Kitty Letter word-scrambled my brain
Who knew an enchanted letter vortex could cause you trouble falling asleep? How a mobile game engraved a repeating pattern into my brain.
Mobile Apps
Be wary of file sync conflicts with KeePass apps on Android
An investigation and comparison into how KeePass-compatible password manager apps for Android handle external changes to an unlocked password vault database.
Review of Firefox “Daylight” for Android
The new Firefox version for Android comes with big changes under the hood, but also drops support for thousands of extensions, and is less configurable.
FreeStyle Libre Reader vs LibreLink app
The pros and cons of using Abbott’s dedicated Reader device or the LibreLink mobile app to read your levels with the FreeStyle Libre flash-glucose Sensor.
What is Samsung Secure Wi-Fi?
Secure Wi-Fi is a VPN service from Samsung and McAfee. Here is what it does and how to stop its adverts and remove it from your phone.
Review: Joplin note-taking app
The open-source note-taking app Joplin supports encryption and choose-your-own-cloud. Desktop app gets the job done, but the Android app is slow and clunky.
Unobtrusive sleep tracking app for Android
Sleep Debt Tracker is a simple Google Fit-compatible Android app that assumes you’re sleeping in the hours when you don’t use your phone at night.
How to get to the Microsoft Feed in your web browser
Get access to the Microsoft Hummingbird personalized news feed app in your web browser (and outside the US).
Use Xiaomi Mi Band as a continuous heart rate monitor with Google Fit
How to sync your continuous heart rate monitoring data collected by the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 or 3 fitness tracker to the Google Fit app.
![An open box of glucose test strips with a Contour Next glucose meter next to it. Next to that, a smartphone with a view on the screen titled “Meter Settings” overlaid by an error message saying “Contour isn’t responding. [Close app].”](../media/hero/contour-diabetes-meter-and-app.192x108.jpeg "“Diabetes glucose meter, test strips, and app”")
Contour Diabetes app, Bluetooth, and why we can’t have nice things
The Contour Next glucose monitor and its companion app communicate with each other over Bluetooth. Well, they try to anyway.
Not getting much done with Microsoft To-Do
Microsoft To-Do app is slow and requires frequent reloading. It doesn’t sync with Outlook, Cortana, and other Microsoft task list apps.
Replaced the default Google Now Launcher app to save my Nexus 5X
My Android device struggled with high-memory usage from the Google Now Launcher app. Moving to a different launcher app gave my phone a new lease on life.