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Our presentation today is: There’s an app for thatPresenter: Rasa DunlopSession time: 1.00 pm AEDST (Daylight Savings Time)

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There’s an App for that!

The wonderful, bewildering world of apps.

Just what is an App, anyway?• Apps are basically little, self-contained programs, used to enhance

existing functionality, [hopefully] in a simple, more user-friendly way.• Today’s modern smartphones come with powerful web browsers,

meaning you can do pretty much anything you would do on a desktop computer, in a phone’s browser.

• But fiddling about with a URL bar and managing bookmarks on a mobile phone is still a pretty awkward, cumbersome experience. Which is why many online sites and services now go down the standalone app route, giving them better control of the user experience (and gathering data on you in the process) and, ideally, making everything simpler and quicker to open and use.

• The number of apps available is almost – well, uncountable – and more become available every minute; so how do you choose which to use?

In this webinar, we will find out:• where to get them• which ones are the most popular• how to work out which ones do what you

need• how to find them• how to get rid of them.• We may, if time permits, share our favourite

apps with each other.

Apple or Android?

• It doesn’t matter.• Apple kicked the whole app thing off, but now all smartphones

and tablets have apps and it’s just a matter of preference.• As I’m an Apple user, with apps on my iPhone, iPad and

computer, I’ll be talking about those.• (Just by way of interest, many apps, especially Facebook &

Twitter, have slightly different controls and functionality depending on whether you are accessing them via computer, phone or iPad… This drives me BONKERS )

• But Android users have very much the same apps, and pretty much the same ways of getting them.

Where do I find apps?• It’s actually sometimes a matter of avoiding them!• They’re everywhere…. But the first place is on the actual device

– these are pre-loaded, and you can’t get rid of them like you can other apps that YOU choose.

• This is the bar at the bottom of my screen on the home computer, with the apps that come as part of the package: Safari, Calendar, iBooks, iMusic, iPhoto etc. etc.

• I added Firefox and others.

Let’s go shopping…• The store to end all stores is the App Store…

The App Store

• The App Store offers a cornucopia of delights – games, music, books, videos, if you can’t find what you need, you can be sure someone somewhere is working on an app for it.

• The Store is very organised, with sections including Free apps and Editor’s picks (a GOOD place to keep an eye on). Many apps have a free version, designed to entice you into loving the app so much that you are prepared to pay for the premium, enhanced version. Lumosity springs to mind.

App Store: Categories

One more thing:

• Of course, the App Store also has a Search bar (top right-hand corner). So if you are looking for… say… an app to learn a language, or translate from one language to another, you just put “language” into the search bar, or “translate”. A little experience using the Search function will soon have you overwhelmed with choices. It can also be frustrating until you learn a bit about how the search works, but it’s worth persevering.

• Just for fun, I entered “piano” into the Search bar, because I would like to be able to play again, but I don’t have a piano. But I just BET there is an iPad app that could let me practice on the iPad… let’s have a look.

• Burp and fart piano????

• And that’s how you can lose HOURS in the App Store…

• Wow… and as you can see from the sidebar, that’s not all. But there are several there to help someone learn the piano.

• So, I clicked on this one. But look at the reviews!!

• Back to the last page… using the “Back” arrow, top left.

• Well, this looks much more like it. The only snag is:

• No reviews, and$31.99!!!

• The ‘xxx for Dummies’ series is highly respected, though.

• But apps are everywhere: you can’t be on Facebook or Twitter [both, of course, also available as apps] without being offered other apps based on what you have shown interest in, and previous purchases if any.

• We’ll come back to that: apps, even so-called ‘free’ ones, are MONEY-MAKING and DATA-GATHERING, as well as convenient for you, the user.

• But basically, an time you go online, you will see apps being advertised.

• People also recommend apps to each other, and I have found some of my favourite apps this way.

• BfS did an earlier Webinar on the app Evernote, which I had not even heard of at the time. I was so impressed I downloaded it during the Webinar and have used it almost every day since. That’s my first recommendation, by the way.

Which apps are the most popular?

• And how do I find them?

• Well, according to my Google app, one very simple way is to ask Google:

• IT/geek magazines like PC, Wired and various business magazines, as well as popular magazines and sites from Salon to TIME all regularly offer lists of their IT people’s favourites.

• And remember, new apps are coming out at dizzying speed ALL the TIME….• So, expert advice and recommendations from friends are two of the best ways to

find out about what apps are out there.• You’ll also be offered apps based on previous purchases, or based on what you

have been viewing and interacting with online.• Of course, I’m approaching this from a fairly business-y side – most of my apps

do useful things. But for every “useful” app, there’s a game. Games are HUGE business, and at a guess far outnumber all other types of app combined.

• It can cost up to a million dollars to get any new app up and running, but if you tickle the fancy of MILLIONS of users, who download your app and pay for it, and buy ‘In-App’ purchases [more on that later], you have got it made.

• Just think Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga, etc. I have avoided even looking at these because I just don’t have time to get hooked on addictive games! And I’m told they are both EXTREMELY “addictive”.

How to get rid of them?

• Now is as good a time as any to point this out: all apps seek reviews from their users, and publish them. It’s a good idea to read at least 10 recent reviews, before getting an app (especially one you pay for).

• Apps publish all reviews (I bet they wish they didn’t have to) and also offer a star rating system.

