Thanks for joining me again for the ongoing list of smartphone apps. The suggestions this week have been sent to me from you all…the readers. Last week I covered three apps; the new Weight Watchers app, Google Maps and the other major map app, Waze. If you are interested in viewing Part 5 from last week, read it here.
This one was sent by Larry in Charlottesville, VA, and I know it is hard to believe but I did not put him up to it. The app is Gmail by Google for your emails. I know you are thinking, “Well, Gmail comes automatically with an Android device,” and you are correct. However, Larry said he likes it on his Apple devices better than the native mail app. I have only tested the mail app on my iPad and was not impressed but I am an Android groupie so my opinion may be biased. But Larry only uses Apple devices. It does a lot of good and when blended with Google’s Calendar it is exceptional.
Now, dealing with the above, for those of you who have joined Double Clicks Live for training and those of you who have been waiting patiently, I thank you! In the next weeks, I am beginning (they could be as late as the first part of October), a series of videos on using Google Apps. It will start from setting up a FREE Google account through many of the great things you can do with the various apps. These videos will be FREE to those of you that register for a FREE account at DoubleClicksLive.com. Notice the use of the adjective, “FREE.” Sign up soon and I will notify you before they start.
Next, Susan from Northern VA asked why I did not mention Facebook. Well, you know me, I am not a big fan of FB. To me, it is where people “can” express negative opinions as well as anything they can think up. I like it for pictures of friends and loved ones around the globe who I do not get to see often and an occasional something funny that strikes me. So that is about all I have to say about it… Did I just talk bad about FB the same way? No links to Facebook as it is installed on almost all devices. Also, Facebook can and does share your opinions with many other places so you can be targeted for advertising, political ads and many others.
Now, stating the above brought to mind something that I do like to use that is a FB product, Facebook Messenger (dblclx.com/gp_fbm). Messenger is a free mobile app for text messaging, sending audio recordings to friends of yours on Facebook and/or your phone’s contacts. But you are thinking I can do all of that with my text messaging app too, why do I need another app that does the same thing? The reason is that you can do a whole lot more with it and with a Wi-Fi connection too. So, I use this when traveling where my phone does not connect to my service provider but I have free internet at those places. This includes out of the country too!
You can also send short audio and video messages within seconds to minutes depending on the strength of the Wi-Fi connection. You can also make audio and video calls to your friends, yes, you can see them and they can see you as you speak. For instance, I was in Mexico and Cuba at separate times but I could see and converse with anyone (for free) in the US. It is clear both visually and sound-wise. A great app. Now there are others including Google Hangout (which will soon be replaced by Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet).
Keep those suggested apps coming in and I will keep this series up another time or two!
