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In a world that’s been evolving constantly in the digital realm for as long as most of us can remember, it’s hard to deny the negative impacts smartphones and social media have on our attention span. Users can hardly sit through a 60-second TikTok video , let alone a 20-minute training course for work. Rather than allowing weaponized incompetence and distractibility to seize the day, app developers have been working tirelessly on creating platforms that make retaining knowledge fun and easy again. They’ve dubbed this trend “microlearning,” and while it could simply be a fad, there are clear benefits to challenging your mind in a bite-sized way. What Is Microlearning? Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions/Unsplash The concept of microlearning is based on the forgetting curve , which comes from Hermann Ebbinghaus. His research demonstrates that “when people take in large amounts of information, retention of what was learned tends to degrade over time.” More specifically, they reportedly...
Free-trading app Robinhood has been under fire for over a week now after it halted purchases of GameStop stock last week. Though the creators behind the app pride themselves on making a platform for “investing for everyone,” Robinhood brings in a big community of Black millennial investors that may take their money elsewhere following recent antics. As a quick refresher, a group of young day-to-day traders called WallStreetBets caught wind of hedge fund short sellers in GameStop last month. WallStreetsBetts shared its findings on Reddit and ultimately promoted young investors in its group to invest in GameStop stock, driving the share price up by 134% at one point, CNN reports. This uptick in GameStop’s stock price costs those hedge funds up to $70 billion in losses , according to Reuters. As a response to this frenzy with GameStop, Robinhood temporarily halted purchases of GameStop stock and a list of other stock on its app last week to manage the risk of a stock market crash. As a...
Black female entrepreneurs need to be ready at a moment’s notice. Between juggling a packed calendar, and being on the go constantly, time management and productivity are of the utmost importance on the path to success. Thus, the right mobile apps are essential to achieving everyday goals. Whether you need to send an email to a client, design an Instagram Story in the back of an Uber or find the perfect Black-owned lunch café for a business meeting, apps will give you 24/7 access to the technology that will help run your business (and your world) smoothly. Here are nine apps you’ll need every day — no matter where you are. Vimeo Create From Instagram to LinkedIn, social media is filled with aesthetically pleasing visuals to promote a product, send a motivational message, and everything in between. With Vimeo Create , you can design high-impact videos with the app’s easy-to-use, custom templates. Make the perfect shots even better and try it for free. Canva Similar to Vimeo Create,...
These days, it is not uncommon to see a toddler playing around with a tablet or a teenager glued to his or her phone, making it hard for parents to pry their kids from the nearest screen. However, one parental control app is building a way to do just that. Habyts, a parental control app available on the Google Play store, helps parents manage their children’s screen time. Parents can download Habyts to their phones and their kids’ phones. Once the app is downloaded on both devices, parents can set screen time restrictions remotely from their phones. When kids complete tasks like chores and homework, they unlock screen time on their devices, helping them balance their responsibilities, and being online. Cynthia Crossley, a co-founder of Habyts, got the idea for the company after juggling how her three sons managed their screen time. After spending more than a decade working for Microsoft, she launched Habyts in 2014 with the hopes of changing how kids engage with their phones. “It’s...
Shopping on Instagram just got a lot easier. The app has added a new checkout feature. Users can now buy from their favorite store directly through the app. H&M, ColourPop Cosmetics, Nike and other brands are already using the feature to cash in on customers. Merchants will have to pay a fee to sell their items through the app, which make it another benefit for Instagram’s business offerings. Users can store their PayPal, Mastercard and Visa payment information within the app. The newest feature comes almost a week after Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp crashed following a “ server configuration change.” Some users who run their businesses solely through Instagram ran to Twitter to complain about how the crash negatively impacted their engagement and sales numbers for the day. “Once your first order is complete, your information will be securely saved for convenience the next time you shop,” Instagram said on its blog. “You’ll also receive notifications about shipment and delivery...
