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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 Goodbye Amazon Appstore for Android devices

    Wow! I am not surprised. Early this morning, I received an email from the Amazon App Developer folks with some sad but expected news. Before this news is fully explained, back on February 16, 2022, these good Amazon App Developer folks sent this note: "Get ready to reach new customers on Windows 11." The Android system on Windows 11 was a nightmare. On March 20, 2024 I wrote "An Android Flirt with Windows 11." Read my thoughts. So, three years and three days since the first Android on Windows 11 notice, Amazon has announced that "the Amazon Appstore on Android devices and the Amazon Coins program will be discontinued on August 20, 2025."  That's the lead! Note, we never participated in the Coins program. Honestly, the vast majority of our app downloads come from Google Play and the Apple App Store. Despite that fact, we still get a significant number of Amazon App Store downloads. In the past 365 Days, here are our top five apps in the Amazon App Store ranked in order by downloads: Thanksgiving Retro Match 3  Game Always Thanksgiving Match 3 Game Black History Quiz Black History People Video Poker Jacks or Better Game I've had the best experience working with the Amazon engineers who evaluate and test apps before they are admitted to the store. Google has been the most difficult to work with. I believe that is due to AI doing most of their heavy lifting. Apple is somewhat easier to work with than Google. As of February 19, 2025, app developers can no longer submit new apps that target Android devices to the Amazon App Store. Updates for current apps will be allowed until service is discontinued on August 20, 2025. I want to thank you, who have Fire phones or Kindle tablets, for supporting us on the Amazon App Store platform since October 23, 2013 when the original Black History Quiz app was added (to Amazon). We've had other apps in Amazon's Android store before 2013, but Black History Quiz was our first popular app in their store. Amazon adds this warning: "Starting August 20, 2025, any apps downloaded from the Amazon Appstore will not be guaranteed to operate on Android devices. Amazon Appstore, however, will continue to be available on Fire TVs and Fire Tablets."

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    0 Celebrating 7 Black History Inventors

    Alice Parker, Sarah Boone and Valerie L. Thomas may not be familiar household names. When you go to sleep, you may not think about Sarah Goode.  There are a lot of Black women who have received U-S patents for their ingenious inventions, as have the three mentioned above. We've included seven of them in the 54 person collection of Black History Inventors mobile app for Android and iOS with audio profiles included. Dive right in, and watch my short video to discover more.

  • 0 3 Black History Mobile App Winners

    Year in and year out, Black History Express, Black History Quiz, and Black History Quotes Express are three of our most popular mobile apps. It's always fun to share your authentic thoughts about our apps with the focus on which titles you love the most. Here are just a few comments directly from Google Play. Black History Quiz and Black History Quotes Express are both Android and iOS. Black History Express App    Black History Quiz App            Black History Quotes Express App     How to get them You can go to the highlighted individual app pages at the top of this update in the first paragraph.

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    0 National Puzzle Day, Lunar New Year, and Black History Month

    • Puzzles
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 01/29/2025

    If you didn't wrap your brain around National Puzzle Day or Lunar New Year on January 29, here are two different puzzles for you to tackle on your mobile device at any time going into February's Black History Month. The apps Black History Picture Puzzle for Android has over 40 mind teasers you can take on in both easy and hard modes. Touch the game pieces to build the pictures. Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Puzzle for Android and iOS features 150 total levels across easy, medium and hard gameplay. Solve the puzzles by moving the jigsaw pieces into the correct position. Grab the games now! 

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    0 Run Fun Mobile Game App

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 01/10/2025

    Here's a quick video of a new mobile game app we are just finishing up. Run Fun is not the name, and you won't see mouse pointers in it when it's complete.  Ha Ha. I'm developing the game for Android with Unity, the real-time 3D development engine. If people like it, then we'll quickly add it to iOS. 

  • 0 7 Day Cyber Week Always Quikthinking Shop Special

    • Shop
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 12/02/2024

    25% off everything and free shipping is always a great deal. Seven days only. Go to the Always Quikthinking Shop, touch the button "Redeem," and select from hoodies, tees, mugs, magnets, and more. Get your Red Capped Holiday Sweatshirt available for a limited time only. Electrify your party time! Watch the quick video for my personal message to you. Seven days only!

