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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 How We Bypass Gatekeepers

    We originally published this to our Instagram feed. If you don't, please follow us on Instagram @quikthinkingsoftware1 ---------- Once there was MySpace and Google Plus to capture your social attention. Today, it's Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Tomorrow, will it be the interactive "podcast" site Clubhouse?Note, Clubhouse may be all audio, all the time but it is not a traditional podcast.As we've recently seen, these social media giants can drop you like a hot potato if they deem your content is in violation of their standards.Are you comfortable putting all of your eggs in one basket? What do you think?Between the three major app stores that we regularly supply with teaching tools, quizzes, audiobooks, or games there is a subjective difference between how our intellectual property is evaluated.In my experience, Apple by far uses the most professional approach evaluating apps. Of the 15 apps we have in the App Store, 13 were accepted immediately including our first 7. We were asked to make minor changes to only 2 of the 15. We did, and the apps were both accepted on the second submission.I don't have issues working with editors as I've worked with them my entire career including many years in both broadcast journalism and music programming for radio.In the app world most of our apps (over 60) were originally done for Android. With that said, the Amazon store has always been a pleasure to work with.As far as Google is concerned, I fear that their artificial intelligence based algorithms wreak havoc throughout the entire app evaluation process.So this update doesn't get too long, I won't go into additional details. Let me just end by saying that having your own real estate to plant your flag in is even more important today than ever.We started Quikthinking.com in June, 1996. The site lives on in its sixth total revision with a seventh on the horizon.The danger of relying on one app store, one social media platform, or one publishing arm as your primary third party base of operation means you relinquish control of your own destiny to a gatekeeper.Build your own gate that leads to your own home. It should be your focal point. Third parties you trust today may execute the ultimate power tomorrow and block or erase your legacy.

  • 0 Shocked Additions To AAeMojis App

    Have you written us asking for a specific style of AAeMojis expressions? Kerra did. She was very detailed about her request so here's what we did. First, AAeMojis are 159 emojis in our collection we call African American Emojis. The name is somewhat of a running gag as these black emojis can represent a variety of different cultures around the world. We challenged our excellent artist to do her magic and she did. Six new emojis have just been added to AAeMojis implementing a few of Kerra's requests. One example is above, and another two from the six are below. Learn more about using these AAeMojis for iOS and Android texting or for Facebook. We love your AAeMojis comments or suggestions across social media and do read them all. Thanks!

  • 0 Spelling Runners Game App Wins A Cyber Sprint

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 01/01/2021

    Would you create an electronic product for consumers knowing that you could not trust the reliability of your creation? We wouldn't, and we don't, however bug ridden technology has been shoveled into the hands of eager consumers forever. The game Cyperpunk 2077 is just one example of a video game title that should have never been released because of multiple problems inside of the app known to the creators. I never won the project coding races while creating source code as a college student. Accuracy without bugs was always more important to me than speed. Today, when I scan through public reviews about our apps, even when people don't like a title, some will say "at least it runs great on my phone." So what do we do in-house to implement excellent quality control? Here's an example using our new app: Spelling Runners game for iPhone, iPad, and Android has just been released . The game uses cyber athletes who compete in an arena arcade completing words by running over letters with their feet. We test games on real devices before submitting them to the app stores using these solid tools plus several more not listed: Motorola Phone Samsung Phone Samsung Tablet Amazon Fire Tablet iPhone iPad So Spelling Runners for Android has to work perfectly on those four Android devices before we release the game. You'd be surprised about the subtle differences across Android hardware as each manufacture changes Android in a variety of ways. Even with an iPhone and iPad, elements have to be just right so that an app performs correctly on either device. Nothing is ever perfect, so there is always room for future tweaks to make an app even better. Once everything works, you are the final judge about gameplay and aesthetics! That said, for a cool mobile arcade game that is fun for the young and old, check out Spelling Runners from Quikthinking and enjoy! Happy New Year! Please watch the 2 minute 29 second video:      

