work
Advice from Adobe on how your organization could experiment with voice computing.
Worried about Alexa spying on you? This Raspberry Pi smart speaker for kids puts privacy first
Kids can learn to build a smart speaker. It doesn’t listen unless you press the wake button on top. It doesn’t harvest or share any personal data.
A new Alexa device: Echo Show 5
“A touchscreen definitely expands Alexa’s capabilities, from being able to play digital videos to displaying song lyrics, but for many consumers the Echo Spot’s screen is a little too small and the standard Echo Show is a little too big and/or expensive. The new Echo Show 5 aims to split the difference, with a smaller footprint and price tag than the Show but a larger screen than the Spot.”
Your Library Needs to Speak to You: Getting ahead of the voice assistant hype -- American Libraries Magazine
Good overview of what libraries are doing with voice computing. (I’m quoted a couple of times in this article).
This feminist chatbot challenges AI bias in voice assistants
“The Feminist Internet, a non-profit working to prevent biases creeping into AI, has created F’xa — a feminist voice assistant that teaches users about AI bias and suggests how they can avoid reinforcing harmful stereotypes.”
How Much Personality Should a Smart Speaker Have?
“A new episode of Black Mirror and a recent U.N. report ask the same question.”
Thought-Provoking
Children need digital mentorship, not WHO’s restrictions on screen time
“… by focusing on screen “exposure”—and perpetuating the unsubstantiated myth that screens can be toxic—WHO is reinforcing a problematic attitude toward digital technology that could potentially cause even more harm in the long run.”
Social media effect 'tiny' in teenagers, large study finds - BBC News
“Family, friends and school life all had a greater impact on wellbeing, says the University of Oxford research team.”
A Food Pyramid for Kids’ Media Consumption
Recommendations on the effects of different types of screen time for kids. Categories are: use sparingly, use occasionally, use moderately, use freely. Music, audiobooks, and podcasts are in the “use freely” category.
Why Everyone Is Watching TV with Closed Captioning On These Days
People like captions for many reasons, including: to follow complex dialog in difficult accents, to keep the sound down so as not to wake sleeping children, and more. I always keep captions on for Netflix… it helps to hear everything completely when random sounds distract.
Whole Foods and Other Major Retailers Now Accept Bitcoin
“Flexa (a payments startup) has persuaded the retailers—which also include Regal Cinemas, Gamestop and Baskin Robbins—to configure their scanners to recognize payments from its cryptocurrency app, which is called Spedn. The customer simply holds up their app to pay. The store cashier will typically be unaware the customer is paying with crypto, while the merchant receives a real-time payment in the form of their choosing (crypto or dollars).” Other merchants are Baskin Robbins, Nordstrom, Crate and Barrel, Petco, Lowe’s, and Office Depot. But bitcoin is so volatile that it may not make a lot of sense to use as everyday currency right now.
Giving citizenship to bots
“The crypto friendly island of Malta wants to give civil liberties to bots and other forms of artificial intelligence. Some experts say this is a profoundly bad idea." Read to find out why they want to do this and what it would mean — “the new law would apply to all decentralized structures, and that includes Internet of Things (IoT) networks and artificial intelligence (AI) too." Fascinating.
Snapchat Has Created the Next Evolution in Photography
Interesting thoughts about the future of photography as an art form.
Tech That Makes Us Better Humans: JavaScript, Shudder, Chat Apps, Concordia, Signia
Short descriptions by experts about technologies that help people. Includes a piece by Kate Zwaard, Director of Digital Strategy, Library of Congress about their By the People project.
When Bringing Your Own Device Isn’t Enough: Identifying What Digital Literacy Initiatives Really Need
“… scholars have suggested adopting the term digital fluency instead of literacy in order to capture how students may need the “ability to leverage technology to create new knowledge, new challenges, and new problems and to complement these with critical thinking, complex problem solving, and social intelligence to solve the new challenges.”
Finland is winning the war on fake news. Other nations want the blueprint
Interesting details about what Finland is doing to educate people about trolls, deepfakes, and all kinds of false information. Finland ranked first out of 35 countries in a study measuring resilience to the post-truth phenomenon.
What is Racial Literacy?
“Racial literacy is a new method for addressing the racially disparate impacts of technology.” Download the full report (PDF).
Before Netscape: The forgotten Web browsers of the early 1990s
Interesting bit of internet history.
Donald Trump’s Wikipedia Entry Is a War Zone
Interesting story about Wikipedia editors and how they deal with controversial entries, like the one about Trump. Useful for learning more about how Wikipedia works behind the scenes.
5G has arrived in the UK, and it’s fast
The author tests the UK’s new 5G network in London. He’s impressed with the early results. Average speeds were a ten times improvement over 4G speeds.
Interesting Statistics
Future foretold: A new America in 2040: Older, less white, less religious: What America will look like in 2040
Many interesting projections about race, age, religions, and more.
Smart Speakers Bring A.I. to Nearly One in Three U.S. Homes
A new Consumer Technology Association (CTA) study found that 31% of American households now own smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. If that percentage seems low, consider that only 8% of households owned smart speakers in 2016. The growth in smart speaker ownership has almost doubled in each of the last two years.
The Future
Sony envisions ‘clothes’ with haptic feedback for PSVR
“You could be able to feel the texture and shape of virtual objects with VR gloves.”
Brain-Controlled Hearing Aids Could Cut Through Crowd Noise
“A prototype detects whom you are listening to and amplifies only that speaker’s voice; a potential solution to the ‘cocktail party problem.’”
Sensor-packed glove learns signatures of the human grasp
“Signals help neural network identify objects by touch; system could aid robotics and prosthetics design.”
Back to life, back to virtual reality as music stars return to stage as holograms
“Holograms are definitely where it is all going,” said Guyenette. “It is going to be everywhere very soon. Not just the concert hall. Within even five years people will have them at home and will be able to ‘teleport’ themselves by hologram to interact with others, just like we FaceTime now.”
Please Share
I invite you to share this newsletter with your friends who might be interested, thanks!
They can sign up here:
http://nicolehennig.com/mobile-apps-news/
Follow @nic221 I tweet about libraries, mobile, apps, ebooks, and emerging technologies.
** Tip Jar - help support this newsletter, thank you! **
I’ve been offering this newsletter since April of 2014. Thanks for subscribing!