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Today’s Apps
- First Aid – American Red Cross [App that provides information regarding common health issues, teaches you how to prepare for them and how to deal with them in emergency situations]
- SMS Flash [Receive click-through and semi-transparent popup notifications of new SMS/text messages without having to exit whatever app you are currently in]
- Real Colors [Automatically generate color palettes from photos]
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About Android Apps of the Day
Android has over 450,000 apps. With so many apps out there, app discovery (aka finding new and useful apps) is extremely difficult. With our Android Apps of the Day initiative, dotTech aims to change that. Everyday we post three apps, allowing our readers to discover new apps, daily. Enjoy! [Subscribe to our Android section to never miss an article: RSS Feed | E-mail]
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Apps for June 16, 2012
First Aid – American Red Cross
A few days ago we covered First Aid, an application that provides tips on how to deal with emergency medical situations. First Aid – American Red Cross (and its counterpart First aid by British Red Cross) is a similar app; but it is more well developed and from a credible source — the Red Cross.
First Aid – American Red Cross provides information regarding common health situations and emergencies. It breaks info down into three groups. First there is ‘Learn’ which teaches you about first aid for nineteen common health conditions, such as Asthma attack or broken bone. Next there is ‘Prepare’ which teaches you how to prepare for natural and man-caused disasters such as earthquakes, chemical emergencies, tornado, fire, etc. Last there is ‘Emergency’ which teaches you what to do in emergency situations in the previously mentioned nineteen common health conditions. Each of the respective categories not only includes text information but also animated graphics, checklists, videos, built-in 911 calling capability, questions and answers, etc. as applicable.
As an added bonus, the ‘Test’ tab tests you on your knowledge of common medical situations.
Take note First Aid – American Red Cross is created by the American Red Cross and is intended for use by people living in the USA because of its built-in ability to call 911. However, the app can be used by anyone around the world for its medical advice — just realize that unless your country’s emergency number is 911, calling 911 from within this app will do you no good. Also note First aid by British Red Cross is a similar app to First Aid – American Red Cross but tailored to people living in Britain.
Note: As I am not a doctor, I cannot verify the validity of the tips provided in this app. You should always attempt to consult a health care professional in health situations.
Price: Free
Version discovered: v1.0
Requires: Android 2.2 and up
Download size: 27 MB
First Aid – American Red Cross on Play Store | First aid by British Red Cross on Play Store
SMS Flash
By default, unless you downloaded some third-party app to change this behavior, whenever you receive a SMS/text message on your Android device, a notification is put in your notification bar/pull-down menu, allowing you to access the message at your leisure. Ever desired a more direct notification, such as a non-intrusive popup notification displaying the message? Well now you can get it, with SMS Flash.
SMS Flash is an application which displays click-through and semi-transparent popup notifications whenever a new text message is received. (Note: As far as I can tell, SMS Flash only works for SMS/text messages — not MMS/picture messages.) What makes SMS Flash different than other popup notification apps is the popup notifications sent by SMS Flash are click-through and semi-transparent. What this means is if you are using an app, such as playing a game, when you receive a message, SMS Flash will display the notification on your screen but it won’t interfere with your app usage (i.e. it won’t interfere with your gameplay). The notifications SMS Flash displays are semi-transparent and don’t receive your touch; taps, swipes, etc. are passed onto the app underneath so you can continue to do whatever you are doing (e.g. playing a game) after quickly reading the message — after X seconds (ten seconds by default) the notification disappears automatically. Pretty cool, huh?
Other features of SMS Flash include the ability to manually dismiss notifications by tapping on your device’s proximity sensor once or tapping on it twice to initiate a reply to the message; the ability to customize notifications’ font size, color, background color, transparency, what part of the screen the notifications appear, how long notifications linger for etc. — the app is highly customizable; and the ability to have a ‘BlackList’ which tells SMS Flash to not display notifications for numbers in the list.
Please realize SMS Flash is not a replacement for your messaging app. It is a compliment to your messaging app.
Take note SMS Flash does not work on all devices. It all depends on how your specific device has been programmed by your manufacturer. The only way to know for sure if it works on your device or not is to try it yourself. For what it is worth, it works perfectly on my Nexus S.
Price: Free
Version discovered: v3.0
Requires: Android 2.1 and up
Download size: 118 KB
Real Colors
Are you one of the creative types? Maybe a graphic designer, digital artist, or whatever. If so then Real Colors is likely an app you will love.
Real Colors is an app that generates color palettes automatically from photos (either existing photos sitting in your gallery or new photos you snap with your camera on the spot). All you do is pick a photo then Real Colors analyzes it and provides you with a color palette of the real colors in the photo; for each color you are provided a preview of the color itself, the hex number for the color, and HSB and RGB values with the option to modify the HSB/RGB values using a slider. If you opt to purchase the Pro version of Real Colors, in addition to getting palettes for real colors in photos, you have the ability to get palettes for monochromatic, complementary, analogous, shades, triad, split complementary, and tetrad schemes. (Lite version of Real Colors, which is free, only provides real color palettes.)
Other features of Real Colors include a spectrum graph of the colors in question, a preview of the photo you selected, and the ability to create wallpapers out of palettes (Pro only).
Price: Free, $5.02
Version discovered: v1.4.7
Requires: Android 2.1 and up
Download size: 6.2 MB
Real Colors Lite on Play Store | Real Colors Pro on Play Store
dotTechies: We have tested all the apps listed above. However, Android Apps of the Day articles are not intended as “reviews” but rather as “heads-up” to help you discover new apps. Always use your best judgement when downloading apps, such as trying trial/free versions before purchasing paid apps, if applicable.