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    0 The 5 Best Blog Posts of 2020

    You may not see or read all of our thoughts during the year, so here are our 5 best blog posts from 2020. 5) How To Find Black History Stories In 60 Seconds Rediscover a showcase about a mobile resource we compiled giving you hundreds of stories about different USA Black community achievers. 4) Hip Hop and R&B Plant Flags In One Mobile Quiz App More than just East coast vs West coast, this is a story about bridging the divide between two important music genres. 3) An Affinity To Learn Something New Discover more about how I solved a familiar picture image problem that you may have also experienced with your photos or online visual creations. 2) Quit Smoking App Ignores Doctors Nicotine Knowledge Here is the back story along with new insight into why this project may be the most important one we have ever created. 1) Digital Footprint Kick In The Butt Probably our most valuable story of the year in light of COVID-19, explosive internet use, and the impact the COVID virus has had on us all in 2020. Read and learn from the post again featuring the tech expert we profile. Is your online behavior toxic? ---------- Hugh Smith (below) is the Senior App Programmer and founder of Quikthinking Software. He is the author of more than 60 mobile apps and a few desktop - laptop ones too!      

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    0 AAeMojis And More In 2020

    2020 was both a year to remember and a year to forget. You probably are as anxious as I am to get back to the normal flow of a 'socially un-distanced' world. As we leave 2020 behind, I turn your attention now to the app world below. We've received a lot of feedback about AAeMojis over the past 12 months. What are AAeMojis? Keep reading. I thought a brief look at 2020 with AAeMojis center stage might be entertaining. Thank you for a very good year! We released 5 new mobile apps, all games: 1 for Black History, 1 for general fun, 1 music quiz, and 2 jigsaw puzzles. Here are the Quikthinking Software Apps. Two other apps were completed but not launched. One of them will be released in days! As a former journalist who has written and produced formal end of year audio retrospectives, many 'year in review' yarns can be boring. Our look back at the past year keeps it light hearted aligning with our regular mission. We are a mobile software studio focused on creating entertaining or enlightening apps. So what are AAeMojis. AAeMojis are African American emojis for iOS and Android. You can use them for text messages. You can use them for Facebook comments. These emojis aren't really U-S citizens, but they can fit in well worldwide in any country. You'll see on screen in the video the many ways AAeMojis have popped up during the past year in a lot of what we do. So watch the highlights from the AAeMojis universe along with another 2020 surprise treat plus more. Enjoy!

  • 0 Black History Picture Puzzle App

    Picture puzzles are universal games that are easy to play. Our classic Black History Picture Puzzle mobile app is no exception. We commissioned a couple of artists to sketch some very noteworthy Black History people. They did a great job! Many real photos are also included in the app. Traditional sliding digital puzzles ask you to constantly move pieces around a play board. Don’t worry; this picture puzzle is a lot easier to play. Each puzzle is divided into squares: 20 for the easy level, 80 for the hard level. Touch each square to rotate it until the puzzle piece is oriented into the right position. Complete all the pieces until the overall picture is looking good. That’s it!   In the short 4 minute video below I play the picture puzzle game and show you my best moves! Check it out right now...    

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    0 More Instagram Features

    Don't miss me or any of our features on Instagram. Touch a post below to see more.  

  • 0 Santa Jump Game Party App

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/23/2020

    We love the serious 'Black History apps' we create for the community. We also love the entertainment side of mobile devices. That's why developing a few games targeted toward the young at heart is very important to us. Santa Jump Game Party mobile app is for everyone. It's not a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena slaughterhouse. There are plenty of violent MOBA's you can play. But back to Santa... A year ago in 2019 we released Santa Jump Game for Android with zero publicity from us. It's a super easy casual game you can start playing and master immediately. Touch, jump, and score. That's it. As we release the iOS version today, we took some of the iOS upgrades and shared them with the Android version. Both versions are identical. We'll start to get the word out about this game now. Get your hop on with Santa. Learn more about Santa Jump Game Party by following the link. Watch the video from 2019 below.   

