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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 Ugly Sweatshirts and Colorful Santas

    • Shop
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/24/2025

    In the annual cycle to update apps, we've updated 16 of our Android apps over the past month, so they can run on Google's Android 15 (Level 35). You'll see one question mark in the video. Will it be on the chopping block? See Navigating The Mobile App Hamster Wheel for eye-opening background. They're Back The game inspired some adorable ugly threads. This sweatshirt returns in the Fall and early Winter, only to go back into hibernation shortly after the new year, when it is unavailable. Get yours now in the Quikthinking Shop from Spreadshirt. See the other wonderful gifts we have to offer too.   

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    0 Thanksgiving Mobile Games

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/29/2025

    What do you, or the young ones do, to brighten up the holidays? Enjoy these three Thanksgiving mobile games anytime. Thanksgiving Match 3 Game for iPhone, Thanksgiving Retro Match 3 Game for Android, and Always Thanksgiving for Android. Thanksgiving Match 3 Game for iPhone (you'll go to the App Store) Thanksgiving Retro Match 3 Game for Android (you'll go to the Play Store) Always Thanksgiving for Android (you'll go to the Play Store) Here are all three games in this short 20 second video. 

  • 0 Black History People Game for Your Finger's Finesse

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 09/18/2025

    A fun finger workout using your mobile device's keyboard is guaranteed when you play Black History People Game (Android & iOS). Inside the game, behind the info button, is a list of several hundred people that you can scroll through. I tell you what their expertise is. You may not know what their contributions to society are, but for this app, knowledge doesn't matter. You're inside the game just to play! Playing the game Watch me play the game. You'll see my thumbs take care of business. My play is recorded by a Samsung phone. I'm playing the game on a Motorola phone. Gameplay is the same on an iPhone or iPad. To keep the video to 60 seconds, I do speed up only the gameplay segment to double speed. How does this game challenge you? You have to type in the letters of each name before the letter falls to the middle of the screen dividing line. You'll see Unity's cross-platform game engine development system. I used it for this app. You'll also see a quick peak inside of Microsoft Visual Studio, where I wrote the C# code (C Sharp).   

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    0 Black History People NAME Game For Your Brain

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 08/20/2025

    First, let me say that our Black History People NAME Game (Android), is completely different from our fast paced, keyboard busting Black History People Game (iOS and Android). I'll focus on the 'NAME' game in this quick 'how to.' Hopefully any confusion is out of the way! This video explains, shows, and tells (in the audio) what the game concept is. The big differences between 'NAME' game versions 2018 through 2024 are revealed. Here's how the game works. You are presented with 4 words. 3 of them are associated with a specific person. Simply choose the one word out of the group of 4 that does not belong. Game master You can master this game by trying our Black History Express app first. Black History Express has a knowledge base and trivia game. It's the knowledge base that will give you the boost to discover more about the people I've picked that are included in the 'NAME' game app.   

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    0 Navigating The Mobile App Hamster Wheel

    As some of you may know, I have one published paperback, eBook, and audiobook with a second paperback/eBook completed for released in January, 2026. The first book has won multiple awards, including the Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner in the Non-Fiction - Music/Entertainment genre! Those books don't deal with mobile app development, but there's a ton of baggage that I could reference to support a third manuscript about Android and iOS odysseys. It takes some effort along with luck to pivot from a very successful first career into a productive second one. That's what I did. With all of that in mind, here's how 2025 has presented some screwy Android challenges behind the app coding screen. You've Got Mail The predictable Google nastygrams stream into my inbox between the nice reviews that some of you have posted to Google Play. Here's one that was dispatched in June. "24 of your apps are affected by Google Play's target API level requirements." This one is actually normal. Every year, developers are pushed to upgrade to a new application programming interface for Android standardization and security enforcement. This request is cool. I just have to be prepared to get my fingernails dirty when the API changes break some of my code. About 30 days later, this note came in from the little green robot's central command center. "8 of your apps are affected by Google Play's 16 KB page size requirements." Oh boy, what a hoot! "From May 1, 2026, if your app updates do not support 16 KB memory page sizes, you won't be able to release these updates." This change is similar to when 5G was introduced but many connected devices (microwave ovens, other appliances, and automobiles) only supported 3G. I won't go into the technobabble, but the mandatory 16 KB fix is not difficult, especially for developers that use the integrated development environment software Android Studio for apps. We are told app performance on mobile phones will improve with the 16 KB hocus-pocus magic. Third-party terror exploit in the bits Second half of 2025 fun continued with this pleasantry from Google about 5 of the apps we have in the Play Store. I'll condense the super long "developer update." "Your app *** requires a critical security fix due to a vulnerability recently identified that could affect games and applications built in Unity **** and later for Android." Google did add that "there is no evidence of any exploitation of the vulnerability, nor has there been any impact on users of customers." Users of customers?  Another mind-blower. We use Android Studio, Unity, and B4A (Basic 4 Android) to support all of our app development. Their logos are up top. Unity promises to update their cornucopia of IDE integrated development environment versions to fix this app crisis. They maintain support for many versions of Unity. Directives, Fixes, and Courtesy Handling the stream of unexpected written encounters requires patience, wisdom and analytical experience. After thirteen years of app development, I stopped panicking years ago when the uninvited flood gates of woe would pour into email messages one after another. Up until this point, I have been able to handle them all. More in the months to come about navigating the mobile app hamster wheel. By the way, the notes from Apple for our iOS apps are much more polite!