  • 0 Bluesky Social Media

    I hope you'll join me hangin' with the butterflies. @kingsleyhsmith.bsky.social so stop by to see what condition my condition is in. You'll like Bluesky.

  • 0 The Great American Smokeout

    Almost every day of the week, your calendar has a special event. In November, The Great American Smokeout targets the third Thursday, encouraging smokers to think about a healthier life. The high cost of a highly taxed product  How can I tell that smoking in my community is diminishing? Not one empty cigarette box was tossed on neighborhood streets in recent years. Did the citizens suddenly quit litterbug habits? Not exactly. These empty cartons used to be a big problem. In New Jersey where we are, according to the SalesTaxHandbook website, an average pack will cost you $7.66. New York tops the list with an average cost of $10.45 per pack. When prices go up, demand for the product may change. Luckily, I have never smoked, but some family members have. A healthier community is a happier one. Watch this short 29 second video, showing you with audio the valuable resource we created: Quit Smoking Audiobook for iOS and Android. You'll hear sample excerpts from three of the twenty-five chapters. Bonus. Don't miss these three important updates in the blog: Smoke Free, Fresh Air Motivation Blowing Cigarette Smoke During A Pandemic Quit Smoking App Ignores Doctors Nicotine Knowledge

  • 0 Tears for X

    On November 14, 2024, I deactivated all three of my Twitter - X accounts, including the one for Quikthinking Software. The link to this account across this website will eventually disappear. I haven't posted to Twitter - X since February, 2023. The decision was made at that time to no longer support the platform. Why now have I chosen to deactivate the accounts? X changed their terms of service Effective November 15, 2024, this was added to their user legalese...  “By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to make your Content available to the rest of the world,” which includes the right to analyze any of that content “including, for example, for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type.” Essentially, users must agree that X can use anyone's data to train its AI models. I can't go for that. See ya! More Thoughts on AI See these other two posts: * Will AI Create Your Next App? (Quikthinking) * When do you and ChatGPT cross the Milli Vanilli Line? (Powerhouse Radio - our sister website)  

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    0 Thanksgiving Game App Feast

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/13/2024

    No, the turkey is not really in our crosshairs. Some fun for Thanksgiving is! Jump onboard any of the following mobile game apps, even if you don't celebrate this iconic holiday as Americans, Canadians, and citizens of some other countries do.  Thanksgiving Game App Feast Thanksgiving Retro Match 3 is our people's choice, Android favorite. You'll see the gameplay in the video, followed by the iPhone - iPad version, Thanksgiving Match 3 Game. (Follow the link to go to the App Store). Always Thanksgiving (follow the link to go to Google Play) for Android is the most advanced of these three holiday games. Always uses swipe to score action with more levels for you to enjoy.  Development Details Thanksgiving Retro Match 3, created with Libgdx in Android Thanksgiving Match 3, created using Swift for iPhone - iPad Always Thanksgiving, created using Unity for Android The games were created in the same order as you see above. Play them anytime of the year, on the go, or while relaxing. History Speaks For a deeper, 'tongue and cheek' historical perspective about this USA holiday, check out my production of "Thanksgiving Story: No Game for Native Americans and Pilgrims," also on this blog.

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    0 Always Quikthinking Shop for Gifts

    • Shop
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/30/2024

    Do you need some classy threads for yourself or for a timely gift? Did you miss our Holiday Cheer Sweatshirt last year? How about some mugs, magnets, or stickers? Choose from among the items in the Always Quikthinking Shop. Here are just a few I show you and talk about in this quick 28 second video! Enjoy. Touch "Quikthinking Shop" above to view the merch.

  • 0 Rock The Vote

    • video
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/18/2024

    It's that time of the year that you may need a little chuckle! Election time in the USA. Watch this short 60 second video, featuring some reels we've created for social media, and my personal on-screen message just for you! 

