Happy App Friday!
This week, learn coding skills and create your own projects with Tynker, then go on an augmented reality treasure hunt with ARrrrrgh. Plus, Common Sense Media lists apps to watch out for, and a recall on a children’s smart watch.
Garry Froehlich
Jellybean Tunes
Tynker: Coding Games for Kids
by Tynker
Tynker uses block code (popularized by MIT’s Scratch language), to teach programming concepts, and let kids play with code. Block code uses visual commands that you can touch, drag, and put together like a puzzle. There are many themed lessons to get kids started, from spaceships to dragons to Barbie, and more. For fans of Minecraft, the app shows how to create skins, creatures and other modifications that can be exported to and actually used in the Minecraft app. In addition to the lessons, there are sandboxes for creating simple games, stories, musical instruments or other projects. Finally, projects can be shared with the community to play, modify and learn from. Several lessons and projects are available to try, and a premium subscription unlocks the rest.
ARrrrrgh
by Warpin Media AB
ARrrrrgh is a simple augmented (AR) reality treasure hunt. One person finds a suitably flat surface to bury the treasure (complete with a nice animation), then moves away and hands the device to another person to follow a very simple map to find the treasure. It’s fun to try, and free. Note that older iPhones and especially older iPads may not be AR compatible.
Apps to Watch Out for in 2019
Do you have teens in the house? Do you know which apps they are using, or which apps their friends are using? Tough to keep up, right? Time to tune in to Common Sense Media’s top list of apps teens are using in 2019.
EU orders recall of children’s smartwatch over severe privacy concerns
“a malicious user can send commands to [the recalled] watch making it call another number of his choosing, can communicate with the child wearing the device or locate the child through GPS.” Read more:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/eu-orders-recall-of-childrens-smartwatch-over-severe-privacy-concerns/