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    0 Hip Hop And R&B Plant Flags In One Mobile Quiz App

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/16/2020

    We all have our favorite decade of music. This is how radio stations continue to schedule their rotation of tunes. These stations pick a decade or two to target a listener demographic. Generally, the music you grew up with during your teen and young adult years is the music you identify with the most. Today, it's easier than ever to discover new music through different digital platforms, but only certain generations of music lovers participate in discovering fresh tracks. Maybe our busy lives are a distraction as we get older. With some of these principles in mind, we've streamlined our presentation of two music mobile quiz apps. Earlier in 2020, we consolidated three Black History audio book apps into one app keeping the same amount of valuable free content. We're now doing the same thing with the apps RnB Music Quiz Soul and Hip Hop Quiz, but there's a catch! The new RnB and Hip Hop Quiz game is now a multi-category quiz. R&B has it's own section. Hip Hop has it's own section. We focus on a throwback vibe from A to Z with the artists, producers, writers, and music makers. You can select the section you want at any time. The levels don't have to be played consecutively. Levels 1 - 12 are dedicated to R&B multiple choice questions. Levels 13 - 24 do the same for Hip Hop. By putting each musical genre in the same app, you now have many hundreds of questions to enjoy in the game. If you are into Black music discovery and learning something new, RnB and Hip Hop Quiz app is worth checking out. It's a consolidation of cultures. You can argue that Hip Hop is R&B music but we won't debate it here because each genre has its passionate disciples. Just mentioning the genre names conjures up specific assumptions we may all have. You can play the genre you love the most exclusively in this quiz game, or you can dive into them all. The R&B levels all share the identical level images. The Hip Hop level images all feature different people. Ignore the actual level numbers in the pictures below as these are not the updated numbers...  The updated RnB and Hip Hop Quiz Game app is now live on Google Play and ready for you to grab for your Android Phone. We'll be updating the Android version for The Amazon App Store, and the iOS version for The App Store in the coming weeks. You'll find out right here when they are ready. RnB Music Quiz Soul app stand-alone is still available as of this writing in The App Store for iOS. Hip Hop Quiz stand-alone is still available in The Amazon App Store for Android. Eventually, we will retired the stand-alone Hip Hop Quiz app and the stand-alone RnB Music Quiz Soul app as they are no longer needed.

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    0 An Affinity To Learn Something New

    • How To
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/12/2020

    We've just finished the soon to be released iOS version of our current Android app, Santa Jump Game. One thing we don't like is our design of the iOS placeholder game buttons. What do we do? I could hire a designer, or I could create the buttons myself using Photoshop Elements. For designing buttons, it's a challenge using Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements (and the full Photoshop) is a raster-based tool that uses pixels to create images. For image designers, vector based tools are much better. Vector based tools can change an image to any size without losing image sharpness or visual quality. A quick search for 'buttons' on the global marketplace for learning and instruction website Udemy landed me on a course teaching how to create stylish buttons. (Read our thoughts about Udemy written in 2018). The buttons course instructor is using a software app called Affinity Designer. I had never heard of it. I did some research then downloaded the Windows version with a 10 day free trial. Mac and iPad are also supported. Unfortunately, this is software with a very steep learning curve. We completed the buttons course in about an hour. Step-by-step the teacher shows and tells effectively in the videos. Unfortunately the instructor never included an introductory review of the app interface to explain exactly how to use this complex software from scratch! If you are a complete beginner in this tool like I am this is bad. No problem. I then signed up for one of the highest rated Affinity Designer training courses that goes through the software from soup to nuts. I have to say that Affinity Designer is brilliant. The creators say it took over 5 years of development before they released the app in 2014 and it shows. Unlike Adobe's high priced subscription based Illustrator that works using vectors, Affinity Designer by Serif (company) at this writing is less than $50 for a one-time cost. I’m amazed at what a brilliant tool Affinity Designer is.

