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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 Black History Audiobook Basics

    The pleasure of a mobile audiobook is that you can listen anywhere at anytime using the convenience of your phone. Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou above are just a couple of the featured stories in Black History Audiobook. Developed in 2016, then completely updated in 2020, you'll find a wealth of fact based information read by two professional audio storytellers: Shenteria Childs and Kingsley Hugh Smith. Touch our names to see more about us on LinkedIn. I've used Shenteria for years as the female voice in a lot of our apps. She is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am in New Jersey and developed this app. Here are more stories that you will be able to hear in Black History Audiobook. People are important, but so are movements. That's why we've included stories about Affirmative Action, African American Authors, and Brown vs Board of Education. You'll also hear about African American aviators, African American Cowboys, and African American Demographics. The iOS and Android versions are identical with some visual difference as you see below. Both versions are 100% free. You won't find any full screen ads in the app to ruin your viewing or listening experience. Learn more about Black History Audiobook then download to your mobile phone to hear these 30 inspiring stories.  

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    0 Righteous App Reviews: Ranting Or Rejoicing?

    • Apps
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 04/06/2021

    When you take the time to share your soul through writing about a service or product you've used, it suggests three things. You really like it, you dislike it, or the service or product fell short in delivering its promise. Trolls and haters try to artificially skew the sense of love or distaste about consumable items in public reviews. You and I may question the validity of these reviews. However over the long haul, opinions do even out so you can trust what you are seeing in the trends as they average out. Many of our mobile apps get tens of thousands of downloads. Many do not, but... What we always look at is the rating score, a running average of the thumbs up or thumbs down 'votes' you leave in app stores after using and engaging with our apps. Here are our Top 7 mobiles apps (as of April, 2021) based on user satisfaction ranked by your rating on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being the top rating.   What I really like about written app reviews beyond the numeric rating is the wealth of user feedback. There is a lot to learn about fine-tuning your craft in order to meet the needs of your community of app users. As a matter of fact, several or our apps were created to answer the firestorm of criticism about the apps of other developers who just didn't have their foot on the gas. Usually, if you see a single, 3 or 4 word, one sentence summary with bad grammar many of those reviews are fakes by artificial intelligence bots that have downloaded the app using boilerplate 'review' responses to fool you. Some of these phony reviews never reference the app or what it does. When it comes to appraising public app ratings and reviews, remember the Latin phrase caveat emptor. You are responsible for checking the quality, suitability and believability of the public bulletin board. With that said, we do thank you for reviewing, rating, and enjoying all of our apps! Grab a free download, and share your opinion anytime in the review.

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    0 Fear Of The Inventors Quiz

    A refined nuclear technology patent, the gas mask, and the fire extinguisher have three interesting things in common. Black inventors. If tests during your school days put you in a panic, a mobile app called Black History Inventors Quiz might bring back those anxiety memories! Maybe this is the reason why more people download our Black History Inventors app than Black History Inventors Quiz. The Quiz title buries the expanded wealth of entertainment and creativity you'll find that the 'inventors only' version lacks.   Two games are bundled into the Quiz app. A match 3 game on the left, and a matching game on the right. The images represent real inventions by Black History people. The whole point behind creating this app was to offer a central location where you could learn more about the untold stories of these inventors. The quiz was just a bonus. In the story section, over 50 interesting profiles are included. Each has audio narration so you can listen to highlights.   Here are four entries profiling the creative people who made outstanding contributions to worldwide innovation with their ingenuity.     What if you had your own idea for an invention or a brainstorm vision that popped into your head? Inside of the app is a sketching program to quickly draw your concept.   Prototype the next big thing using the drawing section of Black History Inventors Quiz! We saved the 'best' for last if you are quiz averse. Super tip. Explore the story section of the app before trying your hand at the quiz. Read or listen to the stories. Now, you have a solid background. The quiz questions are easy once you've discovered the inventors. All of the quiz questions are based on the story section of the app.   Below the quiz questions are the four other sections of the app: Crush (Match 3 Game), Match game, Inventors stories, and Invent (sketching tool). So don't be fearful of this quiz. It's only 20% of the story. No one will see your quiz answers unless you share and tell all! We were humbled when Black History Inventors Quiz was honored with a Best Mobile App Award Silver Nomination for Education. Black History Inventors Quiz is for Android. Black History Inventors app is for iPhone, iPad, and Android.

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    0 Your Legacy Of Creating Culturally Diverse Content

    A film producer - director I recently interviewed for a separate non-app project struck an emotional nerve with me by using social media for a noble cause he wants to help. How did he do it? He used a timely surprise YouTube video to promote healing and understanding. These are troubled times. In his video producer Chris Bournea challenged content producers to "create diverse works that reflect the multicultural fabric of our society." This sounds great, but who actually does this on a regular basis? Outside of the few weeks many feel obligated to participate in women's history month, Black history month, and other 'accomplishment appreciation' moments in selected communities, where is the day-to-day commitment?  I agree with Chris and always have. More of us should follow his lead by embracing his idea. Our 10 second elevator pitch is derived from our founding focus on "apps, teaching tools, quizzes, and casual games with a multicultural touch." Are we really walking the walk? After hearing and watching Chris, we went all the way back to 2013 to find one of our very first Android Apps we've long since pulled out of Google Play. One thing you'll notice in this 2013 game below is that we used white, black, and Asian avatars without even thinking twice about it. In this 16 second video with grainy character headshots, you'll see a couple of scenes from Double Header Link Game. Chris Bournea's idea is as relevant today as it was back in 2013. Rather than trivialize inclusion, let's invite everyone to the party for an honest cultural mix!   Below I'm with Chris Bournea in a February, 2021 video conversation about his revealing Black history documentary movie. This is not related to his healing and understanding video I referenced above. You can watch my conversation with Chris about "Lady Wrestler: The Amazing Untold Story of African-American Women In The Ring" on Facebook. Just follow the link. Chris Bournea with Hugh Smith

