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Tuesday, April 21, 2026
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Google Handwriting Input – a new app for Android

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For Android devices only

Google Handwriting Input is a free app that has just been released, and it’s designed for those butterfingers among us that hate to type messages on a smartphone – you can write notes instead of typing.

Available for any device running Android 4.0.3 or higher, this cute little app transforms your handwriting into a typeface.

Google Handwriting Input supports 82 languages in 20 different scripts. It works with both printed and cursive writing input – with, or without a stylus.

It seems like a life saver for those who just hate typing messages – I know I can’t stand replying to e-mails, or texts with my smartphone, and I would rather call the person that I wish to talk to.

It can also recognize emojis, meaning you can draw your very own smiley face, and send it as a text – or you can make a terrifying angry face and scare Timmy who borrowed some money from you 5 months ago and hasn’t paid it back; it may be only $10, but it’s your money!

You needn’t worry about having a permanent connection to the internet. The app can choose from local or cloud-based handwriting recognition. Although, Google has recommended that the latter should be used by default, because it contains a ton more algorithms, and probably some magic too, that are more accurate.

This isn’t the first time Google meddles with handwriting recognition tools. You could have used this function in the Google Translate app, on mobile search and the Google Input Tool. But it’s the first time Google offers full support for Android devices.

It feels kinda sluggish to be honest. I don’t think it will be as used as Google wants it to. It’s not faster than typing, and sometimes it even misinterprets your words – it’s probably just me and my horrid handwriting, but I suppose I’m not the only one in this world.

All in all, it’s a free handwriting app and we shouldn’t be looking a gift horse in the mouth.

For more info, check out Google’s blogpost.

 

Plan on using it? Take some screenies with your beautiful, or horrible handwriting and share them with us in the comments section below!

 

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Take animated selfies with new app named Kong

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Path App

Path, a well known social network designed specifically for photo sharing, has just released its new app named Kong. It lets the user create animated selfies. But how does it work? It’s simple. It turns your selfie into animated GIFs by just one press of a button.

You can find selfie in the Oxford English Dictionary – whether you like it or not, it’s here to stay, so why not indulge in it?

After you add text, emojis, filters you can share your creation with your friends via SMS or E-mail, but also on social networks like Twitter or Facebook – it’s shared automatically to Kong users.

With Kong, Path is attempting to build a huge on-line community based on selfies – but not just by taking random photos. Through gamification, users can follow different channels, or hash-tags like #cutecry, #MyReactionWhen, and post their own creations.

You can also follow channels that cover specific locations like #NewYork, #Dubai where users are encouraged to make gifs in those places, or referencing them.

The one thing that comes straight into mind is how everyone will spam channels with their thousands of selfies stored on their smartphones. You don’t need to worry about this, because every user has permission to post just one entry in each channel. This ensures that spammers would not have their way, and also it pumps up the game – you will try hard to create the most interesting selfie to post on Kong.

People are so in love with selfies that Path’s founder, Dave Morin, will swim in a lake filled with gold coins by the end of 2015. This idea is on the margins of early Facebook.

Dave Morin is trying to monetize the app by looking to partners with brands that would have their own channels – #Starbucks, #Nike, #Google and the likes.

You can download Kong for Android and iOS – if you have Apple’s smart watch even better, it’s also available for download on the store.

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App of the week – iOS, Android and Windows Phone

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Best apps of the week

It’s safe to say that 99% of the apps available on the marketplace are just pure rubbish. Digging through all of them is just a hellish nightmare, and more than often we download and install apps that just use RAM – instead of actually helping us.

” What do we say to the god of death? Not today.“ In our case – the god of horrible apps.

 

Android App

App of the week for Android users

Jobr

I think it’s safe to say that we all dread searching for jobs, and going to job interviews. It’s just the worst thing ever – well, the worst thing ever is being stuck in a box with killer bees, but that’s another story.

How does this killer app work? You input your skills and location in the app, and it does the searching for you – it digs through one million job opportunities and it finds the most suitable one. I wouldn’t delete my LinkedIn profile just yet – one million jobs consist of a really small list when you think about how many jobs there are in the world. But it has incredible potential and it’s a tool that is totally worth it – even more so because it’s free.

 

iOs app

App of the week for iOS users

Spylight

So you just watched the entire first season of Hannibal in one sitting, and you are just awe struck at how elegant, and practical Mads Mikkelsen’s wardrobe is – one could say that he has a killer look. You want to go out and buy all the cloths that you’ve seen on the show, but you don’t know where to shop. It’s not like you’ll find anything at Target, or Wal-Mart. Here is where Spylight comes in and saves the day for you – it’s also free. It’s basically an app that tells you where to shop for the cloths that you’ve seen in TV series, or movies. Maybe you fancy that rugged-cop look that Rick sports in The Walking Dead, or probably you want to look like a Wes Anderson character? No problems. Want to sport that Whoopi Goldberg fashion sense? Why?

Be warned, this author isn’t responsible for shopping sprees that will spend your entire month’s rent.

 

Windows Phone app

App of the week for Windows Phone users

MS-DOS Mobile

Yes, I know this is an April’s Fool joke, but it’s so damn funny, that I couldn’t resist not prompting it in the list. And to be honest, its simplicity rivals the one that Apple holds so dear to its heart.

Did you know that George R.R. Martin, the famous creator of The Song of Ice and Fire series, better known as Game of Thrones, has written, and is currently writing, all of his books in an MS-DOS interface? The software is called WordStar 4.0 and George has stated that it’s the best word program that he has ever written in – ” Well, I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do, and it doesn’t do anything else. I don’t want any help. I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lower case letter and it becomes a capital. I don’t want a capital! If I’d wanted a capital, I would have typed a capital. I know how to work a shift key!”

 

Multi-platform app

App of the week for multi-platform users

Riff – for Android, and iOS

We know you dread Facebook apps – they always seem so terribly implemented, and completely useless – but this one actually works as intended. It’s a video messaging service available for free for Android, and iOS users where you can create a standalone video, or a chain of videos and sent them to whoever you want to. If you want to reply to someone, you do it in video. If someone has to reply to you – bam – video time. It feels like a dumbed down version of Snapchat, but it has a ton of potential and with updates coming in, I’m fairly sure that it will be the next fun thing to do.

Be careful with your data cap – remember that videos are way larger than photos.

 

Do you ave any other cool apps that didn’t made our short list? Post in the comments section below.

 

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