Welcome to the 82nd issue of Mobile Apps News!
Have you noticed a longer gap between issues this year than in previous years? During my freelance years I wrote this newsletter monthly. Now that I’m working full time, I write it when I get around to it (a few times per year). I’m aiming for good work/life balance, so I just send it out when I can.
I hope you’ll enjoy this issue and spread the word to your friends and colleagues!
This issue includes news of:
walking apps for your neighborhood stroll
apps for working from home
Google Earth’s new timelapse feature
tips, accessibility, voice-computing, thought-provoking articles, and articles about the future
️ ❤️ Enjoy! (And if you like this issue, please “heart” it - thanks!)
📲 App lists
Walking apps for your daily neighborhood stroll - The Verge
Habit Tracking: The Best Habit Apps For Your iPhone — The Sweet Setup
Our Favorite Apps for Working From Home – The Sweet Setup
Camping Apps – App Advice
🆕 App Updates
RT @stakats: Zotero now has beautiful PDF annotation and a clever new system for taking notes (both in beta).
Google is done with cookies, but that doesn’t mean it’s done tracking you - Vox
See the world change over nearly 40 years in Google Earth’s new timelapse feature - Mashable
My offerings
Do you like podcasts? Get ideas for new shows to listen to with these guides. I self-published these ebooks using Pressbooks, which I recommend. It’s a publishing platform based on Wordpress.
Best Podcasts for Diverse Audiences
Best Podcasts: Children & Teens
Best Podcasts: Feminism & LGBTQ
Best Podcasts: People with Disabilities
Best Podcasts: Racial Diversity
Best Podcasts: The Digital Divide
Best Podcasts: Technology & Society
Best Podcasts: Discovery Tools
🤪 Just for Fun
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).
RT @davepell: Archie Comics nailed it.
☑︎ Tips
Make Time for Small Talk in Your Virtual Meetings - Harvard Business Review
How to Use the iPad for Study and Deep Learning – The Sweet Setup (in-depth article with good tips)
Why You Should Ditch Google Chrome For Microsoft Edge – Gizmodo
Search Scholarly Materials Preserved in the Internet Archive - Internet Archive Blogs
One Startup’s Solution for Zoom Fatigue? The Walk and Talk - Wired
Best Gmail alternative for privacy and security – Proton Mail
Your iPhone has a hidden document scanner. This is how to use it – CNET
Why You Need an Untouchable Day Every Week - Harvard Business Review
♿ Accessibility
How to Add Alt Text to Images on Twitter - How-To Geek
RT @swifteves: See this photo? Its contrast ratio is already tough, but without alt text, VoiceOver labels it “speaker, music”. I think we can agree this Xbox isn’t that. But this is a great reason as to why we should include alt text! We want to include everyone in our content!
🔈Voice Computing
Microsoft buys AI speech tech company Nuance for $19.7 billion - The Verge
“Nuance is best known for its Dragon software, which uses deep learning to transcribe speech and improves its accuracy over time by adapting to a user’s voice. “ “The company could integrate Nuance’s technology into its existing software, like Teams, or offer it independently as part of its Azure cloud business.”
Google Assistant Can Now Find Your iPhone and Order Takeout - Voicebot
New Alexa Transit Feature Provides Voice Public Transportation Guide - Voicebot
📊 Interesting Stats
Social Media Use in 2021 - Pew Research
Experts Say the ‘New Normal’ in 2025 Will Be Far More Tech-Driven, Presenting More Big Challenges - Pew Research
🤔 Thought-Provoking
Security researcher recommends against LastPass after detailing 7 trackers - The Verge
FCC internet subsidy: Millions of households could get $50 monthly payment - CBS News
RT @DannyDutch: We’ve got ‘deep-fake’ now we also have ‘deep-nostalgia’ The software that brings old photos of our relatives back to life is going to be huge.
RT @Afromanticist: Frederick Douglass, the mighty abolitionist, was the single most photographed person in the United States during the nineteenth century. Here’s how he might’ve looked in motion. Brace yourself and press play.
New AI ‘Deep Nostalgia’ brings old photos, including very old ones, to life - The Verge
Could The Simpsons replace its voice actors with AI deepfakes? - Wired UK
University of Arizona To Digitize Over 6,000 Recordings Of Native American Oral History - Fronteras
Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Walk - Harvard Business Review
In the age of Wikipedia, is it better to study everything? - Independent UK
The Black history you didn’t learn in school is being taught on TikTok - Los Angeles Times
Using artificial intelligence to generate 3D holograms in real-time - MIT News
A remedy for the spread of false news? - MIT News
How clean is cloud computing? New data reveals how green Google’s data centers really are - ZDNet
Amazon’s Refusal To Let Libraries Lend Ebooks Shows Why Controlled Digital Lending Is So Important - TechDirt
How Starlink is about to disrupt the telecommunications sector - Medium
SpaceX plans Starlink phone service, emergency backup, and low-income access – Ars Technica
Step into my (home) office - Rest of World
(What working from home looks like around the world).
The remote-working revolution has just begun - Rest of World
With Tourism Down, Countries Are Courting Digital Nomads | Contently - The Freelance Creative
RT @LaurenRazavi: People talk about work from anywhere like it’s a brand new concept. It’s not. The idea of location independence predates the internet. It’s been slowly simmering away for decades. Here’s a brief history of digital nomads 🌍👇
Clueless About Discord? Read This. - The New York Times
(Some are using it for book clubs. Interesting).
Intensive | An Introduction to No Code: Build Software Without Being a Developer - Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking
(interesting course for Yale students)
Boomer to Zoomer: Grim Generational Relations Aren’t An Accident - Bitch Media
Let a thousand internets bloom - Rest of World
UW scientists turn Amazon’s Alexa into heart monitoring device using sound waves - GeekWire
🦠 Pandemic
Where you’ll work next year - Politica
(post-pandemic office design)
Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid | Free to read - Financial Times
Hi, Robot: Japan’s android pets ease virus isolation - Tech Xplore
Ultrasound has potential to damage coronaviruses, study finds - MIT News
3 Ways the Pandemic Has Made the World Better - The Atlantic
(many good points)
The World Is Going Back To “Normal.” For Many People, That Isn’t A Good Thing. - BuzzFeed News
The Next Step in Covid-19 Vaccines May Be Through the Nose - Smithsonian Magazine
BioTech’s nasal spray ‘could stop COVID-19 in its tracks’ - BusinessCloud UK
🤖 The Future
Microsoft Mesh aims to bring holographic virtual collaboration to all - Engadget
Inside Google’s Plan to Disrupt the College Degree - Inc
The Future is No-Code - Book & Mini-Series - Adolo
Brain Chips and Biometrics: The Future of How We’ll Consume Music - Vice