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    0 Zodiac Signs Horoscope Astrology Mobile Game

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 03/23/2021

    Have you missed our Zodiac Signs Horoscope Astrology Mobile Jigsaw Puzzle Game app? One year ago we dropped this game into the app stores. The gameplay focuses on the Zodiac symbols. We left the Astrology element to those who use the sun, moon, planets, and stars to predict the future. All 12 signs of the Zodiac in this game use three sets of images to shine a light on either people, the symbols, or celestial constellations. There are 50 core levels divided into easy, medium, or hard. That's 150 total levels to keep you playing for as long as you like. Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Puzzle is a vertical mobile game making it easy to play on your iPhone, iPad, Android, or tablet wherever you are. Download the free app and leave a review. Learn more by watching the 3 minute 30 second video below.    

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    0 Are Word Or Name Mobile Games Boring?

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 03/05/2021

    Mobile Games with words or names don't have to be a bore!   Do these kind of games put you in a daze, or...   Is it interesting action you want in a mobile game where words are at the center of the gameplay? If fast movement on the screen counts, here are a couple games we developed that might fit your bill.   Watch the video and see how Spelling Runners race game keeps things moving with a swipe of your finger. Then, Black History People Game drops names down the screen you must capture using the correct letters on your mobile keyboard.   Based on the video, which of these two mobile word games do you like?

  • 0 RnB And Hip Hop Quiz Just For Mobile Fun

    • Quiz
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 02/26/2021

    When did Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard help invent R&B and rock? More on this challenge coming up. That's just one of the hundreds of questions you'll find in our mobile game RnB and Hip Hop Quiz for Android. For iOS, the quiz contains R&B fact based trivia. We are updating the iPhone version soon to add the Hip Hop questions. At the very end of Black History Month 2021, we participated in a virtual online game "what do you know about Motown" contest.   Believe it or not, one of the questions (a true or false) was "person X (not naming him here) was Motown's first sales manager?"   You won't find this kind of nerdy question in RnB and Hip Hop Quiz!   Learn more. RnB and Hip Hop Quiz offers a ton of fun. You can also view a well detailed scorecard or share your score (Android version).   Back to the headline question. "When did Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard help invent R&B and rock?" Multiple choice answers are:   a) In 1949 b) During the 1950s c) By forming a trio d) When F. Roosevelt was U.S. President   What's the right answer? Comment below.

  • 0 How To Find Black History Quotes For Black History Month

    How To Find Black History Quotes for Black History Month or anytime? You'll see in the video below how to easily find what you want. Let's summarize the strategy. Using your mobile phone, install the free Black History Quotes Express app for iPhone, iPad or Android. We use the app all the times to pull quotes we want to use in our social media channels. The magnifying glass is your best friend for finding people or themes with just a few taps of your mobile keyboard. Yes, the content is organized the traditional way too. View by author or view by category easily gets you the results you may need. There are so many quotes, that using search is probably the best way to go. You can bookmark your favorites, copy just the right quote you need, and delightfully share to email, text, or another destination. These quotes are not just valuable during Black History Month. The will come in handy all year long. This video is a couple of minutes. 

  • 0 People Power Jigsaw Puzzle App Pop?

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 02/12/2021

    Almost one year ago, we introduced the free People Power Jigsaw Puzzle mobile game for iPhone, iPad, and Android. You might be asking yourself, why is this post called "People Power Jigsaw Puzzle App Pop?" In this case, "pop" is used to mean 'come or go suddenly.' That's exactly what happened to the jigsaw game in one of the major app stores. First let me say I'm honored to have this app in The App Store for iOS, and in the Amazon App Store for Android. I firmly believe in the visual message this game sends to you, so celebrating diverse people, their pursuits, their jobs, and their hobbies means a lot. We can't compromise our values, so the fact that Google Play removed the app is fine with us. Not everyone is going to love what you create or what you do. In the 5 minute plus video below, I play People Power Jigsaw Puzzle App on an iPad. Check it out! Also explore Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Puzzle App. Zodiac Signs is in Google Play, Amazon, and The App Store.  

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    0 7 Free Black History Resources for Your Phone or Tablet

    Celebrate Black History Month anytime with 7 FREE Black History Resources for Your Phone or Tablet from Quikthinking.com. We shared this video on our Facebook page and YouTube channels. We wanted to share it with you here. There's also a 2nd video 4 Black History Resources for Your Phone or Tablet below. Every February in the USA we spotlight the stories of famous or unsung African American people you may or may not know. Our portfolio of mobile apps tells these stories year-round. Not every app in our development universe shines a light on African Americans, but our commitment to Black History is a major part of our focus 12 months a year and not just when everyone else gets the spirit in February. Watch me count down the 7 apps in this relatively short 3 minute video from #7 to #1. So grab the FREE apps and share the experience. Video #2 at the bottom of the page is 2 minutes and change. Enjoy. Thank you for your support!  

  • 0 Spelling Runners Game App Wins

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 01/26/2021

    Have you tried our free Spelling Runners Game app for iPhone, iPad, or Android? Here's a quick 30 second video revealing the quick moves the Spelling Runners make.   To discover even more about the game, follow this link to watch the Spelling Runners Tutorial video

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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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