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    0 Heeding The Words of Coretta Scott King

    • Quotes
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 11/04/2020

    With the Madam C.J. Walker poster looking over my shoulder in our app production studio, I'd like to share with you a great quote from Coretta Scott King. This is a quotation the USA needs after a very heated Presidential election. I first posted the quote below to Instagram. Here it is again for you. Words of wisdom during stressful times in 2020. Check out all of the great quotes in our mobile app Black History Quotes Express.

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    0 Black Inventors In American History

    Do you know how communities of Black History Inventors helped push the American experience forward? Amazing men and women used their creative genius to solve problems while receiving U.S. patents for fountain pens, mops, batteries, paints, furnaces and more. Inventors of color have used brain power to create it all. Their variety of inventions is extraordinary. In this video I showcase the creations of several Black Inventors in American History all taken from our mobile iOS and Android app Black History Inventors. Thanks for watching! Remember to follow Quikthinking Software on Instagram. We are @quikthinkingsoftware1 on Instagram.

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    0 How To Find Black History Stories In 60 Seconds

    Want to know how you can easily find nearly 300 Black history stories in less than 60 seconds? Watch the video at the bottom of this post. It's easier than you think. With 28 different chapters, Black History Express App provides hundreds of stories about different USA community achievers. What kinds of stories are there? The first 9 of 28 chapters include art, authors, aviation, civil rights, community service / civil service, cowboys, dance, education, and entertainment. Download Black History Express app. Open it up. Your stories are there instantly. These are people you know. These are people you may not know. Are you ready to plug into important overlooked stories neglected by the media and overlooked in classrooms? We put a fun quiz game into this text based app too. The quiz is based on 98% of what you'll read in the stories. Black History Express is a free app you can use to update your awareness of the popular and unsung achievers who unfortunately may not get the credit they deserve. All of the information you are looking for is in the app so you don't have to be online on your phone or tablet to use it. Easily swipe left or right to the previous or next story within in each chapter of Black History Express.   Watch the quick 29 second video below to discover more. There is no audio in this video. Remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.     

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    0 People Power Jigsaw Puzzle App Review

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/08/2020

    Jigsaw puzzles are calming stress relievers especially when you know you can complete one in a convenient amount of time. On a mobile phone the portability of a jigsaw puzzle game is even better as this accommodates a fast paced lifestyle. In this video I briefly explain the People Power Jigsaw Puzzle app philosophy before playing the game for you. You can grab the game for iOS or Android. Everyday professions or activities are the stars in the spotlight that form the pictures in these puzzles when the pieces are fitted together. You'll like the slide show in the video revealing just a handful of the engaging featured folks. On your phone or tablet People Power Jigsaw Puzzle game-play moves along at just the right pace. It's easy to get a game in between other tasks. There's a total of 150 levels divided between easy, medium, and hard skill abilities so the app is perfect for all age levels. Watch the video below. As an alternative or addition, are you game for a celestial cosmic experience instead? Then jump all over Zodiac Jigsaw Puzzle App. It's a rainbow reflection of the signs, including yours.

  • 0 How To Create A Starburst Quote Using Black History Quotes Express App

    • How To
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/02/2020

    Here's a way to visually spice up any of your favorite quotes. We love the starburst effect. We show you how to do it in the video. Why quotes? Quotes are very popular across social media. It's easy to create your own starburst frame or template to pop the quote into. I'm modelling above inside the starburst. We use Photoshop Elements as our image - quote editor. How to create a starburst quote in Photoshop Elements is a technique you can use in other image editing apps. You don't have to have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to add this skill to your bag of tricks. Use any quote you want from any source. We use our mobile app Black History Quotes Express for iOS and Android as the source for the example quote in the video. You'll see how we get the quote out of the app and into the image editor. Enjoy.

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