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    0 AAeMojis Hall of emoji Selfie Frame Fame

    • Apps
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 06/25/2025

    Which one of our Android/iOS apps has been updated the most since 2018? Which one gets a bushel full of paid downloads every month from the App Store? Which one receives the most criticism in the Google Play store because users ignore a simple element of the bullet-proof installation experience? This app also receives the most email requests for new images. That's why we've consistently increased them from the 2018 image count (100), to the 2025 count of 164 today. Many of the newer images were by request. In the coming months, as we do more in person events, you too may also have an opportunity to enter the AAeMojis selfie frame experience!

  • 0 No Menthol Sunday

    • Apps
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 05/16/2025

    Did you know that there is a national USA push for a law to remove menthol from tobacco products? This year, Sunday May 18th is a nationwide day of action led by The Center for Black Health & Equity. No Menthol Sunday Do you support organizations that provide resources for you, your family, or your friends struggling with a tobacco or vaping addiction? If you do, you'll want to learn more about this positive grassroots effort at https://nomentholsunday.org Our own resource to open your ears about smoking is the Quit Smoking Audio Book App for iOS and Android we developed. I've written a lot about this subject. Here are just a few posts: The Great American Smokeout Smoke Free, Fresh Air Motivation Blowing Cigarette Smoke During A Pandemic Quit Smoking App Ignores Doctors Nicotine Knowledge Quit Smoking Audiobook

  • 0 Black History Mobile App Feedback

    • Feedback
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 05/07/2025

    I always appreciate your support when leaving feedback about any of the mobile apps we've developed. Your ideas and thoughts contribute to ongoing tweaks and updates. Both of the opinions below are in the Google Play store about Black History Express knowledge base, and R&B and Hip Hop Quiz Game. These reviews are automatically forwarded to me when verified by Google. You can always contact me directly with your questions and feedback. iOS fans, yes we appreciate your App Store feedback too!      A User has written a new review for Black History Express       

  • 0 Skype Sails Away

    Have you used Skype recently? The app started with voice, expanded to video, then embraced file-sharing during its fourteen year run with Microsoft. Some app developers that I've worked with in the past, have insisted on using Skype for two-way communication. This is one of the reasons why I had to jump onboard. When I learned Skype was going the way of MCI, I immediately deleted Skype from a couple of PC's to regain hard disk storage space. Note, the long-gone MCI Inc. was a telecommunications company. During their day, MCI was the second-largest long-distance telephone company in the United States behind AT&T. In recent years, Skype usage has dramatically dropped. Occasionally, you'd still see a live Skype video connection on a podcast or television interview. Skype seemed to always present technical problems when using the app on a smart phone. Now that Skype is out as of May 5, the preexisting Microsoft Teams app will be pushed as a replacement. Update as of May 5 Here's what you'll see if you try to open Skype Now...

  • 0 Rooting Out Bad Streaming Audio Actors

    They were amusing to listen to. They popped up from who knows where? Their invasion happened about nine years ago. You've heard them in English, but maybe have not had the experience of relishing these audio sounds in Spanish! What do you do when you boot up your laptop / PC, switch on speakers, and out comes non-stop ads for U-S American branded fast food chains and soda pop? Please don't say "you turn off the audio!" This happened to me. I was lucky. The offending intruder didn't do anything more malicious. Did I mention that all of the ads were spoken in Spanish? I wasn’t in Spain or Mexico. I was in Alexandria, Virginia. It was humorous entertainment for about 5 minutes, but the interloping audio could not be silenced. I'd restart or turn off the PC, cycle it on again, turn on the speakers, and get assaulted one more time by more hideous audio ads. How this 'app' got through the firewall, malicious software removal tools, and the defender antivirus I will never know. A high performance power wash After trying several hard drive cleansing solutions over several days without success, I gave the Malwarebytes app a try. The company Malwarebytes currently bills its software as the "#1 malware removal and protection software." They claim to provide "Cyber protection for everyone." Using their tool, a rootkit was discovered on my drive. The company says "rootkits are a kind of malware that can give a threat actor control of your computer without your consent or knowledge. Rootkits are particularly dangerous because they are designed to hide their presence on your device." Even with my experience, I was not able to detect the rootkit without using the Malwarebytes solution. Malwarebytes did its job, removed the rootkit, and put the serenade of Spanish language audio ads to bed. Their software is one tool I've been using ever since this event occurred. Trust, verify, or pass on online file converters? Here's another tip. I never use online file converters. You should be very careful with them. Pieter Arntz, a Malware intelligence Researcher with Malwarebytes Labs unpacks all of this in his article a Warning over free online file converters that actually install malware. (You'll go to the Malwarebytes website).

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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. 

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