  • 0 Blackjack 21 AA Mobile App Plays Busting a Move

    • video
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 09/04/2024

    In my early Atlantic City, New Jersey radio days, when $2 Blackjack hands were all the thing, I would occasionally part with $25 at the bunny casino to see if I could win. Usually, my instant player emotion was the agony of defeat, rather than the thrill of victory. Players learn that the house always wins, a majority of the time.  What's better than playing with real money? How about using currency that never runs out! It never runs out because it is not real. Blackjack 21 AA app uses simulated money, not real money. I love video poker 'jacks or better,' and I like blackjack. That's why we created two non-money mobile game apps for you to satisfy this enjoyment of playing guilt free with the same exciting real game experience. Here is a 29 second Blackjack 21 AA video I present for you. How was this done? I created the game in Unity, a cross-platform game engine, built by Unity Technologies for application developers. Cross-platform means it can create Android, iOS, and other mobile, console, or desktop format code used for those devices. Xbox by Microsoft is a console device. In the screen shot below, you'll see Unity on a Windows PC. There is also a Unity version for iOS. The simulator section in the shot has an iPad loaded into it to test the screen layout for this particular Apple device. Below Unity is a quick snapshot of some of the Blackjack 21 AA software code in another editor (Visual Studio). The Game Manager module that you see in VS controls the game and gets the card dealing going so you can play.  Phone Based Betting Apps Recently, one of those live online betting apps (that costs you real money) was fined by regulators for accepting bets on some live game elements (that had already ended). Sorry, you money dream purveyors of cash bounty windfalls, you can't operate your business that way for your customers! I haven't tried any of those sports betting apps, nor do I have a desire to do so. I'll stick with the simulated fun, without concern about any real loses.

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    0 Searching for Relevance On A Website

    • video
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 08/14/2024

    Not finding what you are searching for online? A website without a search box is useless, especially if it has lots of cataloged information you are looking for. Crash City The webserver (software) hosting all of our websites operated by a big, corporate, web hosting company was updated twice in 2024, first in March, and again in mid-July. A mandatory, enforced summer upgrade crashed three of our search engines for three different websites, including the one here at Quikthinking.com (but not the blog search). That's separate software. Website domain owners usually have to supply their own search system for their webpages (that are hosted on and by an independent webserver operator). The not so charming corporate webhost people said to me "sorry, but we didn't design the new third party backend system we installed to all of our servers, you and your websites are on your own!" The big fix How did I resolve this explosive headache? The cure was stepping up to a new search system. It took one month of work, evaluating new systems, and finally picking the one that worked best. About two hundred webpages were updated across two different websites including Quikthinking.com. There's one more website to go. That one has over three hundred web pages to update. You'll still see this search engine glitch on that website until we systematically complete the fix. This is part of what you'll see... Nine More Updates to Android 14 done in June and August for: Black History Inventors Black History People Black History Expert Black History Museums Black History People Name Game Thanksgiving Retro Match 3 Game Pizza Burger Match 3 Game  Halloween QuikMoji Game Word Sprinters - Spelling Runners Game Black History People Name Game is completely updated with a new look, new questions, and more features. Here's a quick video:  This is a more advanced Black History game, just waiting for you right now!

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    0 Google Play Interview and Black Inventors App Prime Time

    Google contacted me in March, 2024 requesting an interview about my mobile app development work. I talked to them for 45 minutes on a Zoom call. They asked me not to disclose the conversation until publication date. The feature was finally published on July 23, 2024.     I'm between two other developers who have recently been featured for their Google Play app success. Here is a screen shot of the page telling the story about Black History Inventors.   In the feature I talk about the development of the Black History Inventors app. The text is small in both of the screen shots above. Direct linking to the page is not supported.   If you want to see it online:   1) Go to https://play.google.com/console/about/weareplay-us/  2) Scroll down to the map of the USA on the Google page 3) Select New Jersey!   None of the states have text on them. New Jersey is a small state. Not from the states? See our map, two images below to locate the state.   On mobile using the Google We Are Play map, it's tricky, but you can do it!   Thank you for your support since 2011, when our first Android app was released on Google Play!       Map of the United States    

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