If you’re not getting enough work done in a day, you may not not be managing your time well enough. Procrastination, disorganization, and poorly defined goals can all lead to mismanagement of time. Wasted time often equates to poor work-life balance, missing deadlines and high-anxiety and stress. In most cases you don’t need more time in the day, you need to manage your time better. With today’s technology, there are so many different apps that can help you effectively manage your time and increase your productivity. Here is a list of 5 apps that will help you manage your time more effectively so you can focus on getting work done: Focus Booster The Focus Booster app uses the Pomodoro Technique to help individuals focus. Dedicated to helping you stop procrastinating, this app allows you to plan the amount of time you need to focus and take breaks. Evernote Evernote helps individuals stay super organized across different platforms. Create shortcuts that help you quickly access the...
As the gig economy flourishes and makes way for more on-demand labor platforms, chemists Amber Clophus and Wayne Morgan envisioned an innovative way for small business owners to connect with customers. With simplicity and seamlessness in mind, the duo built BidBrowseBook , a mobile app matching professionals with local consumers, eliminating the frustration of searching for the perfect person for the gig. “We’re a match-making app for services, jobs, and businesses,” said Morgan. Noting BidBrowseBook has several competitors, Clophus and Morgan differentiate themselves by designing their platform to empower entrepreneurs and local firms using the app. “No other service is really good at picking up small businesses in communities,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to advertise or market your services at a local level.” Reversing the traditional model where users find workers to hire, BidBrowseBook allows professionals to search for their customer based on a listing for chores or tasks...
Startup founders Cedric Rogers and Shaun Newsum are “remixing” technology for the culture with Culture Genesis, a digital gaming studio creating new content targeting urban and multicultural audiences. The company unveiled their first product to come out of the production studio, a quiz show called TriviaMob available for download in the Apple app store. TriviaMob players can compete either individually or in a group to win $10,000 in cash during a weekly show airing every Sunday. The game is centered around players answering 10 questions about art, music, science, and history in 10 seconds. “We’re building software for an urban, multicultural audience that continues to lead and influence culture — not just in the U.S. but around the world,” said Rogers, in a statement to TechCrunch . “We see this influence growing in Hollywood but it’s not happening fast enough in Silicon Valley. We want to accelerate this shift.” Rogers, a former Apple executive and Newsum, a former software...
Many folks in the black community have to resort to making sure they have their receipts when it comes to interactions with police officers. There’s a reason why we even know the names Michael Brown or Philando Castile: recording devices. You can tell Siri to remind you of an event or even when you want to be awakened. Imagine being able to tell it to record your interaction with law enforcement. Thanks to a modification to the app Shortcuts, iPhone users can now do just that. The app allows one’s smartphone to perform an array of tasks through voice command. Robert Petersen invented a Shortcuts add-on called Police , which triggers recording for police encounters, WTVR reports. Siri can now record police interactions when you get pulled over pic.twitter.com/vHeSpvxh9u — NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 6, 2018 As soon as you’re pulled over, you can say, “Siri, I’m getting pulled over,” which will activate the app. It will discreetly send your location to a designated contact,...
We all have that one person we follow on Instagram but whose posts we’d rather not see every day. Instead of having to awkwardly unfollow them, Instagram has finally provided the ultimate solution — the mute button . On Tuesday, Instagram announced its newest feature which allows users to mute and unmute accounts whenever they choose without alerting the muted party. You’ll still be able to visit the user’s page when you choose and you’ll continue to get notifications when you’re tagged in a post or comment, but if you want to mute their posts or story (or both) you can. Many users have been frustrated with the changes in Instagram’s algorithm changes, and the mute option is a small but effective step in keeping pages that Instagram might think you want to see out of the way of the posts you actually care about. Instagram’s latest feature gives users so much more control over their experience with the app. Whether you’re just trying to fix the algorithm or you’re muting people for a...
Last fall, Apple rolled out a totally new, totally redesigned App Store. Although it would require an adjustment to get used to the new hub for all things Apple apps, one of the goals behind the redesign was to make sure new apps had a better chance at being discovered by a wider audience. A report from Sensor Tower is evidence that this progress is working. When Apple launched iOS 11, the focus was on editorial content and allowing more apps to be discovered (instead of just found through search). Since launch, the proportion of downloads that happen from browsing rose to more than 15 percent (about 5 percent more than the previous rate), and even still the numbers remain higher than they were before the iOS update. Photo: SensorTower Features like “Game of the Day” have proven to increase downloads by more than 8 times their average , another feature included in this new, editorial-focused setup that highlights apps (there are more than 2 million in the marketplace, so it’s easy...