PC Magazine: The Best Apps and Tools to Help Kids Organize Schoolwork

PC Magazine: The Best Apps and Tools to Help Kids Organize Schoolwork. “Most families have aspirations of starting a new school year organized and prepared for academic success. For many, that simply involves a basic paper planner or digital calendar. For school-aged kids who have trouble with executive functions—whether they’re neurodivergent with a diagnosis of ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or something else—it can be harder to set them up for success. In an increasingly digitized world, it can be difficult to find the right tools to help kids thrive, especially if they struggle with planning or follow-through.”

Cherokee Phoenix: Language Department works to archive Cherokee language

Cherokee Phoenix: Language Department works to archive Cherokee language. “During the May Tribal Council Culture Committee meeting, Cherokee Nation Language Department Executive Director Howard Paden provided updates of several projects happening in the language department. The language department has two language apps in the works.”

CNN: Google removes ‘Slavery Simulator’ game from store following a wave of criticism in Brazil

CNN: Google removes ‘Slavery Simulator’ game from store following a wave of criticism in Brazil. ” A game entitled ‘Slavery Simulator,’ where players can ‘buy and sell’ enslaved Black characters, has been taken down from Google’s app store after widespread criticism from Brazilian social media users.”

Android Police: Google shoves more ads into the Play Store, to no one’s surprise

Android Police: Google shoves more ads into the Play Store, to no one’s surprise. “The banners themselves are wider, so you’ll see two per row, but you’re getting two rows, so you’re actually seeing more ads — four of them, to be more precise — on your screen. And yet again, you can scroll through them to see more.” *Altavista-ing intensifies*

The Verge: An Android app started secretly recording users almost a year after it was listed on Google Play

The Verge: An Android app started secretly recording users almost a year after it was listed on Google Play. “An Android recording app called iRecorder Screen Recorder began as an innocent screen recording app but turned evil nearly a year after it was first released, as detailed by Ars Technica. The app first came out in September 2021, but after an update the following August, it began recording a minute of audio every 15 minutes and forwarding those recordings, through an encrypted link, to the developer’s server.”

Merlin milestone: App now helps ID birds worldwide (Cornell Chronicle)

Cornell Chronicle: Merlin milestone: App now helps ID birds worldwide. “The free Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology just hit a major milestone: The digital field guide and ID assistant can now help users identify birds in any country – a grand total of 10,315 species.”

9to5 Mac: Apple shares its first ‘App Store Transparency Report’ with data on app rejections, gov requests, more

9to5 Mac: Apple shares its first ‘App Store Transparency Report’ with data on app rejections, gov requests, more. “Earlier this week, Apple shared an in-depth look at how the App Store helped prevent fraud and protect developers and customers alike. Now, the company has shared more details in what it’s calling the ‘2022 App Store Transparency Report.’ This report offers granular information on app removals and appeals, developer account terminations, government requests for app takedowns, and more.”

PC Magazine: The Best Mastodon Apps for 2023

PC Magazine: The Best Mastodon Apps for 2023. “Mastodon looks and feels like Twitter but is a beast all its own, and the death of third-party Twitter apps has driven some of those developers to the decentralized, open-source Mastodon. There are now dozens of Mastodon apps to try across numerous platforms. For this article, we tested 18 different Mastodon client applications across mobile, web, and desktop.”

Associated Press: Montana becomes 1st state to ban TikTok; law likely to be challenged

Associated Press: Montana becomes 1st state to ban TikTok; law likely to be challenged. “Montana became the first state in the U.S. to completely ban TikTok on Wednesday when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a measure that’s more sweeping than any other state’s attempts to curtail the social media app.”

WIRED: ChatGPT Scams Are Infiltrating the App Store and Google Play

WIRED: ChatGPT Scams Are Infiltrating the App Store and Google Play. “There are paid versions of OpenAI’s GPT and ChatGPT for regular users and developers, but anyone can try the AI chatbot for free on the company’s website. The scam apps take advantage of people who have heard about this new technology—and perhaps the frenzy of people clamoring to use it—but don’t have much additional context for how to try it themselves.”

Reuters: India antitrust body wants inquiry into Google in-app payments fees

Reuters: India antitrust body wants inquiry into Google in-app payments fees. “India’s antitrust body said an inquiry is needed into allegations that service fee charged for in-app payments by Google breach a competition watchdog directive, a regulatory order seen by Reuters showed on Friday.”

Engadget: Pixel users report the Google app is making their phones overheat

Engadget: Pixel users report the Google app is making their phones overheat. “If a Pixel phone is your daily driver, you may want to keep a charger nearby. An Engadget reader contacted us on Sunday to report that their Pixel 6 Pro has recently been overheating and excessively draining its battery. They suspect the culprit is the Google app and an update that began rolling out on May 12th.”

Santa Monica Lookout: Remains Found in Santa Monica ID’d As Founder of Sobriety App

Santa Monica Lookout: Remains Found in Santa Monica ID’d As Founder of Sobriety App. “The remains of a man who had been missing for nearly a year and a half were identified Saturday after being found in the courtyard of an abandoned building in Santa Monica last month, police said. The Los Angeles County Coroner positively identified the remains as those of Beau Mann, the founder and head of Sober Grid, a social mobile networking app for people struggling with substance abuse.”