• BUT:

http://www.imore.com/its-time-admit-app-store-ratings-are-broken-and-get-rid-them

• There is very limited accountability for posting negative ratings, as well. Apple allows users to up or down vote reviews as helpful, or to report a concern; the default state of iTunes is to show the "most helpful" reviews first. That's fine when fellow customers do vote on the helpfulness of reviews; but rating reviews is entire[ly] optional, which makes it a rather arbitrary measure of effectiveness.

• Another problem - and one that's been discussed before - is that developers have absolutely no mechanism to interact with customers who leave reviews, including those that have legitimate support issues. And customers who leave bad reviews have no incentive to go back and amend them - in fact, many may not be aware that it's possible to change reviews, as the feature is buried in their Account Details information.

• A bad string of ratings can sink a good app and the current rating system provides no way of knowing how effective a developer's customer support is after the fact. It captures a moment in time only: when the app was downloaded, that the user had some sort of beef and then complained about it. Expecting developers to be able to deliver five-star work to everyone who downloads their app is simply unrealistic.

• Another issue that's gotten discussion recently is the in-app mechanism many developers employ to elicit an App Store review.

• The bottom line is that some App Store customers use the ratings system appropriately, some don't use it properly at all.

• [For example. They may complain “It’s rubbish!” when they simply have not really read or understood the instructions, and so are not getting anything, or the best, out of it. ]

Apps that fail to please

• You can write a negative review, but uninstalling an app is the ultimate negative feedback.

• I shall now show some pics from my phone on how to get an app off your phone. (Same for the iPad.)

• You need to note that it isn’t REALLY gone until you have hooked your phone up to your computer, and when you are syncing it you will be asked if you are really sure you want to delete the app.

• So on the left, my second page on my phone, with a number of apps. On the right, how the screen looks when you PRESS & HOLD any app’s icon.

• You can see that all the apps which aren’t pre-loaded have an X in their top left corner. On the phone, these icons will also be quivering to indicate that they are capable of being moved around or deleted.

• Here’s a tip: once you have started to accumulate a lot of apps, it’s a good idea to group them into folders to make it easier to find them.

• I have 63 apps on the phone, (shortly, 62) and if I hadn’t grouped them they would be scattered over many ‘pages’ on the phone. That makes finding an individual app quite difficult, (unless you do something super organised like have them on your phone/iPad in STRICT alphabetical order) although if you have one of the later iPhones with Siri you can simply tell Siri to open a particular app.

• I’m going to delete the BalanceScale app, because IMHO it’s USELESS. I wish I’d never bought it.

• So I clicked on the “X” at the top left corner of the app, and got this.

• I had no data to lose on this app, as I could never get it to work, so I went ahead and hit Delete.

• And as you see, the app is no longer showing up. Doesn’t mean it’s completely gone, though.

• Now this shows the apps on my phone when I hooked it up to the computer.

• On the left, before I ‘synced’• On the right, after I ‘synced’• The app is still showing, because the App store ‘remembers’

that I paid for it. So I can install it again if I want.

In-App Purchases: BEWARE• Remember I spoke about how Games are a huuuuuge component of

apps?• Have you noticed how more and more, parents are pressured by their

offspring (sometimes very young kids) into giving them a phone or an iPad to help while away time and keep them amused?

• Children are natural consumers of the technology, and because it’s so intuitive, especially the phones and tablets with touch/swipe capability, they are very very good at using it.

• I’m SO NOT going to get into whether this is a good or bad thing; I do know that there are many terrific educational apps for children. But:

• When combined with games, ESPECIALLY games that cajole the user into In-App purchases, kids can and have racked up $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on their parents’ credit cards buying in-app purchases. So keep that in mind :]

• If parents have stored credit card data on their iPhone/iPad, AND said “Save Password for this site” (it IS very convenient) then believe me, those little incipient hackers will find it AND USE IT !!

Let Google tell the story: again

Apps spotted/offered to me in the last 2 weeks:

Saving the best till last?Apple recently had one of its major conferences, and straight after that came this list of the 5 best apps recently: here’s the URL…http://www.fastcodesign.com/3047227/the-5-best-apps-from-apples-2015-design-awards

My turn: my favourite apps• I’ve had a mobile phone since 1997. I truly can’t imagine life

without it. (Although, I do not take it to bed with me. You have to have down time!)

• Since I got a smartphone with apps, it goes where I go and helps me organise my life in a way that I truly could not do without, especially with the many different facets of my life and time that I need to keep track of.

• I use the Calendar, Safari, Camera, Evernote, Moves (tracks my physical activity and driving locations) Facebook & Twitter apps pretty much every day.

• Clock (for both Alarm and Stopwatch, as well as time in other places), Gmail, Google Maps, Shazam, Weather, Calculator.

• Google Earth, Path, Lumosity, SuDoKu, and Mahjongg (yes, I do actually like some games)

Your turn: your favourite apps

• I’d really love to know!• I think the single thing that swung me to an iPhone

was a friend demonstrating Shazam. I love music, and I’ve always bugged friends and people in shops and restaurants when I’ve heard some music I like with pleadings of “What’s that music???!!!”

• Shazam (most of the time) just “listens” to a piece of the music and then tells me EXACTLY what I’m hearing AND offers to link me straight back to iTunes to buy it (In-App Purchase, anyone?!)