NewsON is an app for your phone (Android/Apple) AND for Roku or Amazon that gives you the ability to watch live local news anytime, anywhere… For example, with NewsON, in my area I am able to pull down live feeds from Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. NewsON describes their service as “Free instant access to live or on-demand broadcasts from over 275 local station partners in over 160 markets”.
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It is a simple and straightforward app you can use on your phone to scan documents and export them as images. It even allows you to export scanned documents as PDFs.
I Love Free Software
You have to take my word on this. The best world news app for Android and Apple Smartphones (and devices) is “SmartNews”… It is one of the first apps I install on my phone and other supported devices (tablet, Chromebook, etc…). This app is a news aggregator that will automatically curate must-read stories in an attractive tabbed interface that is categorized. You can even customize and add specific news sources. Trust me, if you want the news as it is breaking, this is the news app to get…
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Source: SmartNews (visit this link to get an overview of the app and the download sources for your Android and Apple Devices).
If your Chromebook supports the installation of Android apps, then I encourage you take a look at (download and install) the Android app “Cx File Explorer”. The built-in file explorer (or file manager) in the Chrome OS has a lot to be desired; especially, when connecting to drives you have in the cloud (such as Google Drive, One Drive, Box and Dropbox) or when trying to connect to your network shares on your home network. I featured “Cx File Explorer” in another blog post (click here) and one of the things I wanted to experiment was to see how it performed on a Chromebook. Well, long story short… It is awesome. There is one thing you will need to do if you have an SD card installed in your Chromebook. In order for Cx File Explorer to see the SD card, go into the setting and toggle on, “Show system storage”. Once you do that, you can access the files on your SD card through the system files. In my case, once I toggled “on” the “Show system storage” setting, rebooted the Chromebook, the SD card showed up in Cx File Explorer’s home screen.
What I found with Cx File Explorer is that it works just as well as on my Chromebook as my Android smartphone. Definitely is a nicer file manager than what is built into the Chrome OS to the point that moving files around, etc… is much more easier and makes more sense.
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Source: Google Play Store – Cx File Explorer
Being a tech guy, having a good file manager (or file explorer) is a must. On our Android phones, the baked-in file managers they ship with the phones are rudimentary and in my opinion horrible. Then there are the third-party file managers that are a great step above, but what I have found is that many of these file managers (some good and some not so good) have become bloated to the point that they can leave a pretty big footprint on your device (and are not easy to navigate). So, I went on the hunt again in the Google Play Store and came across a file manager called “Cx File Explorer”. I almost overlooked it and I am glad I did not.
Using a web browser on any computer, you can access the files on your phone (and transfer them to any computer) using an Android app called “Recall”. First, install Recall on your phone from the Google Play Store. With Recall you don’t have to install anything to a PC or laptop to access your files. Just go to web.recall.im, scan a QR-code, and you can list, search, preview and download your files. End-to-end encryption, no passwords to lose. The “Recall” app, once installed and ran, turns your phone into a file server. Transfer of files uses end-to-end encryption for security and the developer’s web site touts the app is safer than using many of the popular online cloud services. Recall, at the moment appears to be relatively new; is FREE at the moment; but, if this app takes off (like I think it will), there will be a paid or pro option made available.
What I like about this list is that it exposes some great apps that you typically don’t see on “best lists” like this… You can take a look at these apps by clicking on the source link or graphic below…
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Looking for a note-taking app? Below you will find four great resources that provide reviews on notetaking apps such as Evernote, OneNote, Notion, Simplenote, Google Keep, Rocketbook, and the likes. You will find as you explore note-taking apps, it comes down to a matter of preference.
Which one do I use? I have tried every single one of these note-taking apps and what I settled for that meets my needs is Google Drive (with Google Docs). Yes, Google Drive… You can read more on “Using Google Drive To Create A Powerful (and Free) Note-Taking Application“. For notes that I write down, I use a Rocketbook notepad that is reusable.
Follow the links below to get a good overview on what note-taking apps are out there from several of my favorite tech sites…
Best Note-Taking Apps: Evernote, OneNote & More (For Android & iOS)
Systweaks
The 11 Best Note-Taking Apps in 2020 – Evernote, Notion, and More
College Info Geek
The 5 best note-taking apps of 2021
Zapier
Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook – Dot-Grid Eco-Friendly Notebook with 1 Pilot Frixion Pen & 1 Microfiber Cloth Included – Infinity Black Cover, Letter Size (8.5″ x 11″)
Amazon – Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook
There are so many alternatives to the Google Chrome browser for the Android based smartphone, that it is mind-boggling. Right now, on my computers and smartphones, I am wrestling between Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi. If you follow the source link below, you will land at Phandroid where you can take a look at “7 great browser alternatives to Google Chrome for Android”.
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Source: Phandroid – 7 great browser alternatives to Google Chrome for Android
Bundled Notes takes the simplicity of basic note-taking apps like Google Keep, and merges it with the feature richness of other powerful third-party apps. It has a unique tagging and organisation system, a beautiful markdown editor, dark mode, sort and layout options, kanban boards, and much, much more.
Source: Bundled Notes
An alternative to the Google Play Store, that is being recommended by Vivaldi, is UptoDown… You can read more at the Vivaldi website on why they have recommended this option…
While local files support has been available for the music streaming app for a while now, you had to do it from your desktop. But if they do roll this out eventually, your offline music library saved on your mobile phone or tablet can be added and synced even if you don’t have an Internet connection.
